Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Germany going Non-Nuclear by 2020

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Solar takes up too much space for much of this country, wind turbines are unsightly & noisy. I read an article in OMNI (anybody else remember that magazine) about 30 years ago about harnessing the power of the Gulf Stream with turbines. I still think that's an interesting idea once they overcome the "chum factor". For the East coast anyway.

There'll never be a one-size-fits-all solution to our energy needs. We need regional solutions.

It also irritates me to see all the new residential construction on newly clear-cut land and then the homebuyer wonders why the electric bill is $400/mo. Leave some of the damn trees for a change and see what a difference that makes! (If my bill exceeds $125, I freak out)

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Wind turbines are usually located at the top of ridges, clear cut around them (again the environmentalists won't like that). Yes, they are noisy and notorious bird killers. And again, they disrupt wind patterns by all that energy conversion. So how will that affect the area?

Dams were a great idea years ago, but they disrupted the patterns of fish like salmon. Also, they accumulate silt. All that weight of water can be a problem, I hear there are theories of increased earthquakes in Asia due to the massive 3 Gorges Dam in China.

There's no single fix solution. Coal plants are great and they can be very clean burning. Solar has its uses, as well as wind. Nuclear has to be in the mix as well as natural gas and oil. If fuel cell technology can be made affordable, then that will really help as well.

And we still need petrol, so we can ride our bikes!!