It's Not Really Funny...But It Is

My daily visit to The Other McCain led me to this amusing video this morning:

(It even has frozen flamingos for THS)

...which then led me to this "real men of genius" story that I had missed somehow:

California turbines frozen in Minnesota wind

Like a lot of California transplants, 11 newcomers to Minnesota are having a hard time adjusting to our winters.

They are wind turbines, erected last fall by 11 metro and outstate cities. The green-energy machines were expected to be spinning before Christmas, but so far their blades have been largely motionless, apparently paralyzed by frigid weather.

The turbines sit idly in Anoka, North St. Paul, Chaska, Shakopee, Buffalo and six other cities, all members of the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (MMPA). The refurbished, 115-foot towers had operated on a California wind farm, where they didn't have to worry about cold hydraulic fluid turning to gel and oil lubricants getting too sluggish.

I know I'm not going to be entirely fair here, but I had to laugh at this:

A mechanical assessment of the machines could reveal surprises, he said, but he expects that installing proper heating elements, including an electronic control box heater, should remedy the cold weather problems.

First of all, who'd a thunk that it might be friggin' cold in Minnesota in winter? Secondly, you gotta love that they need to install electric heaters to make the things work in winter. So when it's done taking care of its own heating needs, how much power, if any, does one of these things actually deliver to the grid from November through April? 

I have to laugh to keep from crying.

Comments

[Kate P]

Keep smiling--you won the raffle! :)

[Rob]

Nicely done. Green technology is looking like all of those early attempts at flight. There is going to be fits and starts and lots of embarrassment along the way.

[Dave E.]

Thanks, Kate! I'll shoot you an email.

Rob-I'm fine with green technology where it makes sense. I think the example here is just silly though. Those wind turbines are all about making a political statement and not really about doing anything productive. And that it was very poorly executed just makes it worse.