I pass by these every time I go Up North to visit my folks. Towering pillars foreboding along side the freeway. Kissing the sky and reaching the heavens-churning slowly almost in a calculated fashion. My mouth is agape with the sheer sight of their size. These are wind turbines of Forward Wind Farm near Byron, Wisconsin on the Fond du Lac and Dodge County borders.
Tall and majestic they are, scaling over 40 stories into air. The blades are 134 ft across. The weight of the rotors are 47 tons. They'll operate in winds starting at 9 mph and they'll cut off at 54 mph. They are designed to withstand winds up to 134 mph. These babies can generate up to 145 megawatts of electricity, that's enough to power up 36,000 residential homes! That's a structure for you! To top it all, there are over 80 turbines in the area! There are over 300 turbines in Wisconsin.
Amazingly it may seem, there is controversy over these giants. residents living in the shadows of the turbines have complained of noise, shadow flicker and maintenance issues. Not to mention an increase in their electric bill. After seeing some videos about their arguments, I'm not so sure I'd want to be living nearby them...
Here's some information, I've researched upon-
http://www.we-energies.com/environmental/bluesky_greenfield.htm
http://www.we-energies.com/home/ByronWind.pdf
http://www.ecw.org/byronwindtour/turbines.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyOImGHyJtQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7b4fGoK4Xo
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13 comments:
Guess they are cooler to see from a distance!
These thing go down Interstate 90/94 in pieces. They are truly amazing. I don't know why people are complaining about noise? Bunches of us lived with the constant pounding of Walker Forge 24 hours a day, and actually went to sleep counting the thumps.
Coming to WI this summer, we went through a turbine farm in mid-Indiana...looked so cool, again from a distance.
When we were driving to Wisconsin a couple of years ago there was a bunch by Rockford, I believe. And then when we went to New Mexico there were a number of them in Western Oklahoma. I think they look beautiful.
I agree with Toad on the noise. Anyone who grew up near a factory always heard noise. You just get used to it.
In fact, Gary worked with a guy who was training to repair them. No way Jose would you get me climbing up one of them. Yikes!
I think they are butt-ugly! Seriously! I usually drive through the area at night. The pristine darkness of the country's night horizon is shattered when it is lit up every 5 seconds with more red lights than a New Orleans whorehouse!
I have never seen them at night, but always been fascinated with them during the day. I have seen the ones in Wisconsin and a bunch in California as well. I have never been close to them, but there are noise ordinances for most businesses. Wind farms should not get special treatment (nor be subject to more stringent requirements). Heck, I lived about 50 feet from the IC electric track in Chicago...bet that was louder!
I've never been near one. One of those YouTube videos mentions shadow flicker, the strobe effect of the turbine blades as they spin in the sun. If your house is near one, a guy said it's like someone turning on and off the lights in the house.
logjam, how many lights are there in a New Orleans' whorehouse?
BTW, these pics were taken of HWY 41. There are two turbines on the east side of the freeway that have been there for years. They are only a few hundred feet from the road. Gigantic they are, yet creepy looking up at them!
The other ones are the western side of the freeway. They have been popping up in the last couple of years.
Kinda hard taking pics going down the road doing 80 mph.
Thanks for the comments!
You did pretty good with the pics!
I didn't know the speed limit was 80 around there.... ;)
Did I say whorehouse? I'm sorry. I meant bordello.
Pretty soon someone will tell us that the turbines are circulating all the cancer causing electrial charges being emitted from high power lines.
I say BAN train whistles. How about car horns? Maybe FARTS? they cause all kinds of problems. Get with It people, we need the ENERGY.
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