I’ve looked at several articles, more or less recent, about the future of Wind turbines, as a part of the government’s plans for investing in green energy. Rather than recite the articles themselves, I’m just going to give you my general impression and opinion. Lots of opinion. You may comment, if you like.

There has been a lot of effort into establishing wind power as a more significant portion of energy sources in the US. Biden has gotten the military to agree to a couple of big offshore development areas on the West Coast (you can bet there will be a lot of protest about that.) So, now there is a lot of research and development on remote, floating ocean wind turbines, which would be on huge platforms, as opposed to the ones that are near shore, imbedded in the rock off the coasts.

These things cost a ton of money to make, transport and install, I might add, and only last 20-25 years. Sure, they give us green energy, but their production involves a lot of materials that are anything but green. They are made of all kinds of the normal stuff—steel, plastic, tons of concrete, etc., etc.—and something called rare earth elements (REE), that are part of the magnets that operate the turbines themselves. There’s lots of REE in the earth, but it’s mixed with a lot of other things, so it’s difficult, messy and polluting to mine and process the ore, also, the mining and processing uses vast amounts of water, which is becoming a rarer commodity as time goes on (that’s another issue, however). 

We do have one large mine, the Mountain Pass Mine, southwest of Las Vegas, that is scheduled to start processing (rather than sending it to China to be processed) in 2022. It was owned by Molycorp, Inc., which went bankrupt; it’s since been sold to MP Materials. Anyway, you’re welcome to look up information on all that, if you like.

So, anyway, these REE are expensive, hard to come by, and cause a lot of global tension. I mean, why do you think the U.K., Russia, the United States, and now China, have worked so hard to get into Afghanistan? Because they have LOTS of REE in all those mountains, as a largely untapped resource. It would be a huge coup for China to acquire REE in quantity. But with the way things are in Afghanistan and the way the Chinese like to run things, I think it’s going to be very interesting to watch what happens. Good luck to them, I say, and “watch this space,” as the saying goes.

However, I found that there is at least one company, Greenspur Renewables, that is working on turbines that do the job without the use of REE. I know they’re currently operating, but don’t know a lot more than that, so I don’t want to say, “Hey, go out and invest in these guys!”

So this has not been an article that is particularly pro wind energy, but I believe that there will be those who will invent what is needed to move us forward without creating even more pollution. It will take the market to drive it, tho, which is why I think the Afghanistan/China situation is so interesting.

Dragonfruit

Also called “pitahaya” by the Maya, the Dragon fruit is an often-cultivated species of fast-growing, vine-like, tropical cactus. Quite sensitive to temperatures below freezing, it is only grown within a global range that will also not exceed temperatures greater than 100 degrees.

Originating in Central America, this perennial can attach itself to branches, rocks, walls, houses or any other surface upon which it can gain a foothold. It is primarily grown as a fruit crop, but is also considered an ornamental, although it can spread out of control. (from Volume 4-upcoming someday 🙂

My Blog – 10/2/2021

I’ve been watching the news—like, a LOT— for a few years now, but I just can’t take this shrill, incessant harping on whatever’s going on in Congress. I mean, for God’s sake, just leave them to it! Sure, people should call their Congressman and Senators to let them know how we feel—politely, I might add, with no profanity or threats—but the press (and I LOVE the Free Press) needs to take a chill pill. There are LOTS of other things going on in the world, that just might be interesting and informative, and things that might actually be useful to our lives.

I’m not the kind of person who buries my head in the sand about what’s happening to the planet or even what’s happening with us “just folks” in America, but I think the press does not help the situation by dwelling on the negative, almost exclusively, except for the odd human interest story.

I understand that we pay more attention to what’s negative, but it’s a loop that feeds itself, and it doesn’t make for happy, healthy people. Angry people are not healthy.

So turn it off for a while. Watch the football game, or “Dancing with the Stars” or a rerun of the X-Files. Or go out and play catch with the kids.