Blowin' In The Wind

I really hate to sing the praises of a corporation but GE has developed a new generation of wind turbines they're calling "Brilliant", and for pretty good reason. These new turbines crank out up to 24 percent more energy than current turbines and have the enhanced ability to store it until it's needed. They'll also be able to speak to each other across a secure internet connection to best gauge which geographical parts of the country needs their electricity most.

The first  67 units are headed for Australia in late 2013 while 59 are scheduled for North Michigan and 3 are slated for the North Texas area.

These new, powerful turbines reduce the cost of generating electricity to the same level as coal-fired plants, though natural gas-fired plants make cheaper energy due to the glut of fracking-enhanced natural gas supplies. This is very good news for renewable energy fans.

But to wax typically cynical for a moment, the current cost of a kilowatt-hour for wind-created energy is 8-10 cents, and that really should not change very much for quite some time. But fifty years from now we might be paying perhaps $4 a kilowatt-hour, the same as the average price of a gallon of gas, or possibly more because we'll be dependent on wind energy and we won't own the wind. GE will.

Time will tell.

=Lefty=