Bogley

DiscGo · Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 2860 Location: Fort Utah

I was driving through SpanishFork canyon this weekend and I saw these Windmills. I was surprised by them, because I was just out there a little over a month ago and didn't see a thing.

Sorry the picture is not better.

rockgremlin · Joined: 09 Dec 2004 Posts: 3718 Location: Green River, Wy

Kind of an eyesore IMO. Are they really generating enough electricity to justify the visual pollution?

erossite · Joined: 09 Apr 2008 Posts: 2 Location: Riverton, Utah

I had the same experience. I couldn't believe how quickly they have gone up. Are they running now? How much do they cost? How much energy do they produce?

DiscGo · Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 2860 Location: Fort Utah

erossite wrote: I had the same experience. I couldn't believe how quickly they have gone up. Are they running now? How much do they cost? How much energy do they produce?

They just finished making them last week and they are not running yet.

rockgremlin wrote: Kind of an eyesore IMO. Are they really generating enough electricity to justify the visual pollution?

They really do muck up a beautiful area.

BruteForce · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 10:10 pm Post subject:

It's my understanding that they generate quite a large amount of electricity, and other than visual pollution, they produce no harmful output.

I'd like to see more of those than smoke stacks..

Scout Master · Joined: 29 Jan 2007 Posts: 263 Location: Kaysville

I agree
I would rather see Windmills than a Nuclear, Garbage burning, or Coal fired power plant

FROGGER · Joined: 25 Sep 2007 Posts: 61 Location: Riverton

Much better than the smoke stacks and pollution IMO.... This just goes to show you can never please everyone... the same people bitching about these would be bitching about anything placed there.. :roll:

They have been building these for the last few months though, .

rockgremlin · Joined: 09 Dec 2004 Posts: 3718 Location: Green River, Wy

FROGGER wrote: This just goes to show you can never please everyone... the same people bitching about these would be bitching about anything placed there.. :roll:

Ya, you're damn right. I would be bitching even more if they woulda thrown up some coal burning stacks instead. I think ANYTHING at that location looks bad. I wonder what this is doing for the price of real estate/homes in Spanish Fork? "And looking out the east facing french doors, you have a wonderful view of the newly installed windmills..." :nono:

Alex · Joined: 27 Sep 2005 Posts: 2208 Location: SLC, UT

There was a story on NPR about it and the locals complain more about the noise from the blades breaking the wind than the eye sore. A lot of them actually liked it.

A couple of locals who live close to windmills said they can hear the "woofing" noise all night long.

tanya · Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 8:04 am Post subject:

Wolfing is a nice sound to go to sleep by if it helps clean up the air. :2thumbs:

rockgremlin · Joined: 09 Dec 2004 Posts: 3718 Location: Green River, Wy

tanya wrote: Wolfing is a nice sound to go to sleep by if it helps clean up the air. :2thumbs:

That might be easier said than done.

tanya · Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 8:14 am Post subject:

rockgremlin wrote: tanya wrote: Wolfing is a nice sound to go to sleep by if it helps clean up the air. :2thumbs:

That might be easier said than done.

I am an insomniac but a constant rhythm actually helps me go to sleep. Maybe because I quit thinking and just listen?

greyhair biker · Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Posts: 2693 Location: GreenRiver, Wy

These things must be contagious...you should see the windmill farms popping up along I-80 going east from Evanston, there are hundreds of em' !...kinda cool really but then I don't live next to them. No one does up here really, except for deer, antelope and ranging cattle :roll:

bbennett · Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 9:36 am Post subject:

rockgremlin wrote: FROGGER wrote: This just goes to show you can never please everyone... the same people bitching about these would be bitching about anything placed there.. :roll:

Ya, you're damn right. I would be bitching even more if they woulda thrown up some coal burning stacks instead. I think ANYTHING at that location looks bad. I wonder what this is doing for the price of real estate/homes in Spanish Fork? "And looking out the east facing french doors, you have a wonderful view of the newly installed windmills..." :nono:

As much as it may seem like an eyesore to place the windmills there at the mouth of such a beautiful canyon, it was really the best place that they could have put them. When I used to fly here, I could always rely on strong morning winds at the Spanish Fork airport.

As I understand it, this is due to whats known as a "mountain breeze" and the funneling effect of the canyon.
Basically, after sunset and throughout the night, the lower level valley and canyon walls cool at a much greater rate than those at higher elevations. These lower temperatures result in lower ambient pressure than that which is present at higher elevations. In the atmospheres never ending quest for equilibrium, air always flows from high pressure to low pressure (known as pressure gradient).
By sunrise and the associated radiational heating, all of that warmer, high pressure air flows down the mountainside, funnels through the canyon and results in steady, relatively high winds (usually about 25 knots at the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon). This is why, if you know anyone with a home up there, they are also always complaining about their garbage cans being blown over and down the street.
Please keep in mind that it's been a while since I had to study these types of things but I believe that I'm remembering it correctly.

FROGGER · Joined: 25 Sep 2007 Posts: 61 Location: Riverton

rockgremlin wrote: FROGGER wrote: This just goes to show you can never please everyone... the same people bitching about these would be bitching about anything placed there.. :roll:

Ya, you're damn right. I would be bitching even more if they woulda thrown up some coal burning stacks instead. I think ANYTHING at that location looks bad. I wonder what this is doing for the price of real estate/homes in Spanish Fork? "And looking out the east facing french doors, you have a wonderful view of the newly installed windmills..." :nono:

Thank you for proving my point... real estate prices being effected by them should not be a concern, there is a neighbor hood directly to the west of them but the windmills would have far less impact on prices than the huge factory/ warehouse and dynamite plant...

:popcorn: