{"id":214,"date":"2007-07-14T01:50:32","date_gmt":"2007-07-14T01:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.energyrefuge.com\/blog\/not-enough-windmill-parts\/"},"modified":"2017-09-05T17:54:58","modified_gmt":"2017-09-05T21:54:58","slug":"not-enough-windmill-parts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.energyrefuge.com\/blog\/not-enough-windmill-parts\/","title":{"rendered":"Not enough windmill parts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"windmillAlmost everyday there is another alternative energy news item in the Wall Street Journal. On July 9th, they are anguishing about the lack of windmill parts.<\/p>\n

Let’s go on a thought exercise. Imagine, if you will, that this were instead an article about oil production and a shortage of doohickeys that were necessary for oil production, what would the tone of the article be? This is great for business! A new industry and new jobs will be created that will foster economic growth, competition and innovation. But, now, the focus is on the lack of parts and how complicated a wind turbine is and firms from other countries are going to buy out small manufacturers.<\/p>\n

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Yes, there are 8,000 parts in a wind turbine. I wonder how many parts there are to a coal-fired turbine, a gasoline-powered car, or even a high-tech mountain bike. I am sure these are also in the thousands (maybe not the mountain bike). Surely no one at the Wall Street Journal is complaining about this complexity.<\/p>\n

“May you live in interesting times” is an old Chinese curse, but for each interesting time there are many exciting opportunities. I am sure many people will find those opportunities.<\/p>\n

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