Just a thought about plug in hybrids

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ Aug 6 2006, 11:21 PM) [snapback]298865[/snapback]</div>

http://www.digg.com/tech_news/Use_a_Prius_...ring_a_blackout

 

Where I used to live (North Dakota) peak demand occurs during winter blizzards. Winter heating requires more energy there than summer cooling. This makes wind power a better fit than PV. Also, power outages are most often caused by winter blizzards, and last longer then, due to the difficulty of repairing lines when the wind chill is 80 below zero and the visibility is 5 feet.

I knew a farmer in South Dakota who had a windmill. This was maybe 15 years ago. It was economical for him at that time only because he got an old fire-watch tower for free, disassembled it himself, and moved and re-assembled it himself. S.D. law required the utility to buy excess power at the same rate they pay for their wholesale power, so the windmill was quite a nice nest egg for this guy.

The lodge where I was hiking last week has its own hydro generator. They get water from higher up the mountain and pipe it down to their generator, and that along with PV provides all their electricity.

With a mix of wind and PV, along with other technologies where suitable, we could be free of imported oil. Too bad the politicians are so determined to keep money flowing into the oil companies' coffers. We have the technology now.