" ... Except for hydro, renewable energy sources are inimical to any rational idea of maintaining access to energy with highly secure power capacity.
... Any chemist should know enough to understand the implications of the formula governing the way wind energy must be converted into electricity: w=1/2 rAv3, where w is power; r, air density; A, rotor density; and v is wind speed.
The main driver in the equation is the v3, which dictates that any output must be a function of the cube of the wind speed at each wind speed interval throughout the wind plant’s rated capacity, from 0 to ~33 mph.
Most wind plants don’t begin generating anything until the wind speed reaches ~8 mph and max out when the wind speed hits 33 mph.
Such a narrow wind speed range ensures substantial minute-by-minute volatility ...
Grids do substantial work to integrate wind volatility ... because of any modern grid’s prime directive: matching supply precisely with demand on a quicker than second-by-second basis.
... Retrofitting modern technology to meet the needs of ancient wind flutter is monumentally backwards, a sure sign that pundits and politicians, not scientists, are now in charge."