Iraq War Costs vs 38% Lost Green Power - Statistics

I am so sick of the governmental waste, with the money that has been spent on the Iraq war, we could have had clean power put back into our grid. And that is at today's cost. Just think if Wind Turbines were mass produced like cars.

Wind and Solar Power

Wind Plowshares

At the cost of today's wind turbines–not some future cost–the money spent on the Iraq war to date would have resulted in the installation of 180,000 MW of wind generating capacity. Considering the breadth of the United States and the experience with the thousands of wind turbines in California, our fleet of wind turbines could generate from 360 TWh to 1,200 TWh per year. With the United States consuming 3,900 TWh per year, the War Turbines could produce from 9 to 31 percent of total U.S. electrical consumption.

Taking another approach, we can also estimate the results if instead of buying the wind turbines directly we used the money to pay the difference between the current wholesale cost of electricity and the wind energy tariffs used in Europe and Ontario, Canada. In some countries this is known as a "bonus" payment. I've assumed that the bonus payment would last 20 years, the life of the wind turbine. Using this approach, the War Turbines could produce from 12 to 38 percent of total U.S. electrical consumption

[edit on 9-3-2007 by Realtruth]