"Wes" wrote in message
...
Is there someplace that has an analysis of how much energy is put into
making, erecting,
and commissioning a windmill vs typical energy output. I'm wondering how
long it takes to
recover the energy used to put it in place.

Since wind is a bit variable, we can assume it is somewhere in the wind
corridor that T.
Boone Pickens was pitching.

I know solar cells have a lousy break even point unless the technology has
changed
drastically.

Thanks,

Wes

Do you need something precise, with documentation, etc.? If so, there are
lots of studies, using different methods of measurement. Search on "wind
power embedded energy," wind power embodied energy," or "wind power life
cycle analysis."

I did this a few years ago. At that time photovoltaic was showing a
worst-case payback of around 24 years, while wind power showed a payback in
6 months or even less.

Just grabbing one from a Google search, without checking it for accuracy,
here's something that shows how it's calculated and some specific numbers.
There are better studies that you can find, I'm su

www.rogerhelmer.com/sustainability.pdf

--
Ed Huntress