Tivoli: Powered by wind

I wonder if other parks will follow Tivoli's lead? I can see how a park like CP could benefit, given how windy Lake Erie can be. Heck, if they added some small veritical-blade turbines on top of a few buildings, they could reduce their power consumption from the main grid.

I could even see how they MIGHT be able to include smaller one into the structure of TTD, espeaclly in the higher parts of the tower.

For something like the TTD, I wonder if they would need to get Intamin to approve the design changes? Since it involves changing the structure of the ride.
But I agree that a wind farm on, or slightly off, the point would be a great idea and would greatly reduce their need for power from the main grid. And I know that Sandusky is right now experimenting with turbines and so I am sure that Cedar Point is keeping an eye on these experiements.

Dorney had a wind turbine in the late 70s.
http://www.angels-nest.org/indexB.html
It supplied 10-15% of the parks power. If I remember correctly it was damaged in a storm and never repaired.
Too bad the 80s came and our quest for energy independence kinda died.

I'm wondering if they have a direct line to the turbine, or if the turbine is part of the grid and the park gets credit for the generated electricity? I think using the existing grid makes sense, but it wasn't clear from the piece.

I'm guessing the latter. the turbine would be spinning anytime there's wind, regardles weather the park it open or not. The extra juice would get fed back into the grid, and power company would credit the park on a per kWhr basis.

I wish the day would come when turbines would be more readily available and more affordable, so that one would be standard to for every household, and could supplement the energy that we have to pay for.

Another words, I've been wanting my own personal wind turbine for home use for many years now.

It'd be great if you could just go down to Home Depot and pick one up for your home.

The day has come, just not quite that affordable.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?keyword=w...ogId=10053

I think the problem is less about cost and more about zoning. Between zoning and housing associations, you just can't put one up. It'll take a higher law that supersedes these to get past that, much in the way they did the same for TV antennae.

This weekend I was driving through the farmland of western Ohio and I saw "No Wind Turbines" signs.

Will someone please tell me what rock these people are living under?

They probably got those signs from the Kennedys in Cape Cod.

I think that decisions as to wind turbines should be local. Local governments should be able to set zoning and homeowners' associations should be able to do the same for the association.

Wow, HighSpeedThrillCoaster! I really want one of those! I wonder how the cost of buying and maintenance on one of those compares to paying the power company for the electricity that it could generate?

And it's obvious why these were not installed in every home decades ago. The power utility companies have a lot to loose. God forbid the government allows citizens to use a wind turbine on their own land without a lot of red tape and headaches.

HighSpeedThrillCoaster said:
The day has come, just not quite that affordable.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?keyword=w...ogId=10053

I dunno. I suspect that's the price range most enthusiasts spend for a week or so on the road riding coasters.

So, when they say it's "supposed to provide enough energy to power the park," do they actually mean it will provide enough energy to power the park only under ideal conditions? Seems like a nice enough idea, but I'd like to see some numbers (though I doubt they will be forthcoming).

James Whitmore said:
This weekend I was driving through the farmland of western Ohio and I saw "No Wind Turbines" signs.

Will someone please tell me what rock these people are living under?

Wow, seriously? While driving cross-country, I was floored at the number of these in Southern Minnesota and South Dakota. If I were a farmer, all I'd see is dollar signs. They require virtually no room once built and are a source of free money. I don't know how much, but it has to be more than they'd otherwise make on each tiny piece of land from a crop.

I have been waiting for the cost of solar to come down.
It has been coming down but is not cost effective yet,
When an average homeowner can lease a system for 20 years and the monthly cost for the system is less than the money received/saved on your power bill.That is when the use will be cost effective and the use will explode.

The big problem with wind from a PR standpoint is if you put it over the park .What do you do when a child is standing there when a bird gets chopped up in the blades .(or a flock)
(not to mention fried chicken sales will plummet;) )

If the bird is endangered the park just broke federal law.

We need more nuclear energy the courts/laws in this country will not let anyone invest in them anymore because 10 years after you start building a judge can shut you down and any investment made will be lost. not to mention the 10 year fight just to get the permits required.

They had a plan for a coal fired plant shot down by a federal judge (not far from me) because CO2 should be (not is/was) a federal monitored emission.People emit CO2 do we need permits to be allowed to breathe.

If CP ever did this they would build them out on the lake somewhere.

Back by sandcastle suites. But then again wind turbines are kind of noisy to 

have next to a $250/night hotel room. I always figured amusement parks would 

have figured out a way to channel water off of the river raft rides through 

a series of pipes that gradually get smaller to increase the water pressure 

and have a turbine like a Dam...

Slowly states are allowing wind turbines to be built. I know that here in NH this is a preety big project in the processs of being built in the northern part of the state. It's the same way in Maine. My dad had the pleasure of seeing one of these things up close.

Problem for wind right now on a large scale is transmission/distribution. Best areas for wind are far away from population centers.

So are a lot of nuclear, coal and hydro plants. I don't see the problem.