Turbine lifespan

The lifespan of a modern turbine is pegged at around 120 000 hours or 20-25 years, but they aren't totally maintenance free. As they contain moving components, some parts will need to be replaced during their working life.

And you apply this to the windmill that Genoa TWP. Michigan installed, windmills will never pay for themselves:

If you take the combined costs of the Federal and money from Genoa Township ($103,719) and use the $2800 / mo. savings number it will take 36.68 years to pay off the wind power portion of the system. This is not taking in to account maintenance or opportunity costs. Also, the typical life span of of a wind turbine is less than 25 years. The system will never pay for itself.

You can say the same thing about solar panels:

Ford, Detroit Edison and Xtreme Power are constructing Michigan's largest solar energy system at a cost of $5.8 million ($3 million from DTE and $2 million from the state of Michigan). Proponents of the system are estimating that this system will save Ford $160,000 per year in energy costs.

If the system operates as advertised and requires no maintenance, the system will pay back the initial investment in an optimistic 36.25 years (exuding opportunity costs).

Lastly, solar panels and windmills are not new technology:

In 1839, Henri Becquerel a French scientist, discovered that an electric current could be produced by shining a light onto certain chemical solutions and termed it as photovoltaic effect.

In 1877, the Photovoltaic effect was first observed in a solid material (Selenium- a metal).

This material was used for many years for light meters, which only required very small amounts of power.

Its not like scientists and engineers haven't been working on the problem. I really have a hard time seeing how heavily subsidized Victorian era technology that can't pay for itself a good idea from an economic standpoint.

They still require high initial investments, but over time they actually save money because there are no recurring fuel costs. The killer used to be that solar and wind plants used to incur expensive maintenance/replacement costs before they made back the initial investment. With newer, more efficient technologies, this is no longer the case.

So... how much do these "newer, more efficient technologies" cost to maintain? How much do they save?

As for ethanol, I have NEVER heard of "oil-based fertilizers" as a criticism before. Ever. Come to think of it, I didn't even know there are "oil-based" fertilizers. I'll ask my friend, who happens to be a farmer and see what he says.

One key issue with ethanol is that it competes with food, and subsequently jacks up the price - emphasis on corn. The "Renewable Fuels Association" even claims this as some good thing (http://www.ethanolrfa.org/pages/ethanol-facts-agriculture).