Wind Energy- a viable alternative to fossil fuels now?

[SvennoJ]

Mnementh said:

SvennoJ said:
I wonder if we could have a fusion plant up and running already if all the money spend on wind turbines had been poured into fusion research.

It's a good alternative for remote places, provided you add some hydrogen fuel cell tech to store surplus energy for when you need it. For big cities you need plants than can provide peak power on demand
What happens in Spain on a hot day with no wind? It would be bad over here with all the ACs.

I don't know much about wind turbines, but my gut says the less moving parts the better. Having thousands of wind turbines for power must require a lot of maintenance. Solar power might be better in the long run?

Well, we invested a lot of money into researching fusion energy. Really a lot. So far it is a big moneysink. It might be a good option in the future, but don't think it will be ready in production in noticeable levels before 2050. the ITER-projects ends 2038, and that is a research-reactor. We are far from commercial use.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITER

Yeah it's taking a long time. Looks like South Korea is going to take the next step.
http://www.nature.com/news/south-korea-makes-billion-dollar-bet-on-fusion-power-1.12251
They hope to start delivering 1 giga watt of fusion generated power to the net in the 2030's