Google is coming to a (future) offshore wind farm near you. In an announcement Tuesday, the technology giant said it is joining with investment firm Good Energies in a $5 billion investment to secure permitting for and begin constructing an underwater electricity transmission line. Also party to the venture is the Japanese trading company Marubeni and the Maryland transmission company Trans-Elect. The electricity “backbone” will extend 350 miles in federal waters off the Atlantic Coast, from northern New Jersey to Norfolk, Virginia. In the article, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman …
After nearly a decade, the Cape Wind offshore project has a lease approval from the Department of Interior, but it is not quite up and running. Once the 130 turbines that stand 440 feet high (taller than the Statue of Liberty) start moving, consumers will pay a hefty premium for the electricity the nation’s first offshore wind farm generates. The Boston Globe reports: [T]he energy produced will cost up to 50 percent more than energy today from some land-based wind farms and twice as much as some hydroelectric dams. The …
What was normally a peaceful, quiet way of life for residents of Vinalhaven, an island off the coast of Maine, suddenly became loud and unbearable when utilities operating three new wind turbines flipped the switch to “on.” A recent New York Times article reports that some Vinalhaven residents are learning “the hard way” that wind power has its costs. While residents welcomed the arrival of the turbines in late 2009, it is apparent that they did so with certain expectations. Those expectations came from what schoolteacher Sally Wylie call an …
There is nothing like economic hardship to make a country step back and take a fresh look at its priorities. When faced with a need for drastic budget cuts and job creation, countries such as Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and the Czech Republic have all made the decision to reduce subsidies for green energy programs such as wind and solar energy. These nations could not have made a better choice for either the economy or the environment unless they removed subsidies all together. After all, greening the world …
The cold weather is creating a number of unintended consequences for new energy designs. First, snow accumulating on LED traffic light bulbs wouldn’t melt because the lights failed to heat up resulting in car accidents, and in some instances, death. In Minnesota, the weather resulted in wind turbines freezing and thus not turning even if it is windy. This local news story has the details: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk8rsFk9i_w[/youtube] But that’s not the only problem with wind power. It’s not the economic savior the government thought it would be. The stimulus money is …
How do you solve homelessness, obesity and global warming all at once? A green gym, of course: Cass Community Social Services (Cass) will further its commitment to the Detroit community and the environment on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 9:00 am when it opens the doors to its Green Gym. The Green Gym is the nation’s first workout facility created specifically for homeless men, women and children. The grand opening of the Green Gym will mark a revolutionary step by Cass to improve its carbon footprint, reduce its energy costs …
We need to transform to a new, clean energy economy but we can’t build solar panels in the Mojave Desert if California Senator Diane Feinstein has anything to say about it: Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation in Congress on Monday to protect a million acres of the Mojave Desert in California by scuttling some 13 big solar plants and wind farms planned for the region. But before the bill to create two new Mojave national monuments has even had its first hearing, the California Democrat has largely achieved her aim. …
From the UK’s Telegraph: “Demand for power from homes and businesses will exceed supply from the national grid within eight years, according to official figures. The shortage of supplies will hit the equivalent of many as 16 million families for at least one hour during the year, it is forecast. Not since the early 1970s when the three-day week was introduced to preserve coal has Britain faced the prospect of rationing energy use. The gap between Britain’s energy needs and demand throws fresh doubt on the Government’s assertion that renewable …
25 by 2025. That’s the target proposal for a federally mandated renewable portfolio standard RPS (also called renewable electricity standard RES) in which the federal government would mandate to have 25 percent of the nation’s electricity from renewable energy by 2025 – primarily wind, solar and hydro. During the Congressional hearings last week, Congressman G. K. Butterfield (D-NC) told Chairman Henry Waxman, “Not only is [a 25% mandate] impractical, it is impossible.” By creating a federal renewable portfolio standard, the government is essentially forcing costlier, less reliable energy on the …
It’s a good thing the unusually throaty, (AP says it’s Clint Eastwood meets grizzly bear) Christian Bale only had to deal with The Joker in The Dark Knight and not wind turbines. A new study released findings that wind turbines are responsible for causing the lungs of bats to explode; of the 188 dead bats, “they found that 90% of the bats had signs of internal hemorrhaging, but only half showed any signs of direct contact with the windmill blades.” While this is surprising and a bit disturbing, it is …
