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Wind energy is a must for America and for Cape Cod

10/29/09 · 3:21 pm :: posted by CCToday     

It's time to get it done!


Why is even Canada a decade ahead of us? Above is the Wolfe Island EcoPower® Centre consists of 86, 2.3 MW wind turbines. Construction began in June 2008 and the facility achieved commercial operation on June 26, 2009. With a nameplate capacity of 197.8 MW, it is presently the second largest (MW) wind installation in Canada. It's in the middle of the Thousand Islands vacation area enthusiastically viewed by millions each season Photo taken from a cruise boat last week  by Walter Brooks. Ironically, this is the project origianlly funded by Joe "For Oil" Kennedy, see here.

Create jobs and free ourselves from foreign oil at the same time

Having spent most of my career managing the manufacture of technical (including military) products, I realize U.S. manufacturing capability is crucial to our national defense. Many U.S. plants that would be capable of making defense equipment are now being demolished. Fortunately, wind turbine manufacturing is rapidly expanding, and, if and when required, can help fill that vacuum.

Massachusetts, with Cape Wind and the new National Large Wind Turbine Testing Laboratory, will create high-tech, high-paying jobs.

   Massachusetts, with Cape Wind and the new National Large Wind Turbine Testing Laboratory, will create high-tech, high-paying jobs, bringing together research, development, manufacturing and large installed turbines.  Another example is the New York Power Authority's "Great Lakes Offshore Wind Project", which is offering long-term contracts for offshore wind farms in Lake Ontario and Lake Erie; this will also make that area a wind-parts manufacturing hub.

   A utility-scale wind turbine has 8,000 parts - many are similar to airplane components. Fifty-five U.S. wind turbine assembly or component manufacturing facilities were announced, added or expanded in the last few years. Regional new jobs will also result from wind farms planned offshore of New England and nearby states.  ISO New England's recent study concluded electricity prices will be decreased by wind-generated electricity.  

We are decades behind Europe in using offshore wind.

   Several more-southern east coast states also plan offshore wind farms, which will make the seaboard a major clean-power producer. The short distance to large electricity-using cities increases savings (power losses decrease with shorter transmission-line distances).  A recent study by Stanford University and Delaware University concluded the Atlantic Ocean stretch from Cape Cod to North Carolina has sufficient wind energy to generate 330,000 megawatts of electricity - almost twice the current energy demand of those nine states.

   We are decades behind Europe in using offshore wind.  For defense, health, economic and other reasons, we've got to catch up, and we've got to do it FAST!

Jim Liedell
Yarmouth Port, MA

23 comments
Blog posts and comments are entirely the thoughts and ideas of the people who write them and in no way represent the views of CapeCodToday.com, eCape, Inc., or its employees or owners.

10/29/09 @ 4:53 pm
News-gal [Member] writes:
That new Canadian Wind Farm in the Thousand Island vacation area was originally financed by Joe "For Oil" Kennedy. See near the bottom of this Canadian Chamber Newsletter here:
http://www.wolfeisland.com/mtnews/archives/2004_08.php
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
10/29/09 @ 5:06 pm
maverick [Member] writes:
Jim..."We are decades behind Europe in using offshore wind." I agree.

But Cape Wind is trying to site the wind factory in the worst possible place. Against all environmental logic. In the middle of the Northeast Flyway. In the middle of Nantucket Sound and in direct interference of the ferries to the outer islands as well as the few commercial fisherman left on Cape Cod.
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
10/29/09 @ 5:19 pm
CCToday [Member] writes:
The commenting rules, as Maverick knows better than most being a regular abuser, state that no one may make a second comment unless another readers has first commented on yours.
Shape up or ship out!
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
10/29/09 @ 6:09 pm
maverick [Member] writes:
Does your response count as a comment?

If so would you like a deceased family member have their final resting place disrupted by a pile driver?
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
10/29/09 @ 6:26 pm
whalerick [Member] writes:
I'd say WE'RE a decade ahead of Canada, in that we haven't spoiled our lovely Nantucket Sound, as they have done with a wind farm in their waters. Plenty of other locations in the US to put these things.
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
10/29/09 @ 7:15 pm
maverick [Member] writes:
whalerick...the Cape Wind fiasco has nothing to do with green energy. It is all about a developer making big money on tax credits and subsidies.
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
10/29/09 @ 10:30 pm
tony [Member] writes:
Since when does foreign oil have anything to do with wind turbines? I doubt there is much or any electricity generated by oil fired plants in the US or Canada.
You are in fact at least 10 years ahead of anyone who is naive and gullible enough to believe that wind power will do anything except help take you back to the 1920's or before.Wake up people and get yourself educated as to the realities of this unreliable , inefficient,expensive excuse for electrical generation that will help send your economy further down the tube at your expense - a little due diligence and you will learn the wind power is a symbol of stupidity.
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
10/29/09 @ 11:02 pm
Chuck Kleekamp [Member] writes:
A response to Tony and others.

For your information, the power plant nearest you, the Canal Plant is an oil fueled power plant. As are Unit 4 at Brayton Point and Unit 4 at Salem Harbor.

In fact, according to ISO New England, the folks that run the power grid, almost 25 percent of the installed capacity in New England is oil fueled power plants.

And most important, the single most expensive fossil fuel to generate electricity is oil (mostly imported), next is natural gas, and last is coal… that cheap dirty stuff.

It is a fact that every megawatt-hour of wind (or solar) power will offset, or back off, a megawatt-hour of electricity generated from an oil fueled plant, then from a gas fired plant and then a coal burner, in that order. You can’t store electrical energy on the grid.

Regards,
Chuck Kleekamp, P.E. Ret.
President, Clean Power Now
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
10/30/09 @ 4:04 am
kay [Member] writes:
October 30, 2009
4 AM

Absolutely NONE OF THIS can justify the fact that industrial wind turbines are making my home uninhabitable; as they will yours, or those of your families, your neighbours, your children, the fish in our lakes, etc, etc, etc.

Because my home is uninhabitable, it cannot be sold. Where do I go to sleep? I can’t afford to buy an extra home. Where will you go to sleep? Where will the fish go to sleep?

Canada is ahead only in the matter of disrupting the lives of their constituents and well on the road to permanently disabling them; not to mention the financial burden we will have to bear for elevated electricity rates and as taxpayers to support subsidization of industrial wind farms. Take a long, hard look at all of the consequences before proceeding any further.

Kay
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
10/30/09 @ 10:21 am
ernie haigs [Member] writes:
Please note that this is not a sarcastic question in any way. I haven't exactly made up my mind about the wind farm so I am really just seeking relative information.

How is your home uninhabitable?
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
10/30/09 @ 3:58 pm
barbaradurkin [Member] writes:
We are indeed behind Europe, and so we can still avoid fuel poverty and BLACKOUTS attributed to a near fatal preoccupation with marginal forms of renewable energy.

'BLACKOUT BRITAIN WARNING'
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/60259/Blackout-Britain-warning

'Save the Planet? Even the Indians Have Reservations'. "But the Cape Wind affair isn't just another case of NIMBYism run amok; it is a good test of just how durable fashionable environmental convictions are. Wind turbines whirring on the scenic horizon might seem a small price to pay for the cause, but they have proved to be a big headache."

Wind energy is a must for multinationals. Americans don't need any more headaches.

Thank you for sharing your well considered thoughts, Maverick, Tony and Kay.



 [ Show all comments by this user ]
10/30/09 @ 4:02 pm
barbaradurkin [Member] writes:
Pardon my failure to cite the "headache" attribution to wind energy to the Wall Street Journal.

'Save the Planet? Even the Indians Have Reservations'.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703363704574503480121623964.html?mod=googlenews_wsj


 [ Show all comments by this user ]
10/30/09 @ 5:43 pm
maverick [Member] writes:
Barbara D states..."The controversy suggests that even the eco-friendliest may start to have second thoughts when fidelity to green principles entails giving up hot showers in the morning or air-conditioning in the summer. We may find that the "truth" is a bit too inconvenient after all."

If this fiasco is approved your electric bills will be out of sight. And you deserve what ever you get. You did no research, jumped on a bandwagon of free wind and free electricity.

CCToday and Cape Wind sucked you all in and you fell for it. Good luck.
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
10/30/09 @ 9:08 pm
elliet [Member] writes:
It's time for NIMBYism to stop! The wind farm will not interfere with any navigation or flight patterns - this has already been established by all review boards. The wind turbines are graceful additions to the landscape, especially as we see the dollars accumulate in our pockets and the horizon become clearer as pollution is reduced. 80% plus citizens want this to happen so the time is now.
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
10/30/09 @ 10:47 pm
barbaradurkin [Member] writes:
Elliet:

Wind turbines cause air traffic, navigational, and Doppler radar interference according to the FAA, U.S Coast Guard and the National Weather Service.

Wind energy transfers citizens' monetary and resource wealth to multinationals in exchange for promises historically unkept.

The path to fuel poverty and BLACKOUTS is paved by wind turbines that harm wildlife and their habitats.

 [ Show all comments by this user ]
11/01/09 @ 6:14 pm
dkfalmouth [Member] writes:
Maverick and others:

Your objections about the lights going out, cold showers, brown outs, etc. rest on one fundamental assumption: That wind will be used as a a dominant or majority source of power on a grid. That will never happen: Grid managers are too smart to do that to us.

Most experts in grid management believe that the maximum for wind on a typical grid is around 20%. Reasons for this include:

- Too much variability is introduced above that level
- The cost of backup skyrockets beyond that level

Grid managers know what they're doing: They'll limit the use of Wind to avoid problems associated with the variability of wind.

At or near 20% Wind will never be a panacea for our energy problems. But it can be a dependable, solid contributor.

Finally, Barbara ferrets out every single glitch that ever happened with wind and regurgitates them in her posts. Of course, all sources of energy have had their glitches too. She makes it sound like only Wind has ever had a problem. Silly of course. Don't believe her incredibly biased stuff.
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
11/01/09 @ 6:52 pm
bittersweet [Member] writes:
I'm with you on that one dk. They don't seem to care one bit about all the damage that oil and coal do to the environment or the people who have to live around it.
It's been decades of death and destruction there, and it never gets acknowledged....only point to what could happen with the wind farm.
If we weren't so selfish in the first place, we wouldn't need so much energy...Always have to be bigger and better. Well, I geuss that mantle can be handed over now....thanks to Capitalism expanding in other places.
Wasn't there just an oil spill??? Yes, from a ship named Dubai.
No mention of the harm done there....only the possible damage from the farm in the Sound.
And for many it's not about the money anyway...it's about taking a new direction with the way we manage our place in the world.....Solar, Wind, Geo-Thermal, Fission, Tesla...whatever we can do to minimize the pollution and disgusting black smoke.
Asthma anyone?
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
11/01/09 @ 7:38 pm
dkfalmouth [Member] writes:
Yeah Bitter: If every form of fuel that we use for energy today had to undergo the withering critique that Wind has had to undergo in the Cape Wind debate, we'd still be living in the dark!

People seem to think that Wind must be a perfect fuel when our current fuels are far from that. Fossil fuels heat the planet and make us dependent upon the Middle East. Nuclear has storage and safety problems. Etc.

Only wind has to run the gauntlet of near perfection!
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
11/01/09 @ 7:49 pm
dkfalmouth [Member] writes:
Re: the FAA and Cape Wind:

The FAA has issued a "presumed hazard" which it always issues while it's investigating something. The designation of "presumed hazard" does not mean that a hazard exists. Rather, it means that a potential hazard is being studied. We must wait until the FAA completes its investigation to understand this.

The FAA has said, however, that the radar problems caused by Cape Wind can be fixed for a maximum of $15 million which Cape Wind would pay. This would be a tiny expense for Cape Wind which will have to raise hundreds of millions in financing.

Now, the FAA continues to investigate and they could find more problems. But for now, what they've turned up is very small potatoes and easily addressable.

So, don't be misled into thinking that this radar thing is a dire safety problem. In typical fashion, the Alliance and company are exaggerating and misleading here.
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
11/01/09 @ 8:03 pm
maverick [Member] writes:
dk...please stick to comments about our racist president. When it comes to wind you don't know your a$$ from your elbow.

Fossil fuels for heat don't make us dependent on the middle east. The car you drive does. Start walking my friend.

And since when are you a radar expert? The FAA is just one part of the radar problem. They provide a radar safety hazard for vessels at sea. Don't they count?
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
11/02/09 @ 5:09 pm
Peter Walker [Member] writes:
CCToday [Member] writes:

"The commenting rules, as Maverick knows better than most being a regular abuser, state that no one may make a second comment unless another readers has first commented on yours.
Shape up or ship out!"

Is that right?

I've seen one member drop seven or eight posts in a row with nary a word.

And where pray tell would I find the rules o' the blog?
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
11/02/09 @ 5:48 pm
maverick [Member] writes:
Peter..."And where pray tell would I find the rules o' the blog?"

Walter has stacked the deck against me. I am playing the game with one arm tied behind my back.

Peter...Thanks for your consideration.
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
11/02/09 @ 10:10 pm
dkfalmouth [Member] writes:
Maverick,

Well, I'm not a radar expert but I have carefully read every pronouncement from the FAA on Cape Wind and I've researched the FAA's process including its use of the Presumed Hazard designation.

Now, I know that may be hard for you to understand. That is, that it's possible to do one's homework on stuff like this. That's obviously not in your repertoire.

You mention radar for sea going vessels: Well, there's no outstanding issue there. The Coast Guard has stated that Cape Wind is not a significant threat to navigation.

For the benefit of others, I'll continue to point out your errors Maverick so go ahead and keep making them. It'll help me and other responsible posters to dispel the lies and exaggerations repeated over and over about Cape Wind.
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
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