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Offshore wind turbines. (Photo from Living on Earth.)
Five miles off the southern shore in Nantucket Sound beyond the sun, sand and surf, the wind blows steady and strong. For 10 years this vacation haven has been the scene of a knock-down drag-out fight over siting the nation’s first offshore wind farm. The Cape Wind Project – as it’s called – has come out the winner, having received all of the necessary state and federal approvals. The planned wind farm will spread 130 turbines across 25 miles.
More.
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“The Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility, located in Central Washington, is Puget Sound Energy’s second wind-powered electric generation facility. Wholly owned by PSE, Wild Horse has the capacity to generate up to 273 megawatts (MW) of electricity. Construction began in October 2005, and was completed in December 2006, with a 22-turbine, 44 MW expansion completed in 2009. According to the American Wind Energy Association, one megawatt of wind power capacity is equal to the electricity needs of 225 to 300 average U.S. homes.”
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» More Wind Power With Fewer Bird Deaths
In hopes of increasing wind energy production in New Mexico while protecting wildlife and habitat, a coalition of energy companies, conservation groups and government agencies have come up with recommendations.
The group this week launched a website to list the “best management practices” for designing and siting wind facilities while protecting bats, raptors and other birds. The coalition says its recommendations are based on science but aren’t binding on any of the energy companies operating in the state.
The New Mexico Wind and Wildlife Collaborative involves eight energy companies, seven conservation groups and several agencies such as the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Public Service Company of New Mexico, First Wind, Audubon New Mexico and Hawks Aloft are among the groups that met over the last two years to hammer out recommendations for wind farms.
Read more here
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Supermoon and wind turbines near Palm Springs, California.
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» LEGO buys $500 million worth of wind turbines
Only in Denmark…
The world’s third-largest toy manufacturer is going to be putting “made with wind power” labels on all those boxes of LEGOs, and not just because they bought their power from utilities with wind turbines. Kirkbi A/S, the family holding company that owns LEGO, will be buying actual wind turbines representing fully a third of an offshore wind farm, reports Reuters.
LEGO’s share of the 277-megawatt Borkum Riffgrund 1 wind farm, which will be finished in 2015, should provide all the energy the company needs through 2020. Considering that LEGO produces 19 billion bricks every year, that’s a surprisingly efficient use of wind power.
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Sacrificing the desert to save the Earth: BrightSource Energy’s Ivanpah solar power project will soon be a humming city with 24-hour lighting, a wastewater processing facility and a gas-fired power plant.
To make room, BrightSource has mowed down a swath of desert plants, displaced dozens of animal species and relocated scores of imperiled desert tortoises, a move that some experts say could kill up to a third of them.
Environmentalists are torn over the high cost of breaking reliance on fossil fuels. Public comment has been sought, but insiders are calling the shots.
Read our article here, and be sure to check out the accompanying graphic.
Images: Top, Artist’s conception of Ivanpah ‘solar farm’ project. Bottom, the impact of a solar farm on desert ecosystems.
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Currently watching Fuel.
Director Josh Tickell takes us along for his 11 year journey around the world to find solutions to America’s addiction to oil. A shrinking economy, a failing auto industry, rampant unemployment, an out-of-control national debt, and an insatiable demand for energy weigh heavily on all of us. Fuel shows us the way out of the mess we’re in by explaining how to replace every drop of oil we now use, while creating green jobs and keeping our money here at home. The film never dwells on the negative, but instead shows us the easy solutions already within our reach.
It’s a very good documentary. It really does focus a lot on the solutions to our fossil fuel addiction. Sit down, grab something to do with your hands (like writing emails or knitting or petting your cat) and watch this. -
See how wind turbines generate clean electricity from the power of the wind. Highlighted are the various parts and mechanisms of a modern wind turbine.
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A visual representation of renewable energy growth in the U.S. | Grist
…here’s a U.S. map of non-hydro renewable energy installations built or planned today:
So: lots more, lots bigger, and lots more variety. I’m sure most Grist readers knew this was happening on some level, but it’s nice to have a visual representation.
The point the B&V analyst takes from that is that Solyndra is a sideshow. It’s not going to stop the march of renewables in the U.S. And that’s undoubtedly true. The point I take, of course, is that this growth is impressive but not nearly fast enough. In 10 years, I want the gray U.S. map to be invisible beneath a blanket of multi-colored dots. Get on it, people!
About me
Name: Kat
Occupation: Student, photographer, intern
Appreciates:
Environmentalism
Photography
Conservation
Sustainability
Renewable Energy
Dance
Democracy
Bats
Madison, WI
Environmental Art
Red Pandas
Libraries
Baby Animals
Wisconsin Badger Football
Local Indie Bookstores
Recycling
Broccoli
Weddings
Red velvet cake
Catholicism
Throw Pillows
Social Networking
Foursquare
I Blog: Anything from the list above, but mainly a smattering of cute animals, environmental stuff, politics, photography, weddings, interior design, cupcakes, books, and whatever else I feel like depending on current events and the availability of new red panda photos.
Enjoy.
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A Kat with a Camera.
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