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Posted on 06/25/2008 8:38:07 AM PDT by Uncledave
The Garden State's farmers could be raising a new crop in the near future: renewable energy produced from windmills and solar panels.
A bill before the Legislature would classify solar and wind energy generation as an agricultural activity. It's a novel idea that deserves serious consideration at a time when the coun try needs to explore alternative energy sources that are more environmentally friendly and cheaper than burning fossil fuels such as oil and coal.
The legislation would allow the owners of farmland to install and operate wind or solar energy devices on their farms. The measure also would protect farmers from nuisance complaints from neighbors, much like laws that shield farmers from encroaching suburbanites who take offense to unsavory smells that often emanate from farms.
State Sen. Bob Smith, D- Middlesex, the bill's sponsor, says we have to "think outside the box" to solve our energy and global-warming problems. His proposal gained enough support to clear a Senate committee and is awaiting a vote by the full Senate. But the measure has yet to receive Assembly consideration.
The use of wind and solar energy on farms is nothing new. Windmills have been a fixture on farms for centuries and solar panels have been sprouting up on barns and other farm buildings for several years now. What has changed is the size and scope of the devices, particularly windmills.
Modern wind turbines can stand as tall as a 20-story building and their blades can span 200 feet. The largest wind machines in the world have blades longer than a football field.
The concept of such massive structures going up on hundreds of acres of open space is of great concern to preservationists. They say farmland preservation is meant to save agriculture and farmland, not encourage new construction on preserved land.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
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So basically this is gonna turn into a turf war between the "open space" liberals and the "alternative energy" liberals.
Living in a agricultural area of NJ, I don’t relish the thought/sight of wind turbines ruining the landscape.
NJ the idiot State!
A good idea. Would it also apply to power lines the utility would install?
Will they be paid for not producing?
Yes! Non-harvest subsidies! Ya gotta love NJ liberal pols!
I second that.
But then again, I have a special hatred for New Jersey, ever since I hit one deer and missed a second one on a busy major road in the middle of a university campus there. (No thanks to the locals who believe that controlling the deer population is inhumane.)
This probably won’t work, as such. So they will probably have to create law for it that is like agricultural law, but tailored for common sense.
However, on a smaller scale, they could make a direct application. That is, if a farm used alternative energy for itself only, then it would be covered. This makes sense, because farms have been trying to do things like this for years.
Rural farms need self-sufficiency for many things, and would be seriously improved by things like a prefab algae biodiesel greenhouse to provide diesel fuel for their equipment.
While solar energy electricity is attractive, it is unlikely that it would produce enough energy for all electrical needs. But it could be useful in reducing a lot of marginal expenses.
Things like solar distilleries for potable water, and marginal coolers to take the load off air conditioners.
Some farms recycle animal waste through carp ponds, then harvest the fish to supplement the diets of their omnivorous animals.
I came across a large bruin in my driveway, in broad daylight, last summer. He could care less that I was trying to get into my garage while beeping the horn at him. The bear population IS out of control.
He was huge....but cute...and dangerous.
> Modern wind turbines can stand as tall as a 20-story building and their blades can span 200 feet. The largest wind machines in the world have blades longer than a football field.
I smell a red herring, on at least two counts:
1. Farms decades ago had 100-foot and taller towers with big windplants on them (Jacobs, Bergey). The blade diameters were smaller, but they were just as visible as what's proposed here.
2. I find it hard to believe that farmers are going to put up any of the really huge windplants and towers (the 200-300 foot monsters). Makes no sense -- a number of smaller ones would be more reliable, easier to maintain, and probably cost less.
The way this article reads, it's like saying farmers want to use (say) earth-moving equipment, and oh by the way the largest earth-moving equipment in the world is 100's of feet long and stands 10 stories high. Maybe true, but those dimensions do not apply to the actual case argued here.
Do you have any reference on the type and size of the windplants in question for the NJ farmers?
That landscape is someone's property. I have no problem with people like you having your home legislated by zoning commissions and Kelo types, because you and people who think the way you do gave them the power to do so. It's only wrong when it's your land but when it's someone else's - go for it.
Any idea which is wrong when carried to it's logical conclusion is wrong in it's inception.
A seriously farked idea, anyone will be able to buy 4.01 acres or more in NJ, throw up a windmill or solar panels, and get the land rezoned as agricultural and pay the drastically reduced property taxes for the land. And they’ll be able to get farmer’s auto fleet insurance rates. The combined savings between getting zoned agricultural and the savings on car insurance would pay for the windmill within a year or two, if you were to buy those new microwindmills being sold from the Netherlands.
Wha? Where do you see "common" 450' high wind turbines?
You make 137m blades all day? LM Glasfiber is the world's biggest wind blade supplier and they just came out with a 61m blade, and clame it's the world's longest:
http://lmglasfiber.com/Products.aspx
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