Report sees few drawbacks on wind farm (off Nantucket)

Boston Globe ^ | 11/08/2004 | Beth Daley

[worldclass]

Still, the report noted that visual impact from the country's first proposed offshore wind farm would be ''adverse" for some historical areas, such as the Kennedy Compound and the Nantucket Historic District. The project already has weathered opposition from several local and national politicians, including Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts.

[LisaS]

Try living near such a facility. "Soothing" and "pretty" (another post) are not adjectives that will come to mind.

[ProudVet77]

Sadly this will probably never get built. There's a lot of political clout out on the Vineyard and Nantuckett. Even though they only spend 3 months a year out there. Can't mess with the beautiful people.
Meanwhile back where regular people live in Hull there is wind generator that sits there churning out the kilowatts. Last I heard a 2nd one is planned for that area.

[newgeezer]

Wind power is a bad, bad idea.

Please, by all means, enlighten us. (Sorry if we've been through this before.)

(I am a conservative and a conservationist!)

Okay, well, we know about your ideology now. Are you an engineer, too? ;-)

[NonValueAdded]

The Nantucket Wind Farm will serve a VITAL role in the energy independence of our country. It will be an important barganing chip in the "drill ANWR" battle.

[newgeezer]

Beautiful, just beautiful!

[LisaS]

The number of wind towers in Hull is ONE - count that ONE. It stands at 150 feet (1/3 the height of the Cape Wind towers) and produces a mere 660 kilowatts. The regular Hull people have come to enjoy their ONE tower much like Boston enjoys the Citgo sign. There is a big difference.

[GOP_Proud]

Do they make a lot of noise?

Judging by that pic it looks like you would barely see them when the folliage is full.

I live in the neighborhood of a large chemical plant so what do I know? I have a great view of the stacks out my front door, but it was there when I moved in so that tells you how much it bothers me. Not much.

[ccmay]

Please do not frame this in terms of liberals vs. conservatives. Wind power is a bad, bad idea. (I am a conservative and a conservationist!) There is no question the pro-Cape Wind folks supplied much of the information that went into the report.

Even more reason to support it in Nantucket Sound.

I want to stick my thumb in the eye of the rich liberals who are oh-so-pious about fat Middle Americans and their SUV addiction, yet totally hypocritical about renewable energy in their own back yard.

If it's a failure, let it be proven so in Ted Kennedy's back yard, not mine!

[LibertarianInExile]

Funny, I heard a story about a girl from Nantucket...

[worldclass]

funny....last summer I talked with my pro-Green, far-left in-law who complained that the big bad power companies would not spend $300 million to build a wind farm in Missouri.
I suggested the Green Party do it themselves. She didn't like that idea.

[LisaS]

In that picture, the turbines are 1/4 mile from the house and are relatively short at 265 feet high. The new towers are typically 320+ feet. Decibel readings 280 ft from the turbine are 60-65 dBA. At thousand feet further away, the reading at the rear of the house are is 50-55 dBA.

But worse, the low frequency noise penetrates the home with doors and windows tightly closed and storm windows installed. There is no way to escape the noise.

Interestingly, wind and renewable energy plants are being targeted for rural communities first. In most cases, people live in/move to these areas with no expectation of having a plant built on their ridgeline or in their face. You made a choice to move to where you live - others may make different choices.

My biggest complaint is that the amount of electricity produced is inconsequential and does not justify building the plant. Compare a 600 MW gas-fired plant to a 30 MW wind facility where the 30 MW wind site sits on 70 acres of ridgeline. Sheesh - it doesn't make sense. Especially considering the fact that wind runs on average at 25-30% capacity.

[green iguana]

produces a mere 660 kilowatts

Which is enough to power about 250 homes.

[ProudVet77]

But the one in Hull is right next to the high school, and also near a lot of private homes. Many of the towers are going to be 10 or more miles off the coast. They will look like specs at that distance since they are not very bulky. Compared to what the people in Sagamore/Bourndale, where the current oil fired power plant is located to supply power to the Cape, it seems pretty insignificant. Not to mention the air pollution which we all get to breath in.

[taxed2death]

"Wind power is a bad idea"

Oh I don't know....it works well in Curacao.

[LisaS]

Don't forget that wind turbines operate at 25-30% capacity on average. 660 kilowatts is more like 220 kilowatts. In this case, it may power the street lights in Hull - a nice idea.

And I am all in favor of distributed power for specific needs. I think more people and towns should assume greater responsibility for some of their own electricity generation. What I oppose are commercial wind facilities.

[Camachee]

You know, these gizmos are actually quite pretty.

Yeah, they are. Too bad that's about all they are good for other than slaughtering birds during migration.

[sully777]

Wind farm at the Kennedy Compound? Isn't that a redundancy?

We have private property windmills in the area. They are awesome to see. I'm sure if a Kennedy dressed up in a little dutch boy uniform and made the wind farms look like Holland, maybe stick his finger into a dyke it would be another Vineyard tourist trap

[RexBeach]

Really? Is there accurate research on that? Hmmph. hadn't thought of that.

[RexBeach]

I think they'd look better in Nantucket Sound.

[kittymyrib]

Tough for these "devoted environmentalists" to actually practice what they preach and switch from fossil fuels to wind energy. We are growing wind farms all over West Texas and the people love them...gives them something to see around Abilene and puts extra money into ranchers' pockets while helping our independent Texas power grid. Now who are the REAL environmentalists?