Wind Farm at Altamont Pass, California
Posted on 07/30/2002 1:29:37 PM PDT by Willie Green
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:08:02 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Developers and government agencies are proposing 11 wind power projects across New England, from the mountains of Maine to the Boston Harbor islands, including some that would be among the biggest wind farms in the world.
Most of the public attention - and controversy - has focused on two enormous wind farms that would be built in Nantucket Sound and several miles south of the island, raising concerns about the impact on coastal views. But energy officials say there are at least nine other new or expanded wind farms being planned, including two in Berkshire County, and researchers are studying the possibility of wind turbines on one or more of the Boston Harbor islands.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
That's not bad logic. :)
But Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Barney Frand, Marty Meehan and Ed Markey already have full-time jobs. Guess the windpower will only be available when Congress is in recess.
ALAMEDA COUNTY County OKs Plan to Replace Old Windmills
Livermore -- "The Alameda County Board of Supervisors has approved a controversial plan to replace the old windmills at the Altamont Pass that have been butchering endangered raptors. The new larger, slower blades are expected to cut down the number of bird deaths. Environmentalists say that in seven years, 165 golden eagles and 447 red-tailed hawks were found dead on the grassy slopes beneath the turbines. The birds cannot see the swift- moving blades and accidentally fly into them."
"The Board of Supervisors on Thursday approved a plan to tear down 1,270 windmills and replace them with 187 wind machines that are easier for birds to see and avoid. Some wind farm operators have threatened to sue the county. Altamont Pass Wind Farm, one of the nation's first and largest users of windmills to produce power, provides energy to about 1 million Bay Area residents a year."
Wind Farm at Altamont Pass, California
But not everywhere all the time. I spent a few minutes outside the other evening in 90+ deg. temperatures and 70% or so R.H. with nary a breath of wind to breathe, and was happy to go back inside to an air conditioned house supplied by a reliable baseload utility grid that wasn't dependent on non-existent (at the time) wind.
Its the usual question: whaddya do when the wind don't blow and the sun don't shine?
Sailing ships, pumping water, drying clothes, the list of tasks we ask of wind expands in sync with our expanding imagination. Current concerns over energy, specifically electricity supply, brings wind power to the forefront of energy planning, and with it brings renewed concerns over the possible harm that large scale wind farms might have on bird populations.
Is wind power for the birds? No one’s quite sure. Large scale wind farming for electricity is a relatively new human enterprise, beginning in the 1980s as a response to the OPEC initiated oil price hikes of the previous decade. Alarm bells began ringing shortly thereafter as reports of large scale raptor deaths emerged in conjunction with the start up of the largest wind power experiment at the time, in Altamont, California.
In 1994, the United States Department of Energy, working with the American Wind Energy Association, the Audubon Society and other groups, sponsored the first ever conference, The National Avian-Wind Power Planning Meeting, to determine a research plan of action. Among the groups’ first initiatives was the development of a protocol to standardize the work. Specifically, the committee decided on a two goal strategy of determining the risks to bird mortality associated with future wind farm development and document the number of bird fatalities linked with already existing wind farm projects.
Since that time, wind farm placements have been contingent upon four factors. First, potential areas are studied to discover the number and types of both their seasonal and year long bird populations. Weather and other types of environmental factors potentially affecting bird populations are also taken into account. Using this data, planners then determine which parts of the year may be more or less hazardous to the populations in question. Finally, the information is placed into a data base in order to be able to assess how the placement of the wind farm may or may not have changed the situation.
Avian mortality evidence linked to wind farms collected over the past decade shows mixed results, pointing to the fact that facility siting rather than the wind turbines themselves plays the most important role in mortality rates. According to a review of the studies done to date by Curry & Kerlinger, consultants to the wind power and telecommunications industries, raptor mortality is still problematic at the Altamont site, with over 5,000 turbines, the largest wind power facility in terms of total turbines. Other high numbered turbine sites, such as the San Gorgonio Pass, near Palm Springs, California, with some 2,700 turbines, record relatively few bird mortalities. Studies of other smaller numbered turbine facilities report similar lower mortality rates.
Since the number of large scale wind farms and subsequent avian mortality studies is limited, their generalizability to future wind farm placements are also limited. On a positive note, the studies continue and all interested environment, industry and government parties continue to consider different ways to safeguard bird populations. The American Wind Energy Association, for example, discusses a variety of creative approaches such as changing the shape of turbine construction to make them less appealing as nesting and perching sites, varying the colors of the turbine blades and using radio frequencies that may warn or chase birds away.
Changes in wind turbine technology increasing electricity output per turbine promises to reduce the number of turbines necessary to produce electricity, potentially making more room for the birds. The largest wind power producing project planned to date, on the border of Washington and Oregon south of Walla Walla, Washington, will comprise only some 450 wind turbines.
Usually when a few are build the people want more of them. The antiques build in the 80's are an exception.
Nuclear Power? Never heard of it.
You obviously have not seen the many windmill farms in CA! Unfortunately, they are noisy, ugly, take up a lot of room and contribute only a small amount to the total energy generation.
I'm not aware of a single windfarm anyplace on the planet that is profitable without being heavily subsidized by taxpayers and power users.
Yeah, they generally do tend to highlight windpower's shortcomings.
Usually when a few are build the people want more of them.
Up to a point.
I recall calculating once that it would take roughly 3000 of these monstrosities to provide the equivalent output of just one nuke plant.
Having several dozen Giant Windmills around is a fascinating novelty.
Thousands of 'em will spark a revolt.
New England may swing back into conservative arms yet!
Well, they DO generate some electricity, so even if it's not the most economic method, New Englanders will get something in return for their investment.
And as far as the noisy/ugliness, etc. I'm counting on that... New Englanders don't like eyesores as much as Kalifornicators.
I don't know if they need subsidies for operation.
I was under the impression that it was just a tax scam "incentive" to subsidize initial construction.
I could be wrong.
But as an engineer, I admit having a soft spot in my heart for simple technology built on a massive scale.
Giant Windmills may not be economical except in special niche applications.
But I have no problem with a bunch of them being built to PROVE to the general public that they're an eyesore and not very economical.
And on the plus side, they will at least generate something.
It's a funny cycle with wind power. The enviros clamor for renewable energy such as wind power. A utility, often taking advantage of tax breaks, builds a wind generation farm. The enviros then complain about how ugly the turbines are, along with the fact that the turbines are bird Benihanas.
Repeat ad infinitum with any kind of technology...
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