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| Home Front Economy |
| Wind Power Coming to Northeast? |
| 2008-09-05 |
| Amid a national debate over offshore oil drilling, the federal government is preparing to unleash development of another offshore energy source: wind. The Interior Department, the agency that handles oil-and-gas leases in U.S. waters, is preparing to lease swaths of the outer continental shelf to companies that want to erect massive wind turbines. With the public-comment period for the proposal scheduled to end Monday, competition is heating up to develop wind projects on the shelf, the same underwater formation largely covered by an oil-drilling ban that has become a contentious issue in the presidential race. QUESTION OF THE DAY If you had to choose one, which method of offshore energy production would you support?The federal program signals the start of a broad push to develop offshore wind energy in the U.S. The country often is dubbed by renewable-energy experts as "the Saudi Arabia of wind" because of its vast, windy expanses, particularly in the Western plains. Now, rising interest in renewable energy is spurring exploration of the ocean, where the winds typically are heavier but the technological hurdles to tapping it are higher. That shift mirrors the oil industry's move to offshore wells decades ago. The offshore-wind race is centered on the Northeast. In June, an electricity producer and a wind-energy developer in Delaware signed a contract for a project of some 67 turbines to be built about 11.5 miles off the state's coast. Over the next two months, Rhode Island and New Jersey are expected to choose wind-energy developers to work with as the states try to put together offshore projects. And New York City officials are talking with wind-power developers about erecting turbines on a massive tract of the Atlantic Ocean about 25 miles from Manhattan. Offshore wind power seems likely to be the largest source of renewable energy for the city, says James Gallagher, senior vice president for energy policy for the New York Economic Development Corp. The idea is part of a broader plan by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to curb the growth in the city's demand for fossil-fueled energy. |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #15 compressed air on a national scale? Bzzzzzt |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-09-05 23:42 |
| #14 I saw a storage idea the other day that was based on windmills and compressed air. That made a good deal of sense, maybe it could make storage affordable. And rjshwarz, in the end it will be an "all of the above" solution, bet the farm on it. |
| Posted by: Whavish Untervehr4912 2008-09-05 23:10 |
| #13 Are you proposing some huge electricity storage system There's always lotsa wind (faculty generated) around campuses. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-09-05 21:57 |
| #12 the wind could power the oil rigs... |
| Posted by: 3dc 2008-09-05 20:22 |
| #11 And the sound is designed to help them sleep... |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2008-09-05 19:22 |
| #10 I bet if they told them they were giant fans to keep them cool in the summer and warm in the winter they would be all for it. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2008-09-05 17:32 |
| #9 My problem is the absolutest idea that it must be this and nothing else. Or that and nothing else. And whatever solution is chosen must be done in centralized concepts. Try everything. Decentralize so that we don't overtax the power grid. If something doesn't work kill it and try something else. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2008-09-05 14:18 |
| #8 This is probably too simple an idea, Why not do both?, I see no reason why Oil rigs can't also be wind tower supports. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2008-09-05 13:13 |
| #7 At night they suck off the grid, but our power grid is rarely taxed at night. The idea is to take them off during the peak hours during the work day. As I said, a supplement to the grid, not a replacement for. In California we had rolling blackouts a few years back. It would have been nice to have a few extra energy sources adding TO the grid as Clint Eastwoods golf course does. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2008-09-05 12:21 |
| #6 "take themselves off the grid using wind turbines and/or solar" Are you proposing some huge electricity storage system, or are they supposed to do without power on many cloudy days and nights? |
| Posted by: Darrell 2008-09-05 11:25 |
| #5 Wind power isn't bad to supplement other power sources or to take certain areas off the grid. It is not a solution to replace anything. I would love to see a plan to have universities (for example) take themselves off the grid using wind turbines and/or solar. If enough do it we might be able to change the cost structure and make it more affordable for small towns (the way its done in Germany) or corpate campuses to do the same. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2008-09-05 11:10 |
| #4 People who advocate wind power for anything but pumping water don't know much about running power grids. |
| Posted by: Plastic Snoopy 2008-09-05 10:56 |
| #3 Teddy will want to reverse the juice to make sure he has good sailing wind. |
| Posted by: ed 2008-09-05 08:56 |
| #2 Watch the sharks and the pylons. |
| Posted by: Perfesser 2008-09-05 08:46 |
| #1 Will I still be able to wind surf safely? |
| Posted by: John Kerry 2008-09-05 08:26 |