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| 06 Oct 2009 07:28:12 pm |
 The nukes are coming! The nukes are coming! |
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Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander is continuing his campaign against renewable energy "sprawl" -- and for nuclear energy. In a speech Monday before the environmental group Resources for the Future, Alexander called for building 100 new nuclear power plants rather than investing in renewable energy.
Referring to a recent Nature Conservancy study that attempted to quantify the land use impact of renewable energy, Alexander said, "The paper should serve as a Paul Revere ride for the coming renewable energy sprawl. "
He continued, "There are negative consequences, as well as positive effects, from producing energy from the sun, the wind and the earth. And, unless we are as wise in our response as the authors have been in their analysis, our nation runs the risk of damaging the environment in the name of saving the environment."
We should also be careful about facts. In the speech, Alexander asserts that today's turbines are "50 stories high," and that one megawatt of wind requires "about 60 acres of land."
C'mon, Senator. Today's larger turbines are about 30 stories high. And when a large wind farm is spread out across a large farm or ranch, it can average out to 60 acres per turbine. But 95-98% of that acreage is undisturbed, and can still be used for farming or ranching. (He gets a lot of other facts wrong; we'll follow up in the next day or two.)
Curiously, Senator Alexander did not specify how he proposes to finance 100 new nuclear plants, in which states he would locate them, where he would get the water, or where he would store the waste. |
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Category : AWEA News
| By : Chris Madison |
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| 05 Oct 2009 11:28:22 pm |
| Tribal claims threaten to delay Cape Wind one more time |
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Just when you thought the Cape Wind saga could not get any stranger, it does. Months after the Interior Department issued a favorable environmental impact statement, and just when developers were awaiting their leases from the Interior Department, two Indian tribes are asserting that the very place where the wind developer proposes to sink the foundations for the turbines happens to be an ancient burial ground. So they have asked that all of Nantucket Sound be declared a "traditional cultural property" under the National Historic Preservation Act, and off limits to any development.
Of course, the tribes don’t have maps of the burial grounds—which presumably were on dry land when the burials took place--and no signs of such a site were found when the developers took extensive core samples at the site during environmental reviews.
But, according to a story in Climate Wire, “The Wampanoag say their oral history reaching thousands of years into the past points to the [Horseshoe] Shoal as a place where early relatives hunted, lived and died. The tribes say they are relying on oral histories to tell them the location. “
Proponents of Cape Wind wonder why this issue was not raised earlier in the nine-year process--the tribes have been observers of the process all along--and strongly suspect the tribes are getting support (and talking points) from the Alliance to Save Nantucket Sound.
In addition, it has been pointed out that sanctuary status for Nantucket Sound on other grounds has been rejected by none other than the U.S. Supreme Court.
The dispute over the tribal claims could be settled in a matter of weeks if the Interior Department’s Marine Minerals Service rejects the claim, and if the Massachusetts Historical Commission agrees. But there is no certainty of that, and proponents of Cape Wind are nervous that accepting the tribal claims will set a precedent for other projects.
“This is critical for the entire offshore wind industry," said Barbara Hill, executive director of Clean Power Now, a non-profit group that supports the project. “Cape Wind is the one offshore wind project that has passed muster, that has cleared all the regulatory hurdles. If it gets scuttled at the eleventh hour over this issue, that will drastically change current public policy toward offshore wind in the United States,” she said. |
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Category : AWEA News
| By : Chris Madison |
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| 01 Oct 2009 02:24:59 pm |
| World's largest wind farm completed (in Texas, of course) |
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E.ON Climate and Renewables (EC&R) today announced the completion of the world’s largest wind farm near Roscoe, Texas. The Roscoe wind complex has an installed capacity of 781.5 megawatts (MW), generating enough electricity to power more than 230,000 homes.
The project covers nearly 100,000 acres in four counties, and has 627 turbines manufactured by Mitsubishi, General Electric and Siemens. Construction took more than two years. “Completing the world’s biggest wind farm took more than a billion dollar investment, coordination with more than 300 landowners and management of more than 500 workers,” North American CEO of EC&R Steve Trenholm stated. “Today is a great day for our company and the team that made this a reality.”
EC&R's U.S. wind projects now total 1,488 MW. Worldwide, it operates 2,600 MW. |
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Category : AWEA News
| By : Chris Madison |
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| 30 Sep 2009 10:44:51 pm |
| Wisconsin Governor Doyle signs siting law |
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Wisconsin continues to lead in wind energy initiatives. Today Gov. Jim Doyle signed legislation that directs the Public Utilities Commission to set more uniform standards for construction and operation of wind projects.
"This bill is a clear signal to the wind industry that Wisconsin is open for business and will create more jobs for hardworking Wisconsin families," Doyle said. |
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Category : AWEA News
| By : Chris Madison |
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| 29 Sep 2009 09:17:43 pm |
| Governors' Wind Energy Coalition adds R.I. Gov. Carcieri |
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Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri today was named Vice Chairman of the Governors' Wind Energy Coalition. Iowa Gov. Chet Culver is the chairman. Carcieri's appointment broadens the coalition's scope to include potential for offshore wind. Rhode Island has significant offshore wind resources, and Carcieri has pledged to develop them.
In a statement, AWEA CEO Denise Bode said, "Governor Carcieri, who leads a state with significant offshore wind, together with the Coalition’s chairman, Iowa Governor Chet Culver, will help the Coalition develop and advance the balanced policies needed to use all the nation’s wind resources, which will spur continued growth and job creation. We look forward to working with Governor Carcieri." |
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Category : AWEA News
| By : Chris Madison |
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