Can Americans Finally Be Less Dependent On Foreign Energy?
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16 votes
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19 votes
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6 votes
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16 votes
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40 votes
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Cape Wind will be America’s first
offshore wind farm, on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound. Miles from
the nearest shore, 130 wind turbines will gracefully harness the wind to
produce up to 420 megawatts of clean, renewable energy. In average
winds, Cape Wind will provide three quarters of the Cape and Islands
electricity needs.
Cleaner Air
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Our health and environment are negatively impacted by fossil fuel
burning. The American Lung Association reports that Cape Cod has the
worst air quality in Massachusetts. Cape Wind will contribute to
improved air quality by reducing air pollution emissions in New England.
Cape Wind will also
reduce global warming greenhouse gas emissions by 734,000 tons per
year. Global warming contributes to rising sea levels and more frequent
storms that erode our beaches and cause coastal property damage. Global
warming and climate change presents the greatest threat to birds and sea
life and their habitat.
Energy Independence
Since
1973, America has transferred over seven trillion dollars of its wealth
to OPEC countries. Our dependence on foreign energy leaves our economy
and national security at risk. By harnessing our local wind resources,
we can contribute to reducing our dependence on imported energy. Cape
Wind will provide clean, renewable energy capable of replacing 113
million gallons of oil per year.
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Jobs and the Economy
Cape Wind will
establish Cape Cod and Massachusetts as a world-wide leader in offshore
renewable energy technology. Cape Wind will create up to a thousand jobs
in assembly and ocean construction, boosting our local economy and
creating 150 permanent jobs thereafter, including 50 highly paid
maintenance and operations jobs based on Cape Cod. Cape Wind will also
create spinoff jobs on Cape Cod. Hy-Line Cruises will be the official
Eco-Tour provider and they will commission a vessel for that
purpose. Hy-Line Cruises will also be working with Cape Wind to build a
Cape Wind Visitors Center on their property overlooking Hyannis
Harbor. Because of Cape Wind an offshore wind power 'cluster' is
forming with Siemens Wind Power, E2 Engineering, Sgurr Energy and Global
Marine Energy all opening offices in Massachusetts. Meanwhile, the
historic City of New Bedford, working closely with the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, is planning to build a multi-purpose Marine Commerce
Terminal that will be the first facility of its kind on North America
specifically designed for the staging and assembly of offshore wind
turbines.
Took Teddy Kennedy to slip off the mortal coil to allow this to happen I guess. Wind power has about much a chance of producing reliable energy as algae-based fuel.
Somebody may want to "save the seagulls", those disgusting carrion consumers.
"It’s important to note that to date, no wind turbine has ever killed a California condor." Forbes magazine, GREEN TECH | 4/13/2012, quoting a recent study published in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases and written by scientists from the San Diego Zoo and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Over 30 years of successful power generation is not a "failure". And Tehachapi is only one of several wind farms that are up and running. Personally, I favor solar over wind, and while neither solar and/or wind can totally replace fossil fuels, they can decrease our use and therefore need of/dependency on them significantly.
I asked you who is paying for this wind turbine stuff, which you totally sidestepped. Tell me how you're not part of the problem.
As I said, however, I believe that solar, in general, is preferable to wind because, as you have experienced and demonstrated, you don't need gov't support or a utility company for it to work. And I respect, admire and am envious of your success. All the more impressed since I just looked at your bio and saw your age. Since I'm 'only' 60 yrs old I guess I've got no excuse to not finish getting my solar dhw and radiant floor heating system installed this year and finally retire the gas furnace and water heater. (I like to think that's part of how I'm not part of the problem.)
By the way, do you have any kind of website or any articles that tell the story about your otg homestead? And what's the problem(s) you're encountering at your new site?
I sold that property, then after a few years we moved away from the border, bought a house that needed WAY more fixup than we knew of, and are only now nearing the end of that episode. With the economy now so totally unstable it's really hard to tell what makes economic and survival sense for us.
Birds are a lot smarter than you would think!!!
I'm all for generating my own energy, IF I CAN AFFORD IT. There is no way that this country can magically switch from oil to any other energy over night.
The movie Gaslands is hogwash, environmentalist propaganda. Methane can be in water wells that are not anywhere near any fracking. They filmed where there was already high levels of METHANE in water wells.
Do you know what they use the most of when fracking? WATER. There are some chemicals used, but we don't drink oil.
Do you know how deep that oil is? http://205.254.135.7/dnav/pet...
Do you know how deep water is? In PA, the average well depth was 172 feet (median
depth = 140 feet) with a maximum depth of nearly
1,000 feet. [PDF]
That means that oil is around a mile deeper in a lot of instances.
Drinking Water Quality in Rural Pennsylvania and the Effect of ...
extension.psu.edu/water/drink...
I agree that we can't switch from a petroleum based society overnight, but we should continue movement in that direction. Personally, I lean toward solar rather than wind, but that's just me. I can put solar collectors on my roof myself w/out much difficulty or impact on the surrounding environment, if any at all. Not so much w/ big wind machines.
The idea of "small time operators" being allowed to drill for new oil and/or develop their own refineries seems extremely unlikely. The big oil companies would fight that so hard that I don't see it happening without blood, both figurative and literal, being spilled.
2. They require a tremendous amount of gas and oil to be burned up. What?? Yes, they require a lot of gas and oil:
You could barely imagine what is needed to mine and manufacture that amount of steel, transport it and build it. Then maintain it. A LOT of burning gas and oil is used. You'd probably be shocked at the amount of oil used just for them to be lubed up for daily use heh.
3. It is inefficient as a rule. The amount of time, money, resources, energy-burning and brain-power that went into those will produce just a fraction of the energy that COULD have been gotten from fracking and drilling available sources of gas and oil already available right now. And that we know we can get efficiently.
But I'm not against experimenting or checking into other possible angles. But from what I can tell this is more a waste of energy, kills fish and birds and will be inefficient?
the reason why alternative energy sources are failing is the big puch instead of the small push. use wind trubines where they can work not all over. do not use solar panels in an area where you need to cut down thousands of trees to get enough solar energy to power a factory. do not use hydro power unless the water flow is strong ewnough to create large amounts of power for a town. other issue is the libs themselves who do not want wind turbines near their big homes because they look ugly. if you want to use alternate sources then find the locaton wher they work and start building.
reason why the electric cars are not selling is the fact they are not as good as gas powered. do not try to compete with them but show how an electric car going to and from work every day for no more than 20 miles a day is why you want an electric car. look at the cars today they have better fuel milage than a decade ago, and 10 years from now they will have better mileage.