Noteworthy items from today's blogging:

Cape Cod Today features an excellent, if somewhat chilling, opinion article on the proposed Cape Wind project by Wendy Williams from the Christian Science Monitor. Comments Ms. Williams, "I have watched this drama unfold for nearly six years. The desperation, indignation, exaggeration, and imagination of the critics is astounding." Amen. Williams, a science writer, is co-author, with Robert Whitcomb, of Cape Wind: Money, Celebrity, Class, Politics, and the Battle for Our Energy Future on Nantucket Sound.

Swamp Fox reports that Clemson University, Coastal Carolina University and state-owned utility Santee Cooper are partnering to establish a project to determine feasibility of wind power on an undeveloped South Carolina barrier island. It'll be interesting to see the results, as South Carolina is not among the states reported to be leaders in wind energy resources. Still, more recent studies have identified a huge offshore resource in the mid-Atlantic between North Carolina and Massachusetts (enough to supply all of the energy used in the region's coastal states), so it's good to keep an open mind.

Domestic Fuel has a brief description of an innovative project in Iowa that would combine wind power with underground compressed-air storage. While combining storage and wind would certainly increase wind energy's market, it's important to note that storage is not a critical need in today's utility system. See Myth #4 in the U.S. Department of Energy's Wind Energy Myths fact sheet.

TTC News Archives reports on efforts to improve rail and highway transportation and electric transmission in support of economic development in Texas, noting that one of the purposes of new transmission will be to ship wind-generated electricity to market. As I've mentioned elsewhere, the nation's transmission infrastructure needs an upgrade, not just for wind, but to increase overall system reliability--it's been suffering for too many years from NIMBYs (Not-In-My-Back-Yarders), who turn out to oppose new lines but seem to have no problem using electricity.

Regards,
Tom