Times Magazine Looks at Bluewater Wind

Sunday's New York Times Magazine features an excellent article on Delaware's offshore Bluewater Wind project by Mark Svenvold. There are many useful passages here. Selecting a few:

[The Mid-Atlantic Bight, a] coastal region running from Massachusetts to North Carolina[,] contain[s] up to 330,000 megawatts of average electrical capacity.

That's enough, by itself, to generate roughly 70% of current U.S. electricity use.

Over time, comments to the Public Service Commission were nearly 10 to 1 in favor of the wind project. A survey conducted by the University of Delaware concluded that 91 percent of the state’s residents supported wind power offshore — even if it meant paying more per month for electricity.

This despite an anti-wind advertising campaign by the local utility.

“Wind power,” says Walt Musial of the N.R.E.L. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory], “is not a niche player. That’s something that the American public may not fully be aware of.”

Indeed.

Svenvold quotes two persistent critics of wind. One argues that the wind blows mostly at night "when you don't really need the electricity." Of course, you actually "really need the electricity" up until wind is meeting 100% of instantaneous electricity demand--something it is nowhere near doing in any part of the U.S. today. The second argues that natural gas is needed to "back up" wind, increasing its cost and carbon footprint. For a response to this, see my comment on Edgar Gaertner's recent article in the Wall Street Journal, which makes the same erroneous assertion.

Regards,
Tom

Greenpeace: Time to Build Cape Wind

"It's time to build Cape Wind" is the tagline of a new 30-second TV spot from the environmental group Greenpeace. The ad calls on U.S. Rep. William Delahunt (D) and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D), both opponents of the project, to support it.

Greenpeace has been a consistent Cape Wind supporter, as evidenced by this earlier video from the group.

Regards,
Tom

Poll to Probe Wind's Popularity

Results of a statewide poll of Massachusetts residents on energy issues will be released Wednesday, according to Cape Cod Today. Should make for interesting reading, especially in light of the Daily Show's recent toasting of the opposition to the Cape Wind offshore project (see below).

Regards,
Tom

Jason Jones Reviews Wind Power

Well, the big event of the past week has to be the Daily Show's investigation of the opposition to the Cape Wind project, conducted by the redoubtable, inimitable Jason Jones. Stick around for the ending, which is truly priceless in its symbolism.

Regards,
Tom

How to Fix Wind Power?

Nick Aster at TriplePundit offers a useful quick summary of an article in Popular Mechanics on "How to Fix Wind Power." I enjoyed the article, which I think is a definite cut above average.

With respect to the obstacles, a few comments (quoting Nick here):

1) Cost of transmission lines from relatively remote locations where wind is best. Solution: Small, local turbines, including personal sized ones that augment the grid with diffuse power generation and negligible transmission costs.

Transmission certainly is a major issue that has to be sorted out in the U.S., not only for wind, but for other electricity sources and to strengthen reliability of the entire utility system. This is a long-standing problem for the electricity industry that is gradually making its way higher on the U.S. energy policy agenda. "Small local turbines" sounds appealing, but while small wind turbines definitely have an important role to play in energy supply, they don't really work when one is talking about, say, providing a sizable chunk of New York City's electricity with wind.

2) The inevitable windless day. Solution: Hook up generators to batteries that store electricity for peak demand and low wind conditions.

Storage is tempting as a panacea. However, most utility systems in the U.S. have little need for specific storage dedicated to wind, and such dedication would dramatically increase the cost of wind. On windless days, utilities use other power sources, just as they do when, for example, a nuclear power plant is producing zero electricity due to scheduled maintenance. With regard to wind's variable output, a simpler answer is already provided above--more transmission lines and linkages. This boosts overall reliability while making balancing problems easier all round.

3) Difficulty of offshore construction. Solution: This is a tricky one, involving technology that's not yet here at as-yet unknown costs.

Offshore construction is definitely something that needs to be addressed. America's onshore wind resource is huge and we can do a lot with it, but to take clean energy to the maximum, offshore wind must be a component. Here's more info on a great recent study on offshore wind in the mid-Atlantic states.

Regards,
Tom

Cape Wind Book Termed 'Piling On'

Cape Wind, the new book by science writer Wendy Williams and Providence Journal editorial page editor Robert Whitcomb, is unfortunately the subject of a rather negative New York Times book review by William Grimes. Williams and Whitcomb, writes Grimes, "pile on" in their attacks on the Cape Wind project's wealthy opponents and "make no pretense of laying out the facts evenhandedly." If that is true (I admit to not having read the book yet myself), it's a shame. As Grimes also notes, "The facts are damning enough. The wind farm, consisting of 130 propellered turbines installed over an area of about 26 square miles, would generate up to 500 megawatts of clean energy. It would also reduce Cape Cod’s dependence on two fossil-fuel plants that help make its air among the most polluted in New England," and "Opposition boiled down to four words: not in my backyard."

Regards,
Tom

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

Delaware 'Sinking' About Wind?

Slacktivist points out that concern about global warming may be a factor in Delaware citizens' enthusiasm for a proposed offshore wind power plant. Why? Well, you can check his map yourself, but it looks as though about 1/3 of the state would be submerged by a 14-meter sea level rise (admittedly still a fairly remote scenario).

Slacktivist also discusses the wind development situation in Vermont, a state where I live and in which, in my opinion, the public debate has been dominated by a relatively well-to-do group of anti-wind folks who have done an excellent job of sowing confusion and mistrust. There are still a couple of proposed wind projects making their way through the permitting pipeline and we may yet see them built. Wind remains a good idea for New England, despite all of the misinformation, because of its ability to save natural gas. For more on why, see A Night to Remember, a case study with some zing from Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture).

Regards,
Tom

One Step at a Time

More positive developments today (great to see them happening on a daily basis):

Delaware

In Delaware, the state Public Service Commission voted unanimously to give preliminary approval to an offshore wind farm. As previously noted below, this decision follows an outpouring of public support for wind energy in a matchup against two fossil-fueled competitors.

Illinois

Meanwhile, in Illinois, the State Senate unanimously passed the Affordable, Clean Energy Standards Act, a bill that calls for 10% of the state's electricity to come from clean alternative energy sources by 2015, rising to 25% by 2025. Here's the text of a news release from Environment Illinois, which strongly supported the bill:

"For more information: Contact Becky Stanfield at Environment Illinois 773-454-0155 or 312-291-0696.

"The Affordable, Clean Energy Standards Act (Senate Bill 1184) passed the Illinois Senate unanimously today. This legislation would also catch Illinois up to other states on renewable energy. 10% by 2015 with a goal of 25% by 2025.

"Today, while enough wind blows across our state to power more than 2 million homes, less than 5 percent of this potential has been developed. Twenty-three states have renewable energy standards, and many of them have been so successful in spurring local economic development that the states are increasing their standards. For example, Colorado just doubled its renewable energy standard. Adopting these clean energy standards for Illinois would spur private investment in Illinois wind power by ensuring a market for the power, diversifying our electricity mix, creating millions in revenues for rural Illinois and creating jobs in our state.

"Perhaps, even more noteworthy, the bill requires Illinois utilities to use energy efficiency to meet 1 percent of their demand by 2012 and 2 percent by 2015. If this policy had been adopted in 1990, Illinois consumers' electric costs would be 11 percent lower. For a Chicago two-flat, that would mean a savings of more than $200 this year. If we adopt these standards today, we can save Illinoisans nearly $2 billion annually by 2020.

"The bill now goes to the House; which, last month overwhelmingly passed a renewable energy bill with nearly identical targets as Senate Bill 1184. Proponents are hopeful that the House will now approve this more comprehensive bill."

Regards,
Tom

Washington Post Examines Wind Power

Today's Washington Post features a nice page 1 story on offshore wind in Delaware. The proposed wind plant is up against two proposals for fossil-fueled power plants and, not surprisingly, is attracting strong public support.

Regards,
Tom