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Giant Cape Cod Wind Farm Approved
by
findingDulcinea Staff
State authorities endorse world’s largest offshore wind farm despite feared threat to tourist industry and birdlife. Federal verdict pending.
30 Second Summary
Massachusetts authorities have approved plans to build a wind farm within 24 square miles of Nantucket Sound.
The 130 turbines will be nearly as high as the Statue of Liberty and visible from Cape Cod’s wealthy resort neighborhoods.
Developers want the wind farm online by 2010. It will be the first large installation of its kind in the United States and, by today’s standards, the largest in the world.
The company behind the plans, Cape Wind, still needs approval from the U.S. Minerals and Management Service, which overseas resources on the outer continental shelf, where the farm would be situated.
Opponents of the project say that it threatens the region’s tourist economy and will endanger birdlife. Among the Massachusetts politicians contesting the plans are former governor and presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Sen. Edward Kennedy.
The 130 turbines will be nearly as high as the Statue of Liberty and visible from Cape Cod’s wealthy resort neighborhoods.
Developers want the wind farm online by 2010. It will be the first large installation of its kind in the United States and, by today’s standards, the largest in the world.
The company behind the plans, Cape Wind, still needs approval from the U.S. Minerals and Management Service, which overseas resources on the outer continental shelf, where the farm would be situated.
Opponents of the project say that it threatens the region’s tourist economy and will endanger birdlife. Among the Massachusetts politicians contesting the plans are former governor and presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Sen. Edward Kennedy.
Headline
The wind farm off the Mass. coast would consistently generate 170 megawatts of electricity, powering about 75% of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket. At its peak, production could reach more than 400 megawatts.
Source: Reuters
Situated about 6 miles from the shore, the Cape wind farm will be visible from land, as can been seen on the Cape Wind computer mock-ups.
Source: Cape Wind
Key Players
The advertised benefits of the wind farm are that it offers clean energy, reduces U.S. dependence on foreign energy, creates new jobs, and lowers electricity costs. The project is in the hands of Cape Wind Associates LLC, a Boston-based company.
Source: Cape Wind
The “energy picture for the next 20 years may be one of increasing demand and decreasing domestic supply,” according to the Minerals Management Service (MMS). The MMS, a subsidiary of the Department of the Interior, is the most important government agency assessing the wind farm plans.
Source: Minerals Management Service
Mitt Romney’s Web site affirms the former Massachusetts governor’s commitment to energy independence and efficiency: “We can use alternative sources of energy––biodiesel, ethanol, nuclear power––and we can drill for more oil here.” However, he stands opposed to the Nantucket wind farm.
Source: Mitt Romney
“Thanks to [a] sweetheart deal, the Cape Wind project will not be evaluated in the same way as every other offshore wind energy project,” according to Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts in a recent Senate speech.
Source: Sen. Edward Kennedy
Related Links
Wind turbines are never going to be discreet, but Denmark is making efforts to make them blend in better with the landscape.
Source: Danish Wind Industry Association
Research from 2006 anticipates a 40% growth in the U.S. wind power market, but wildlife conservationists are pitted against environmentalists who predict that the turbines are likely to kill thousands of bats.
Source: Christian Science Monitor
The 7,000-turbine Altamont Pass wind farm in Central California became infamous in the 1990s for killing thousands of birds. However, birds find it easier to avoid the slower, larger blades of modern turbines, and Danish studies into the safety of new wind farms have reassured some conservationists.
Source: PBS
Demand for alternative energy technologies has rocketed, and suppliers are finding it hard to keep up. Vestas, a Danish firm making over a quarter of the world’s turbines, has been unable to reach full production capacity because of a shortage of components, according to this article that originally appeared in the Economist.
Source: Wind Action
Interest Groups
The Industrial Wind Action Group describes its mission as “to counteract the misleading information promulgated by the wind energy industry and various environmental groups.”
Source: The Industrial Wind Action Group
The wind energy market grew by 32% in 2006 and has, according to the American Wind Energy Association, become “firmly installed as one of the important players in energy markets.” The countries that saw the largest increase in wind energy output that year were, in descending order, Germany, Spain, the United States, India, and Denmark.
Source: The American Wind Energy Association
Opinion
Environmental scientist James Lovelock favors nuclear power over alternative energy: “We cannot continue drawing energy from fossil fuels and there is no chance that the renewables, wind, tide, and water power, can provide enough energy and in time. If we had 50 years or more we might make these our main sources.”
Source: The Independent
This Phoenix article considers the wind farm’s opponents. In particular, it looks at the accusations that an exposé of those figures, Cape Wind: Money, Celebrity, Class, Politics, and the Battle for our Energy Future on Nantucket Sound, has been countered with a media blackout.
Source: The Phoenix
Reference Material
Half of the world’s wind farm electricity is produced by Denmark, which currently has the largest wind farm in the world. It is situated 10 to 12 miles off the coast of Jutland, and has a total capacity of 160 megawatts.
Source: The Danish Wind Industry Association
The United Kingdom comes second, after Denmark, in the production of wind power electricity, producing 0.3–0.4% of its electricity from wind resources, a figure set to rise to 3% by 2010. The island location and blustery weather make Britain the most suitable country in Europe for wind power, according to the BBC.
Source: The BBC
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