Vast wind farm proposed (300 MW, Buzzards Bay, Mass.)

[jpak]

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/05-06/05-23-06/01mainphoto.htm

NEW BEDFORD — In a proposal that would dramatically change the appearance of Buzzards Bay, a Boston developer wants to build a $750 million offshore wind farm comprised of 90 to 120 turbines in the ecologically sensitive waterway.

Windmills 407 feet high would be planted in three areas of the bay if Patriot Renewables LLC — a renewable energy subsidiary of Jay Cashman Inc.-- can win the numerous approvals needed for the mega-project.

The proposed sites are about 3 to 4 miles off the coast of Sconticut Neck in Fairhaven, Barneys Joy in Dartmouth and Naushon Island, one of the Elizabeth Islands. An estimated 30 to 40 turbines would be erected at each of the three sites.

The locations of the turbines, which would generate an annual total of about 300 megawatts of power, are subject to change based on feedback from the public and other stakeholders, company president Jay Cashman told The Standard-Times during an editorial board meeting yesterday.

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[SteppingRazor]

1. Sadly, I'll wager Mass.'s Democratic senators will be against it n/t

[Solo_in_MD]

2. And you would win, just like the other one they oppose

[SteppingRazor]

3. Exactly. Kennedy cited worries over migratory bird patterns...

but I think we're all smart enough to know that that was just a cover for the real reason, NIMBY

[papau]

4. Why is the location always major bird flight paths/feeding areas?

Screwing the view can be dealt with - you get used to it - like the ugly Santa Barbara Beach and the oil equipment.

But why can't we find wind locations that are not migratory fowl kill zones if turbines are set up?

[jpak]

5. Mass Audubon is OK with Cape Wind

n/t

[sam sarrha]

6. it wont be ok with the rich land developers

[papau]

8. Did not know that - the birds are part of every discussion and there

is no reference to Mass Audubon signing off.

[skids]

9. .

http://www.massaudubon.org/news/index.php?id=318&type=press

http://www.currykerlinger.com/

[papau]

10. Thanks skids :-)

:-)

[Throckmorton]

7. Maybe the two are inexorably linked.

Migrating birds using the natural boost in speed that sustained winds give them?

[Endangered Specie]

11. hmm... is 300 MW the theoretical maximum...

or practical maximum?

With wind power, you had only better expect, on average, 25% of the capacity of the machine to be constantly deliverable to the consumer load demand.

and by the way, these things kill birds, lots of them. and putting them out at sea costs alot of money not only to setup, but to go out and fix them when they break.

[midnight armadillo]

12. about bird kills

and by the way, these things kill birds, lots of them.

I periodically repost the following on DU:

Some windmills, such as the ones in the Altamont Pass in CA, have been built along bird migration paths. This is a bad idea.

The amount of birds killed by windmills is minuscule compared to the number killed by other human activity.

According to the US Fish & Wildlife Service...(http://www.fws.gov/birds/mortality-fact-sheet.pdf ) annual deaths out of a typical fall population of 20 billion in the US:
* 97-976 million birds dead from window strikes
* 4-40 million from communication towers
* 60 million from cars
* 72 million from pesticides
* 39 million from cats in Wisconsin alone(!)
* 10s to 100s of thousands in fish catching

And the total for wind turbines...wait for it...: 33000!!! So really, unless you're putting the wind turbines on top of the nests of piping plovers on Cape Cod, there are bigger problems for our feathered friends. Like cats and windows.

We cannot harvest energy from our environment without ecological impact. Some methods however (wind,solar,nuclear, tidal, geothermal) have lesser impact than others (fossil fuels).

[Dead_Parrot]

13. There's an experimantal turbine in NZ...

That's been there since 1993: situated next to a wildlife reserve in the "Island of birds", it finally claimed a bluebird in 2004.

Not really a huge death toll.

[Nihil]

14. Thank you!

My usual response to the "windmills kill birds" argument is to
suggest the extermination of all cats as this would save over a
thousand times more birds ... at least you are more subtle!

:hi: