Ithaca 37
New member
I hope this will be part of the answer for BHR and a few others who are worried about losing a measly 5% of the NW electricity if the Snake River dams are breached!
"Environmentalists say the dozens of turbines that rise more than 300 feet over wheat fields and herds of sheep here represent the future of wind energy — and a model for overcoming the shortcomings that have kept wind from threatening the dominance of fossil fuels.
This new wind system, along with similar ones being built around the country, promises to produce electricity at competitive prices — all without disturbing surrounding farms and wildlife, two of the obstacles for wind power today.
The 90 turbines at High Winds can generate 162 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 75,000 homes, according to Florida-based FPL Energy, which owns and operates High Winds along with 30 other wind facilities in 10 states.
"This is the future of wind power," said Ralph Cavanagh, energy program director for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "The wind farm is becoming a productive part of the local community. It's not an interloper that threatens them."
Environmentalists have championed wind power for decades because wind is a free, renewable resource that doesn't pollute the air or water.
But since the first large wind facilities were built in the early 1980s, they have run into technological, economic and political barriers. Early versions didn't produce electricity efficiently enough to compete with oil, coal and natural gas. Communities complained that small forests of turbines marred the landscape, and environmentalists fretted that the blades were killing birds.
The new wind farm, set in the Montezuma Hills above six farms and ranches just north of the Sacramento River, has overcome such issues, environmentalists say.
High Winds' turbines are taller, more powerful and more efficient than older generation turbines, which means they can generate more energy with fewer machines. Each turbine generates 1.8 megawatts, 18 times more than the 100-kilowatt turbines built two decades ago.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040103/ap_on_sc/wind_farm
"Environmentalists say the dozens of turbines that rise more than 300 feet over wheat fields and herds of sheep here represent the future of wind energy — and a model for overcoming the shortcomings that have kept wind from threatening the dominance of fossil fuels.
This new wind system, along with similar ones being built around the country, promises to produce electricity at competitive prices — all without disturbing surrounding farms and wildlife, two of the obstacles for wind power today.
The 90 turbines at High Winds can generate 162 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 75,000 homes, according to Florida-based FPL Energy, which owns and operates High Winds along with 30 other wind facilities in 10 states.
"This is the future of wind power," said Ralph Cavanagh, energy program director for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "The wind farm is becoming a productive part of the local community. It's not an interloper that threatens them."
Environmentalists have championed wind power for decades because wind is a free, renewable resource that doesn't pollute the air or water.
But since the first large wind facilities were built in the early 1980s, they have run into technological, economic and political barriers. Early versions didn't produce electricity efficiently enough to compete with oil, coal and natural gas. Communities complained that small forests of turbines marred the landscape, and environmentalists fretted that the blades were killing birds.
The new wind farm, set in the Montezuma Hills above six farms and ranches just north of the Sacramento River, has overcome such issues, environmentalists say.
High Winds' turbines are taller, more powerful and more efficient than older generation turbines, which means they can generate more energy with fewer machines. Each turbine generates 1.8 megawatts, 18 times more than the 100-kilowatt turbines built two decades ago.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040103/ap_on_sc/wind_farm
