VIDEO: Samsø: Denmark’s renewable energy island

Posted on November 30, 2009 by Buck

In terms of applying prudent energy policy here in the United States, we can certainly do what Samsø is doing on a much larger scale. More from Popular Science:

Samso — about 30 miles long and 15 miles across — began its trek toward sustainability in 1997, and in just over a decade has erected 21 electricity-producing wind turbines and a heating system fueled by wood chip- and straw-burning furnaces bolstered by multiple small, unobtrusive solar panels. The 11 one-megawatt onshore turbines alone produce more than the island’s total electricity consumption (and enough power to offset 690,000 gallons of oil), while the 10 offshore turbines produce enough power to cover the island’s entire transportation energy budget. Excess power is invested into new energy projects.

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RENEWABLE ENERGY: Poll: Offshore wind preferred over offshore drilling

Posted on June 8, 2009 by Buck

According to a Monmouth University poll, residents of Mid-Atlantic States show overwhelming support for using coastal areas to produce renewable energy. This isn’t surprising, since renewable energy has a lot of potential to supplement domestic energy needs. However, we must overhaul our energy infrastructure and geographically distribute wind turbines in order to maximize the potential of wind energy.

You can read “Life on the Mid-Atlantic Coast 2009: A 5-state survey of coastal community residents” here. From the New York Times:

The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) quickly jumped on the poll to revive the call for increased offshore drilling.

“Nothing about this poll should come as a surprise,” IPAA president and CEO Barry Russell said in a statement. “This poll represents the latest indication of the American people’s support for that strategy — capturing the interests and impressions of a segment of the country not necessarily predisposed to that point of view. Times have changed, however — and so must we.”

The study surveyed 1,006 residents of coastal New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia in April. It has a 3.1 percent margin of error.

The poll found somewhat varying views on offshore drilling, depending on the state. In Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey, the majority of residents support drilling, while support sits at 42 percent in Virginia and 37 percent in New York.

Meanwhile, 82 percent of coastal residents would support the placement of non-visible windmills offshore, and 67 percent would support the placement of turbines even if they could be seen from land.

Seventy-six percent said protecting coastal areas should be a high priority, with 61 percent saying they would support greater efforts to protect local coasts even if it required tax increases.

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CAPE WIND: Barnstable’s lawsuit against Cape Wind thrown out

Posted on May 9, 2009 by Buck

According to the court, the timing to review this case was not proper, since the town failed to exhaust administrative remedies. Allowing for the exhaustion of administrative remedies is important, because the doctrine promotes administrative autonomy and judicial efficiency (if the agency resolves the matter, it will never get to court). From the Cape Cod Times:

The lawsuit claimed the Cape Cod Commission had exclusive jurisdiction over permitting transmission lines necessary for the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm.

The commission refused to issue a permit for the transmission line portion of the project in 2007, citing a lack of information necessary to make a decision. Cape Wind then sought a so-called “super permit” from the state siting board that would include nine state and local permits, which prompted Barnstable’s lawsuit.

In an 11-page decision filed Monday, Barnstable Superior Court Judge Robert Rufo dismissed the town’s lawsuit because the siting board had not yet finished its review of the “super permit” request.

“Because the town has failed to exhaust its administrative remedies before (the siting board), this court lacks jurisdiction over the declaratory judgment claims and must dismiss the amended complaint,” Rufo wrote in his decision.

Related links:

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CAPE WIND delayed AGAIN!

Posted on December 14, 2008 by Buck

This clean energy project has undergone a tougher, more detailed review and analysis than any coal, oil or gas power plant in New England

- Mark Rodgers, communications director for Cape Wind

Politicians being politicians

It’s amazing what we can have the political will to do and not to do. Despite a recent ballot question and public opinion surveys showing overwhelming support for Cape Wind, a Minnesota politician delayed the renewable energy project on what seems to be an insignificant issue or at least an issue that certainly could have been settled long before.

Cape Wind has been a very controversial project, but the renewable energy project shouldn’t have been so controversial. Certainly, legitimate questions need answers and studies conducted, but the concerns over Cape Wind or offshore wind power have been largely settled.

It seems that most environmentalists support Cape Wind, but Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a high profile environmentalist, has resisted the renewable energy project. Kennedy claims he is a supporter of “wind power, including wind power on the high seas” but he has argued, “[S]ome places should be off limits to any sort of industrial development.” In a 2005 op-ed piece for the New York Times, Kennedy argued that Nantucket Sound is too pristine to allow development and compared the area to Yosemite National Park. However, Nantucket Sound is no Yosemite National Park, since ferry boat operators, “who are among the leading opponents of the wind farm in Nantucket Sound have been flushing their toilets in it.”

Certainly, Cape Wind has turned into a circus, and as opponents continue to delay any action to advance the project, construction costs will continue to rise as global demand for raw materials and oil continue to rise. Cape Wind should have been built a long time ago. From the Cape Cod Times, MA:

When a pair of Alaskan legislators tried to block the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm three years ago, Minnesota Congressman James Oberstar, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure at the time, stayed on the periphery.

Since then, the 18-term lawmaker has taken over as chairman of the powerful committee and has used his new-found influence to delay the final federal environmental report on the proposal from Cape Wind Associates LLC to build 130 turbines in the Sound, thrusting himself into the controversial project’s spotlight.

Yesterday, the Coast Guard, at the behest of Oberstar, agreed to delay a recommendation regarding the project until at least Jan. 15. The move pushes the final environmental report on Cape Wind by the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) — the lead federal agency to review the wind farm and a division of the Interior Department — back at least a month from when it was expected to be released.

The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has oversight responsibilities for the Coast Guard, authority that puts Oberstar, 74, in a prime position to influence the review of Cape Wind.

In a Dec. 9 letter sent to Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the Minnesota Democrat called for a delay of a Coast Guard recommendation on the project to allow more time to review a Coast Guard-commissioned study on the potential effects of the wind farm on marine radar.