'BFD' a reference, of course, to Biden's well remembered open mic blooper about Obamacare. "This is a Big F***ing Deal."
These are imposing looking wind turbines.
CLICK FOR FULL SIZE
GE Renewable Energy's 13MW Haliade-X has 107-meter (351-foot long) blades and a 220-meter (722-foot tall) tower.
If approved, the $2 billion project would be the first utility-scale wind power development in offshore federal waters.
The project is named Vineyard Wind 1 and will be located south of Martha's Vineyard near Cape Cod. It's slated to produce 800 MW, enough electricity to power 400,000 homes.
"Biden looks to boost offshore wind energy with [Massachusetts] project as a model"
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Biden aims to double offshore wind production by 2030 as part of his administration’s efforts to combat climate change.
The Biden administration on Monday announced a plan to vastly expand the use of offshore wind power along the East Coast, aiming to tap a potentially huge new source of renewable energy that has so far struggled to gain acceptance in the United States.
The plan sets a goal of deploying 30,000 megawatts of offshore wind turbines in coastal waters nationwide by 2030, enough to power 10 million homes. To help meet that target, the administration said it would accelerate permitting of projects off the Atlantic Coast and prepare to open up waters near New York and New Jersey for development. The administration also plans to offer $3 billion in federal loan guarantees for offshore wind projects and invest in upgrading the nation’s ports to support wind construction.
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Vineyard Wind is one of 13 offshore wind projects along the East Coast under some form of federal review, and the Interior Department has estimated that as many as 2,000 turbines could be rotating in the Atlantic Ocean by 2030. The White House on Monday said the offshore wind plan would avoid 78 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
The commercial fishing industry is voicing concerns about how a large expansion of offshore wind energy projects could affect their operations and revenues.
Ocean scientists have ecology-related questions in their minds:
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“The fact is, it’s a big experiment,” said Kevin Stokesbury, a professor at the School for Marine Science and Technology at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. “There’s only so much we can learn from Europe’s experience. We just haven’t had these big wind turbines all over our coast.”
Ol' Joe is out of wind and cackling Kamala has lost her marbles. Neither one of these two is capable of running the country. Someone else is pulling the strings.
Fuel prices are going through the roof while Biden/Harris are blocking domestic production and transportation.
[This message has been edited by williegoat (edited 03-30-2021).]
Originally posted by cliffw: How many wind farts are there going to be off the shores of Martha's Vinyard?
If they build the Vineyard Wind 1 project out to the full (stated) 800 megawatts, it would be (I just did the math) 50 offshore wind turbines. BIG wind turbines. From the rotor hub to the tip of each of the three turbine blades, more than the length of a football field. The turbine's main structure towering more than 700 feet above the ocean's surface. South of Martha's Vineyard and 15 miles from the nearest land on the island of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Island. All south of Cape Cod.
I had it all in my Original Post and the links that were part of it.
Former President Trump would likely imagine wind turbines like these when he "nightmares." Based on some of his wind turbine-related commentary that I've posted on this forum before as links to YouTube content.
[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 03-31-2021).]
Well if they put them off shore then when they fall apart they can become a new reef.
Seems to me a good place to build one. two or three of these would be on or in the proximity of the Mackinac Bridge. Every time I've ridden my bike across it, the wind seemed determined to blow me off that damn thing. Last time crossing it, there was a large RV trailer in front of me. Thought it would going to go over the side of the bridge, more than once it was close to leaning so far that the upwind wheels were barely touching the bridge grating.
Rams
[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 03-31-2021).]
It's pronounced "naw", but spelled "nac". But I thought the article was situated about Cape Cod area?
Not to argue the point, all I know is I checked on the internet and it appears I spelled it correctly. It's hard to argue with the internet, ya know everything on it is factual. Apparently, it's spelled both ways. Or, maybe not. Not something I really give a damn about, just say'n....
Rams
[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 03-31-2021).]
MACKINAC BRIDGE AUTHORITY Spanning the Straits of Mackinac since 1957
Welcome to the Mackinac Bridge Website! Mission Statement: The Mackinac Bridge Authority is committed to preserve and maintain the State of Michigan’s single largest asset and one of the world’s leading suspension bridges to provide safe, pleasurable and expedient passage over the Straits of Mackinac for economic benefit and improved quality of life.
The Mackinac (pronounced "Mack-in-awe") Bridge (1957) spans the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, connecting the Lower and Upper peninsulas of Michigan. Prior to the construction of the bridge, a fleet of nine ferries would carry as many as 9,000 vehicles per day, with traffic backups stretching as long as 16 miles.
[This message has been edited by sourmash (edited 03-31-2021).]
MACKINAC BRIDGE AUTHORITY Spanning the Straits of Mackinac since 1957
You win, don't care.
Reference those living north of the Mackinac bridge, there ain't many that stay through the winter. Been there on a couple of motorcycle trips in the summer and flew over it a few times low level in a helicopter. No way I wanted to land there in the winter.
Rams
[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 03-31-2021).]
The very first image (Figure 11a) captures the clear weather view from Madaket Beach on Nantucket Island.
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The next image (Figure 11b) reveals how the view will be changed by the construction of the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind energy installation.
CLICK FOR FULL SIZE
The 13MW wind turbines, among the largest anywhere in the world, are hardly even discernible against the horizon. They are at least 15 miles offshore from this beach. They will be at least 15 miles distant from any vantage point on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Island.
There once were some fans off Nantucket. But, people there all said "Oh, **** it" Alexandria, in tears, said, "We'll die in twelve years!" Well, Ocasio-Cortez can just **** it.
[This message has been edited by williegoat (edited 03-31-2021).]
That is a photographic SIMULATON of the view from a vantage point on the southern shore of Cape Cod, looking towards the Cape Wind energy project--a project that was stopped before any construction began.
Vineyard Wind 1 is a different and newer project.
"Farther offshore is better."
[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 03-31-2021).]
That is a photographic SIMULATON of the view from a vantage point on the shore of Nantucket Island, looking towards the Cape Wind energy project--a project that was stopped before any construction began.
Vineyard Wind 1 is a different and newer project.
"Farther offshore is better."
My limerick is also just a simulation. AOC doesn't know how. (to spell Nantucket)
[This message has been edited by williegoat (edited 03-31-2021).]
As recently as August, 2020, Vineyard Wind LLC, the company behind the project, agreed to provide $34.4 million over the next 45 years to remedy or compensate the residents of Nantucket Island for any negative impacts of the (proposed) offshore wind energy project which they could build out to as many as 84 "super-sized" wind turbines. Each turbine will have three blades that are longer than a football field from hub to tip. The 13MW turbines will have towers that rise several hundreds of feet above the ocean's surface.
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NANTUCKET — Vineyard Wind has agreed to pay the town $34.4 million over the next 45 years as financial mitigation for the 84-turbine offshore wind farm it has proposed 14 miles southeast of Madaket that some town officials, preservationists, fishermen and environmentalists see as potentially environmentally and visually devastating.
The offshore wind-energy company has also agreed to move the first row of turbines back on its 250-square-mile, 800-megawatt-project site, paint the turbines a nonreflective gray color and install an aircraft detection lighting system that activates only when planes are overhead to address the concerns.
But Madaket resident Mary Chalke sees it as the least they can do. No amount of money or mitigation, she said, can reverse the environmental impact the wind farm will have on the marine animals that inhabit the waters around the island or the visual impact the turbines will have when they’re seen from Nantucket.
Regarding the bridge, that is copied and pasted from the Bridge Authority.
It's not uncommon to alter pronunciations to ease understanding different locations or reflect how they independently evolved linguistically. Detroit isn't pronounced how it originally was founded.
Louisville is a good example of differentiating towns by pronouncing it: lewis, lou-a, louie. You had me wondering, so...
Whether it is spelled Mackinaw as in Mackinaw City or Mackinac as in Mackinac Island, they are pronounced the same way: Mack-i-naw. Why? It is because of the area's rich history with the Native Americans, French, and British.
The area was named Michilimackinac by the Native Americans and when the French built a fort here in 1715, they recorded the name with a "c" on the end as a French word with an "aw" sound would be pronounced. Many guests to the area mispronounce Mackinac by saying "Mack-i-nack." The "c" on the end of this word is instead pronounced as "aw."
The word became shortened to Mackinac. The fort was moved on the winter ice to the island across the straits which became known as Mackinac Island.
[b]Edgar Conkling was the founder of the city in 1857 and he changed the name to Mackinaw to reflect how the word actually sounds. Thus, in this part of Michigan, there is Mackinac Island, the Mackinac Bridge, the Straits of Mackinac, Mackinaw City, and the Icebreaker Mackinaw and they are all pronounced the same way: Mack-i-naw. There is no Nack in Mackinaw or "aw"! Pronounce it Mack-i-knack and you'll give yourself away as a tourist who doesn't know how to pronounce the place that you're visiting.....[/b]
I think they just called you a tourist?
[This message has been edited by sourmash (edited 04-01-2021).]
Say "Hello" to GE's Haliade-X 13MW Wind Turbine Generator
This 80-second video segment gets you up close and personal with this super-sized "bad boy" of the offshore wind energy industry.
"Turn It Up: Haliade-X 13 MW Turbine Changes The Game For Offshore Wind" General Electric channel on YouTube; September 25, 2020. https://youtu.be/o2o2trxs7bQ
[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 04-01-2021).]
All my personal experience has been naw. I still remember the first discussion with my Michigan relatives when visiting them and the word came up on local news. They corrected me. Later when I lived in Michigan (not in that area) everyone said naw. Can't remember hearing nack without someone correcting. But that's just my experience.
This changes the Vineyard Wind project status from "close to approval" by the Biden administration to "approved" by the Biden administration.
CLICK FOR FULL SIZE
Wind turbines near Block Island, offshore from the State of Rhode Island--the former "State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations." This is one of only two offshore wind farms operating in the United States. The boat gives a sense of the size of these offshore turbines. (Chang Lee for The New York Times.)
Construction on the nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm is expected to begin this summer, after the Biden administration gave final approval Tuesday to a project it hopes will herald a new era of wind energy across the United States.
The Vineyard Wind project calls for up to 84 turbines to be installed in the Atlantic Ocean about 12 nautical miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. Together, they could generate about 800 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 400,000 homes.
The project would dwarf the scale of the country’s two existing wind farms, off the coasts of Virginia and Rhode Island. Together, they produce just 42 megawatts of electricity.
In addition to Vineyard Wind, a dozen other offshore wind projects along the East Coast are now under federal review. The Interior Department has estimated that by the end of the decade, some 2,000 turbines could be churning in the wind along the coast from Massachusetts to North Carolina.
[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 05-12-2021).]
I guess a benefit of having the wind farm (vineyard???) in the ocean is that all the birds that are slaughtered will conveniently disappear. The last wind pylons I saw shipping up from San Diego to points North were all Made in China. Hopefully Uncle Joe will make sure this new project will be Made in the USA.
Originally posted by Notorio: I guess a benefit of having the wind farm (vineyard???) in the ocean is that all the birds that are slaughtered will conveniently disappear. The last wind pylons I saw shipping up from San Diego to points North were all Made in China. Hopefully Uncle Joe will make sure this new project will be Made in the USA.
"Birds"
Quoting from Volume II of the Vineyard Wind 1 Offshore Wind Energy Project Final Environmental Impact Statement
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Some turbine strikes could occur as a result of the Proposed Action, though the extent to which this mortality would affect resident and migrant populations of birds is unclear at this time. Given the low expected use of the [Wind Development Area], these impacts would be negligible to minor.
Those species with higher displacement sensitivity would be expected to avoid the Proposed Action, resulting in non-measurable negligible impacts. Conversely, the presence of structures may result in minor beneficial impacts due to the anticipated reef effect. Ongoing and future non-offshore wind activities would not have any impact on birds.
WTGs [Wind Turbine Generators] associated with future offshore wind (excluding the Proposed Action) would be expected to result in a greater number of strikes due to the much larger number of WTGs. Similarly, under the expanded planned action scenario, a much larger area of habitat would be unavailable to foraging individuals of species with higher displacement sensitivity.
In context of reasonably foreseeable environmental trends, combined impacts from this sub-IPF [sub-Impact Producing Factor] on birds from ongoing and planned actions, including Alternative A, are expected to range from negligible to moderate as most of the assumed WTG strikes would be attributed to future offshore wind development (excluding the Proposed Action) and may also result in long-term moderate beneficial impacts due to the large number of structures.
I'm still waiting for the consecutive translation.
[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 05-13-2021).]
"Biden administration unveils offshore wind energy plan for California" Anna M. Phillips, Rosanna Xia and Sammy Roth for the Los Angeles Times; May 25, 2021. https://www.latimes.com/pol...or-californias-coast
Article highlights
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The federal government plans to open more than 250,000 acres off the California coast to wind development, the Biden administration announced Tuesday, as part of a major effort to ramp up the nation’s renewable energy and cut its climate-warming emissions.
Under the plan, the administration would allow wind power projects to be built in federal waters off the coast of Central California northwest of Morro Bay, as well as at a second location west of Humboldt Bay. Officials estimate that the two areas combined could generate 4,600 megawatts of electricity — enough to power 1.6 million homes. . . .
California Governor Gavin Newsom praised the plans, noting that California had spent years trying to advance offshore wind power under the Trump administration, with no success. The state, he said, will accelerate its own environmental review process in order to speed up the projects, which he estimated would be built at least 20 miles offshore with enough space for roughly 380 wind turbines. . . .
Although there has been no shortage of interest from wind farm developers in sites along California’s coast — particularly off the Central Coast and Humboldt Bay — efforts have been stymied by regulatory obstacles, engineering challenges created by the Pacific Ocean floor’s steep drop-off, and concerns about the impact the infrastructure could have on migratory birds, marine life and fisheries. . . .
A report released by several California state agencies in March concluded that the cheapest path to 100% clean energy would involve building 10,000 megawatts of offshore wind. . . .
"Sensor-driven turbine platforms could unlock 4,000 TWh of offshore wind"
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Bringing the biggest turbines to deep waters is an engineering challenge.
Wind turbines already actively manage the pitch of their blades and the torque of their generator to optimize energy production while minimizing fatigue. The new tension leg platform that Blom and his colleagues designed coordinates the turbine’s responses with the tensioning or loosening of each tendon. All of this happens several times a second to continuously adjust the entire system.
The active design could trim up to 35 percent of the total mass of the platform, GE says, allowing wind developers to cut a significant driver of costs. It could also mean that a future platform may help install itself. Today, tension leg platforms require a special ship to bring the platform down to the correct depth. An active system could winch itself down, further reducing costs. How much money could be saved remains to be seen—the team has yet to do a full analysis of how the system would change the levelized cost of electricity, a key metric used to compare different sources of power, though it’s in the team's plans. Currently, ARPA-E is looking to the next two-year phase of the project, which would result in a prototype that could be tested out at sea.
"[The Biden administration] is breaking a promise to block [oil and gas] drilling on public lands" Adam Federman; in the Washington Post; November 19, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost....a96e00fa3_story.html
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[From January 20 to October 31 of this year] the Bureau of Land Management approved [slightly more than 3000] new onshore [oil and gas] drilling permits . . .
[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 11-22-2021).]
1 minute 54 seconds; narrated with captions, only sounds are music.
It's a newly announced Floating Offshore Wind Energy project in the Canary Islands. Newly announced, as of September, 2022,
This is a top tier commercial promo that artfully eschews the spoken word to viscerally immerse the viewer in the offshore wind energy experience—"major league" accessibility and engagement.
Unfortunately the coastal regions will be the only ones who benefit from this. If you tried to do this inland in the central valley where we sit at over 100 degrees for most of the year, these would fail within the first 10 minutes of use from overcurrent draw due to the air conditioners that run 24/7.
Originally posted by IMSA GT: Unfortunately the coastal regions will be the only ones who benefit from this. If you tried to do this inland in the central valley where we sit at over 100 degrees for most of the year, these would fail within the first 10 minutes of use from overcurrent draw due to the air conditioners that run 24/7.
I think that even during the highest summertime temperatures in the Central Valley, there would be usable wind energy in these offshore areas that are being scoped out, near Humboldt in the north and Morro Bay, farther south.
One big requirement is grid connectivity. That will require a larger investment to "grid up" offshore wind energy from the Humboldt area, than the other area farther south near Morro Bay.
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California also has world-class offshore wind conditions. The areas of Morro and Humboldt Bay both produce wind speeds of over 10 meters per second—more than enough to support commercially viable, reliable floating wind power production.
The reliability aspect of floating wind is not lost to policy makers in a state that experienced rolling blackouts last summer, and where regulators are warning of potential blackouts again this summer if extreme heat conditions take hold. Floating wind complements energy production from solar and other sources, with somewhat of an energy baseload characteristic.
As far as this "energy baseload characteristic"... what this means is that the floating wind farms engineering will tap into the winds farther offshore, which are reliable from early in the day to late at night, with a midday falloff that coincides with the peak energy period for solar. So there's this complementarity between offshore wind and solar.
My plan is to grow the offshore wind and solar energy portfolios for California, with the expectation that natural gas, nuclear (Diablo Canyon), "hydro" and geothermal (all current energy sources for the California grid) will continue to have their place for the foreseeable future.
