Field Trip to Atlantic City, 11/03/07:
We went to see New Jersey's only Large Wind Turbines...
(psssst! you're going to hear a lot more about wind)
...plus Solar Energy, Geothermal, Biodiesel...
Go to:
why wind?
| timelapse/music
| video clip
| windy humor
| articles
Stuff we found lying around
This was our chance to get up close and personal with some large wind turbines in the delightful setting of Atlantic City, New Jersey, and we grabbed it. We visited two Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA) sites: the AC Wastewater Treatment Plant and the Solid Waste Facility. The Wastewater Treatment Plant has the only (relatively) large-scale wind power facility in New Jersey as well as a solar power project. Click to see web-cam video of New Jersey's only wind farm. This is the first coastal wind farm in the US and also the location of the second largest solar array in New Jersey. The wind farm has a total of 5 turbines with a combined output of 7.5 Megawatts. The Solid Waste Facility has a landfill gas to electricity plant, biodiesel distribution, geothermal heating and cooling, recycling and composting facilities, and a small fleet of hybrid vehicles.
Brief report: The view of the wind farm from Rte 30 on the approach to Atlantic City was stunning. Getting close up to the turbines allowed us to see that even in rather strong winds they make very little noise except for the slight "whoosh" when standing right underneath a turbine. The single bird accident in two years of operation shows a very low impact on wildfowl and also reflects the care that went into the development of the farm. It was not lost on the group that this is truly green power: these GE turbines will provide about 30 years of clean, emissions-free energy. Seeing a working wind farm up close and talking with the operator is one of the best ways to understand the potential of wind power and to see how little environmental impact the turbines have when properly sited. Hopefully the billions in subsidies and tax breaks currently afforded to the fossil fuel industry will at some point be transferred at least in part to renewable energy sources such as wind. While anyone in New Jersey can purchase power from the Jersey-Atlantic Wind Farm there is a (small) price increase that must be borne by the consumer -- this is in contrast to the choice offered to customers in the UK, who can purchase wind power at no additional cost. Let's hope the change is made soon.
(stop the video/music first!):
Simulated view of the proposed turbines off the Jersey shore (at 20 miles: where are they?!):
(see also the NIMBO video in the windy humor section). Is this criticism based on visibility and aesthetics also applied to locating oil rigs offshore? Thought not.
~ Wind Energy ~
Why Wind? Reason #1... Reason #2... Reason #3...
People say things like "wind power currently accounts for only 1% of US energy needs". To that you might say: "so all we need are 100 times more wind turbines? How difficult is that?" Newer turbines are larger and more efficient, so fewer are needed.
Wind power is only one
part of the solution to our climate disruption and national security
problems. Scientists (from Princeton University right here in NJ) have come up with a WEDGE STRATEGY that shows how we could address the threats of
climate disruption and national security using current technologies. Wind
energy = 1 wedge.
Articles/Links:
Visit PickensPlan,
if you must
The British Connection
This is the one Dr. C. went up in August '07. Video from Green.TV This report could have
been better: it's not noisy (the drone is from C130s) and speeding up the
film to make it look as if the blades whizz around might frighten some
folks.
Windy Humor:
Green Jobs:
Green Jobs (Green Inc. article)
Page last modified 11th March, 2009
| Contact
| Privacy
| Disclaimer