Greenpeace Gets It Right: More Wind Power In Erie A Good Idea
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 08.30.07
Lookout Cleveland, Ontario Canada can come compete directly with you for renewable electricity (if they want to). As before, we're talking about the wind farm potential of Lake Erie, one of the more shallow of the Great Lakes (pictured with depth intervals shown). We've lambasted Greenpeace a few times for sweating the little stuff on electronics. But when they get it right, like on this issue, credit is due. A glance at the bathymetric map of Lake Erie, as pictured, makes it perfectly clear that there's plenty of shallow areas where wind turbines could be set, assuming the wind profiles also are good. So why not Ontario?
"Greenpeace dispatched the MY (Motor Yacht) Arctic Sunrise into the Great Lakes for the first time in a decade. Monday, the ship sailed through the Welland Canal, and Tuesday, she was anchored off of Port Colborne."
"“We’re often told by our government officials that we don’t have a choice but to go nuclear and run our coal plants longer. On the Great Lakes there’s an untapped resource, which is offshore wind,” he said. But instead of embracing that resource, he said the government has imposed “a moratorium on even the testing of wind potential on the Great Lakes. Right now we’re not even laying the groundwork to ramp up offshore wind in a few years."
"I can understand people wanting to be cautious, but right now across Lake Erie, the City of Cleveland is already testing to put up their own wind farm just off the coast.”"
Via::Welland Tribune. Image credit:: NOAA, Lake Erie Bathymetry
To update what is happening in Cleveland: we have one test tower up that has monitored the wind near the shore for one year, and a consultant has recently been hired to study the feasibility of wind power.
The next step might be to hire another consultant to design a wind farm, and then we would have to conduct an economic impact study, followed by an environmental impact study, lots of public hearings and public wrangling, and with any luck we'll start construction in about a decade, probably longer unless we really do hit an energy crisis. (Yes, living in Cleveland seems to breed pessimism.)
If Ontario would take action on its end, a little competition might speed up the process for all of us.
There already is a small wind farm up on Lake Erie in the Buffalo area. The Steel Winds wind farm was put online earlier this year and features 8 wind turbines and is built onm the grounds of an old polluted steel mill. More info on it here: http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=48803
A friend who worked there said they may want up to 32 total turbines, but being the Buffalo area politics seem to hold everything up.
Fortunately, Greenpeace is ready to underestimate the cost of wind power by 300% to offset the over-estimates of the dastardly oil-o-philes. This goes a long way towards maintaining the substantial subsidies without which there'd hardly be a wind generator in the U.S.
And why does Greenpeace own a motor yacht? Shouldn't Greenpeace own a sailing yacht as a means of showing commitment too and the practicality of wind power? Maybe they are.
Rather than closing unprofitable car factories in Detroit, why not convert them to wind turbine factories, thus decreasing the cost of turbines through volume. The government needs to encourage wind power. Perhaps a wind turbine should be installed at the White House. People complain about wind turbines being an eyesore. You know what is a bigger eyesore? My electric bill!
This web site promotes the building of the world's first fresh-water wind farm, on Lake Erie, a few miles off-shore from Cleveland. Please note the dynamic list of Champions for the cause - and add your name!
Oh yes, and while you're doing that, click on the song "Wind On The Water", written by Jeff Moyer, and hum along. It's catching.