Michigan, Ground Zero For Sustainability, Struggling To Develop Wind Power
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 04. 3.08
In the late 1800's Michigan's forests were clearcut, Paul Bunyan style, and the bellwether Woodland Elk, an exemplary Mega-Fauna whose range was nearly centered on Michigan (pictured), was extirpated. Another species native to Michigan, MegaTruckis flacidus (sp) is living on borrowed time, the official jobless rate is hovering around 7%; and, they are struggling to scale up wind power because of an antiquated transmission grid. All this, while surrounded by water resources that are the envy of half the population of the US and many arid nations.
Developers are proposing more than 3,000 megawatts of wind power in Michigan, an amount - at more than 1,000 times larger than existing capacity - that could push the state's lagging transmission capacity to center stage.
But state officials do not have a clear picture on how readily the state's electricity transmission infrastructure could accommodate the added load - a proposed 2,500 megawatts in the Lower Peninsula and 520 in the UP - from new wind-generating sources...This is a common problem.
The Washington, D.C.-based AWEA, which held a conference last week in Detroit, says transmission is the largest hurdle to expanding wind capacity in the U.S. Much of the 5,200 megawatts of wind energy installed in 2007 was in remote rural areas that are poorly served by transmission lines.
When does a sense of urgency kick in? Must the Federal government create a TVA for wind power transmission improvements, or do we wait on the "free market" to deliver us from coal? It is perplexing. Not to pick on just one state, but...
Ted Nugent Paralyzed Lyrics
I'm on a mission of mercy. I gotta testify.
You lost your emotions. You're paralyzed.
Amputate your logic, you're hypnotized.
You show no emotion. You're paralyzed.
Don't you know you crucify yourself, oh, no.
You're killin' you and nobody else,...etc.
Via::Michigan Live, "Proposed boost to Michigan's wind power faces hurdles", Image credit::PigeonRiverCountry.org When Eastern Elk Vanished From Their Range
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I live in Michigan and I cannot yell loud enough for more renewable energy. Not sure why all these people are trying to cling to all the manufacturing jobs that continue to go away and ARE NEVER COMING BACk over and over. We have a huge gap in energy and such a huge untapped resource for energy here. Between wind that comes up the lake to all the power wave energy and hydroelectic.........well it does not take a genius to figure it out.
I live in Michigan and I cannot yell loud enough for more renewable energy. Not sure why all these people are trying to cling to all the manufacturing jobs that continue to go away and ARE NEVER COMING BACk over and over. We have a huge gap in energy and such a huge untapped resource for energy here. Between wind that comes up the lake to all the power wave energy and hydroelectic.........well it does not take a genius to figure it out.
Well, considering that Michigan's entire economy is hemorrhaging--I've read that something like 10% of Detroit's homes are either delinquent on mortgages or in foreclosure--I don't see where they'd be able to get the money to do a massive upgrade of their electrical grid.
Whether it's the federal government or the free market, we have to wait on somebody else to deliver us from coal because nobody with the fat wallet wants to lose money—they only want to make money.
The first commercial wind turbine was erected in 1995 on my father's farm. At the time it was the largest in the continental US. Speaking from personal experience, Northern Michigan's biggest problem (besides the economy now) is NIMBYism. I hear of some people continuing to complain that the windmills in Mackinaw City mess up the sunsets. They expect to move there and it to stay the same forever and that twarts progress of any kind. Local owned utilities have played the deciding role in windmill construction to date in Michigan.
It is only through the efforts of a few outstanding people that we have any wind capacity to begin with in Michigan. Here is a good article about one of them...
http://www.mynorth.com/My-North/March-2008/Mr-Smileys-Windmill-Wars/
Yes, we should have to wait for the free market to deliver us from coal. Either that or vote for people who will implement cap-and-trade programs. Michigan needs a lot of help, and you'd think the voters there of all places would vote for some new ideas.
*first commercial wind turbine in Michigan