The Dept. of Energy released a 240 PDF page report, suggesting that the US is in really good position to advance offshore wind farms. What's more, the report includes appx. jobs that will be created and sustained due to these projects. This will make apprx. 55 giga watts of power.
Join me over the jump for discussion:
Here is the article from Cape wind discussing these parameters:
http://www.capewind.org/...
Also, I will give you front page of Cape Wind Website, with a picture Of Ken Salazar and the President of Cape Wind, signing a 28 year lease on october the 6th of this year(6 days ago).
http://www.capewind.org/
This is very exciting. And if you live in Mass. and want to volunteer at this facility, here is some info on that:
http://www.capewind.org/...
I also looked on my home page website, and found that Google(of all companies) has invested in Offshore wind farms, off the Easat coast. 5 billion dollars worth:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/
And again here at the hill website explaining what exactly Google is doing::
[By Ben Geman
Offshore wind, the Google way
Google and other companies are investing in a multi-billion dollar project to create an underwater transmission "backbone" for wind energy projects off the mid-Atlantic Coast.
The official rollout is later today, but Rick Needham, Google’s director of green business operations, was kind enough to blog about it late last night.
"We just signed an agreement to invest in the development of a backbone transmission project off the Mid-Atlantic coast that offers a solid financial return while helping to accelerate offshore wind development—so it’s both good business and good for the environment. The new project can enable the creation of thousands of jobs, improve consumer access to clean energy sources and increase the reliability of the Mid-Atlantic region's existing power grid," he writes.
"When built out, the Atlantic Wind Connection (AWC) backbone will stretch 350 miles off the coast from New Jersey to Virginia and will be able to connect 6,000MW of offshore wind turbines. That’s equivalent to 60% of the wind energy that was installed in the entire country last year and enough to serve approximately 1.9 million households."
A $5 billion plan
Other players involved include transmission company Trans-Elect and Good Energies, which specializes renewable and efficiency investments.
The New York Times, which got an early look at the plans, pegs the costs of the proposed project at $5 billion, although the up front investments are much smaller.
"We are investing 37.5% of the equity in this initial development stage, with the goal of obtaining all the necessary approvals to finance and begin constructing the line," Needham writes. "Although the development stage requires only a small part of the total estimated project budget, it represents a critical stage for the project."
Trans-Elect hopes to start construction in 2013. "The $1.8 billion first phase, a 150-mile stretch from northern New Jersey to Rehoboth Beach, Del., could go into service by early 2016, it said. The rest would not be completed until 2021 at the earliest," the Times reports.
Needed: Spinning turbines
Offshore wind remains only a concept in the U.S. – there are no projects in operation, but several are in the planning stages. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar last week signed a lease for the Cape Wind project off the Massachusetts coast, although that’s outside the proposed transmission corridor.
Google’s Needham believes the transmission proposal can help get mid-Atlantic projects into the water. "By putting strong, secure transmission in place, the project removes a major barrier to scaling up offshore wind, an industry that despite its potential, only had its first federal lease signed last week and still has no operating projects in the U.S.," he writes.
Federal power official likes what he sees – so far
"Conceptually it looks to me to be one of the most interesting transmission projects that I’ve ever seen walk through the door," Jon Wellinghoff, the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, tells the Times. "It provides a gathering point for offshore wind for multiple projects up and down the coast.]"
It is interesting to me that the MSM refuses to report alot of good news. You have to search for it, but it is there, and the Journalists Know about it. I find good stories everyday that goes unreported or ignored, and this is certainly a visionary story. It would give more Americans HOPE, instead of always feeling BLAH!