Peak Oil News and Message Boards

If you are still looking for hits on windmills a new one has popped up on the west side of I-75 just south of Toledo, Ohio. I just noticed it while passing through on my way to an appointment, if there was a local fanfare surrounding it I am unaware of it.

Tanada wrote:If you are still looking for hits on windmills a new one has popped up on the west side of I-75 just south of Toledo, Ohio. I just noticed it while passing through on my way to an appointment, if there was a local fanfare surrounding it I am unaware of it.

Yeah that's not surprising as it is fairly flat through there. They might even be an extension of the same farms that went in north of Ft Wayne a few years ago.

edit: related to the thread just how exactly? :MD

Update from Texas. Back in the beginning the question was about local experience. I occasion drive thru the big wind farm on the coast of S Texas. As far as the locals go there aren’t any negatives and thus no local resistance. The only complaints were rather minor about the potential damage to migratory birds. Given that Texas shoot several million migratory birds (mostly dove and geese) during hunting season ever year the bird loss from the turbines wasn't given much consideration. And landowners are making money from lease for the turbines on lands that still generate the same income from ag and cattle grazing. Bottom line the satisfaction level of wind power in Texas is very high. Especially over the impact of lower consumer prices. There was one big loser: a group made a big multi-billion acquisition of an fossil fuel sourced electrical generator. With the competition of lower prices from wind they couldn’t charge the higher prices they had used to justify their acquisition. In essence they grossly underestimated wind expansion and paid way too much. Which goes a long way to show how consumers in Texas are benefitting. For the most part the farms are in areas with very little population.

In the meantime Texas continues its plan for two big offshore wind projects. Unlike the New England stalled offshore wind farm projects the federal govt has no jurisdiction over the Texas offshore. It's completely controlled by the state and thus no resistance unlike the perpetual lawsuits the feds have been dealing with off the east coast.

John Billingsley Jr., the CEO of Dallas-based Tri Global Energy, has started construction on seven wind farms. One of them, the 1,100-megawatt Hale Community Energy project, would be the largest wind farm in the country if completed today.

Technology giant Google continues to bet on the future of wind power in Texas. The California-based company is investing $75 million in a wind farm under development outside Amarillo by Pattern Energy Group. It is Google’s 15th investment in a wind project nationally and second in Texas. Named Panhandle 2, the farm will boast a 182 megawatt capacity – enough to power roughly 56,000 homes. It is scheduled to begin operation by the end of 2014. Last year Google invested $200 million in a 161 megawatt wind project in the Panhandle named Spinning Spur

North of the 48th, in SW Alberta there are many on ridges paralleling the Rockies. These seem to be the "sweet spots" - nothing in between the ridges so far.