Wind Turbines

Stephen P. Kunz's screed against hydraulic fracking ("Coal set the stage for natural-gas free-for-all," Thursday) actually worked to endorse the drilling-for-gas technique. My family has lived in and around the western Pennsylvania coal regions for 50 years, and not once in anyone's memory has long-wall mining ever been mentioned as an environmental concern. On the contrary, for decades, long-wall mining has saved thousands of coalfield jobs and helped make those jobs safer. It is interesting that in so long a piece about the environmental horrors of long-wall mining, Kunz cites not one example of such a project gone bad. Rather than publishing anybody with something bad to say about fracking - irrespective of whether any facts are adduced to support the argument - The Inquirer might want to expose the easily demonstrated environmental harm done by ethanol production and wind turbines.

The potential for wind turbines off the coast of New Jersey passed one more hurdle Thursday, when Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that several "priority areas" in the Mid-Atlantic had passed an initial environmental review. That allows the department to begin the process of offering leases to developers. "Offshore wind holds incredible potential for our country, and we're moving full-steam ahead to accelerate the siting, leasing, and construction of new projects," Salazar said.

Eleven companies have submitted proposals to build green-power wind turbines on 554 square miles off New Jersey's shore. The companies submitted proposals to erect giant windmills on federal tracts stretching from Avalon to Barnegat Light. The tracts lie between eight miles and 26.5 miles offshore. "This robust response from offshore wind developers makes it clear that commercial interest in development of wind turbines is strong," Bob Martin, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection, said in a statement.

TRENTON - Fishermen's Energy, the company likely closest to placing wind turbines off the coast of New Jersey, is seeking more time to file an amended application with state regulators after harsh criticism of its initial proposal by consultants. The extension request by Cape May-based Fishermen's Energy is to be taken up Wednesday by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. The company wants to put five or six turbines 2.8 miles off the coast of Atlantic City in a $200 million, 25-megawatt project intended to provide enough electricity to power 10,000 homes.

Pa. agency funds demonstration wind turbines HARRISBURG - Public facilities in 15 Pennsylvania counties have been approved to receive small wind turbines as part of the Small Wind Energy Project, Gov. Rendell said yesterday. In funding the project, the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority recently awarded a $193,000 grant to Southwest Windpower to place 15 small advanced-technology wind turbines in highly visible locations at schools, local government buildings, and other public facilities across the state.

Quick: Name a raw material vital to national security and the American consumer lifestyle, prone to rising prices, and largely controlled by foreign interests thousands of miles away. Oil? Sure, but in a physics lab at the University of Delaware, another answer is the class of materials known as rare earths. Prized for their magnetic properties, rare earths are used to make almost any high-tech product you can name - computer screens, hard drives, cameras, smartphones, lasers.

For the second time this month, a consultant retained by New Jersey has determined that a wind farm proposed for three miles off the coast from Atlantic City has failed to justify the economic benefits of moving forward. The findings place big hurdles in front of the Fishermen's Atlantic City wind farm, the most advanced of several offshore projects vying to build wind turbines to produce pollution-free electricity along the coast of New Jersey. Perhaps more important is that the report seems to reinforce a commitment made by the Christie administration that any offshore wind farm project financed with subsidies from electric and gas customers must produce "a net economic benefit" - a barrier proving difficult to surmount.

What do you add to an oceanfront attraction that already boasts a Ferris wheel, go-karts, a double-decker carousel, and something called the Crazy Mouse Coaster? How about modern-day windmills? The owners of Atlantic City's Steel Pier are working to add up to 10 wind turbines to their amusement site, saying they could have the first pier in the country to host wind power. "This will be a whole new facet," said Anthony Catanoso, the Steel Pier's president and part-owner.

New Jersey has become a national leader in solar power with the help of a market-based incentive program. Legislative leaders now want to expand the program to include offshore wind projects in hopes of making the state a destination for developers. No offshore wind turbines yet exist in the United States, but states are in a race to be the first and biggest producers. A bill sponsored by Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester) and Minority Leader Thomas H. Kean Jr. (R., Union)

Rising out of the Mojave Desert, on brown mountains dotted with sagebrush and Joshua trees, they appear first as a flock of lost seagulls. On closer inspection, the wings are the arms of 80-foot soldiers doing calisthenics in unison. This is the otherworldly view that greets visitors to Tehachapi Pass, where nearly 5,000 of these three-armed soldiers borrow the wind rushing through the Sierra Nevadas from the San Joaquin Valley - and turn it into electricity. Tehachapi Pass is the site of the largest collection of wind turbines in the world.

Quick: Name a raw material vital to national security and the American consumer lifestyle, prone to rising prices, and largely controlled by foreign interests thousands of miles away. Oil? Sure, but in a physics lab at the University of Delaware, another answer is the class of materials known as rare earths. Prized for their magnetic properties, rare earths are used to make almost any high-tech product you can name - computer screens, hard drives, cameras, smartphones, lasers.

TRENTON - Fishermen's Energy, the company likely closest to placing wind turbines off the coast of New Jersey, is seeking more time to file an amended application with state regulators after harsh criticism of its initial proposal by consultants. The extension request by Cape May-based Fishermen's Energy is to be taken up Wednesday by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. The company wants to put five or six turbines 2.8 miles off the coast of Atlantic City in a $200 million, 25-megawatt project intended to provide enough electricity to power 10,000 homes.

For the second time this month, a consultant retained by New Jersey has determined that a wind farm proposed for three miles off the coast from Atlantic City has failed to justify the economic benefits of moving forward. The findings place big hurdles in front of the Fishermen's Atlantic City wind farm, the most advanced of several offshore projects vying to build wind turbines to produce pollution-free electricity along the coast of New Jersey. Perhaps more important is that the report seems to reinforce a commitment made by the Christie administration that any offshore wind farm project financed with subsidies from electric and gas customers must produce "a net economic benefit" - a barrier proving difficult to surmount.

The potential for wind turbines off the coast of New Jersey passed one more hurdle Thursday, when Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that several "priority areas" in the Mid-Atlantic had passed an initial environmental review. That allows the department to begin the process of offering leases to developers. "Offshore wind holds incredible potential for our country, and we're moving full-steam ahead to accelerate the siting, leasing, and construction of new projects," Salazar said.

ATLANTIC CITY - The company planning to build what could be the nation's first offshore wind farm says it's ready to start construction on the multimillion-dollar project as soon as New Jersey officials give their approval. Fishermen's Energy of Cape May wants to build the wind farm about 2.8 miles off Atlantic City. It plans to erect five wind turbines that would produce up to 25 megawatts, capable of powering about 10,000 homes. The company says it hopes the state Board of Public Utilities will issue a decision on its proposal by March.

Amid all the turmoil and uncertainty surrounding the Philadelphia Eagles, the team also has a whole new game plan . . . for renewable power. After nixing an ambitious plan announced a year ago, the Eagles are now in the final stages of planning what they contend will be the largest solar array in the National Football League, and perhaps larger than at any other major sports venue in the United States. The cost is expected to exceed $30 million. The panels will top the stadium's roof portions, coat the south-facing facade, and form a roof over some of the parking spaces.

With all the excitement over renewable energy, it might be reasonable to assume that fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas will go the way of the steam engine in the next 20 years. Not so fast, says Daniel Yergin, author and one of the most influential voices in the world of energy. "There is always the possibility that something big will happen very quickly, but probably not," Yergin said in an interview this week before delivering a lecture at the Free Library of Philadelphia.

ATLANTIC CITY - The 32-story turbines of the Jersey-Atlantic Wind Farm have so dramatically changed Atlantic City's skyline - perhaps more than any casino could - that tourists haven't stopped asking questions about them since they went up five years ago along a back-bay salt marsh. Some casino hotel guests are so fascinated that they ask for rooms with a view of the five delicate fans, resort operators say. So the Atlantic County Utilities Authority is cranking open the security gates at the Route 30 wastewater-treatment facility that houses the turbines for twice-a-week tours in June, July, and August.

Eleven companies have submitted proposals to build green-power wind turbines on 554 square miles off New Jersey's shore. The companies submitted proposals to erect giant windmills on federal tracts stretching from Avalon to Barnegat Light. The tracts lie between eight miles and 26.5 miles offshore. "This robust response from offshore wind developers makes it clear that commercial interest in development of wind turbines is strong," Bob Martin, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection, said in a statement.

Solar/wind energy is cost-effective A letter Wednesday ("Ethanol, wind turbines worse than fracking") suggested that "ridding the world of those energy money pits would be good for our wallets and the environment. " But comparing the price per unit of energy is not a fair manner of assessment. It is true that there is a large up-front cost for solar/wind energy. But these technologies do not produce pollution. Coal-fired plants are the largest industrial source of pollution in the United States.