Onslow Bay looked at for first N.C. wind farm

[zabet]

Onslow Bay looked at for first N.C. wind farm

http://www.starnewsonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=WM&Date=20100819&Category=ARTICLES&ArtNo=100819557&Ref=AR&MaxW=600&border=0

By Gareth McGrath
[e-mail]

The federal government has received the first formal application for a potential wind-energy project off the North Carolina coast, and it's not too far from some New Hanover and Pender county beaches.

Apex Wind Energy is requesting to lease 213 square miles of ocean, all more than 20 miles off the coast, to explore the area's feasibility for a wind farm.

The Onslow Bay area was selected because of its lack of environmental and other conflicts and its strong, sustained winds, states the July application to the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy, Management, Regulation, and Enforcement, which is the successor to the Mineral Management Service.

But the possible installation of massive wind turbines generating hundreds of megawatts and reaching several hundred feet into the air is still years off.

“We're still at the baby-step stage here,” said John Bane, a professor of marine sciences with the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and an advisor to Apex.

If Washington approves the request, a five-year site assessment study will take place to assess the area's compatibility for a wind farm. The company would then have to go back to the federal regulators to win approval to actually start construction.

More here: http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20100819/articles/100819557&tc%20yahoo#40364083165346554410

:bounce: A step in the right direction

[taterguy]

1. Canadian Hole off Hatteras is the best place for a wind farm in NC

a) It's the most reliable source of wind.

b) It'll be totally rad watching kite boarders dodge the turbines.

c) No great loss if the kite boarders fail to dodge the turbines. Especially if they're Canadian.

And what's this five years shit? It didn't even take the Wright Brothers that long to build the world's first aeroplane.

[zabet]

2. The Wright Brothers

didn't have an oil company biased government making them jump through hoops to accomplish their goals.

[taterguy]

3. Most North Carolina electricity comes from coal

:eyes:

[zabet]

4. Yes it is.....

but it still does not change the bias of the federal entities that control all new energy sources being explored in the US. :eyes:

[taterguy]

7. In 1903 the Feds were in the pocket of the railroads

How eager do you think they were for an invention that let you get across the country in four hours instead of four days?

[supernova]

5. I prefer to see turbines on the marine horizon rather than oil rigs

:bounce:

[taterguy]

6. You're obviously not a kite-boarder

[supernova]

8. Are you kb'ing 20-30 miles off shore?

[taterguy]

9. One strong gust of wind will put you 20 miles offshore in a heartbeat

That's the beauty of kite boarding.

You don't really have any control.

You're just putting your fate in the hands of the higher power of your choice.