http://www.energydigital.com/sectors/renewables/13-billion-loan-develop-world-s-largest-wind-farm
The initial steps for creating the largest wind farm in the world were recently taken as announced by the U.S. Energy Secratary, Steven Chu. He publicized a conditional commitment for a partial gaurantee for the government loan of $1.3 billion to finance the Caithness Sheperds Flat wind project. The plans for the project include 338 wind turbines to be located in the eastern area of Oregon, producing 845 megawatts to be completely sent to southern California. The wind farm is predicted to reduce 1.2 million tons of carbon dioxide annually and create jobs.
This is a major step in the current U.S. administrations, partly as a result of the Recovery Act, plan to make the U.S. a leader in alternative and renewable energies in the world and to double current production in this area. Such a project is definitely very expensive; however, it certainly helps stimulate the economy in still difficult times and once the wind farm is fully operational, it will be able to make significant contributions to the large energy demand of the west coast. The wind farm, if constructed obviously, will become one of the most significant and renown features of Oregon and the United States. It has tremendous appeal and fits perfectly into the green and clean energy movement. Hopefully, the wind farm is successfully installed and is not too controvertial amongst the locals.
The idea seems revolutionary! They also bring up some good points and advantages of wind turbines. Though I wonder if building wind turbines really supplies people with more jobs than keeping a power plant running. The area to job ratio is probably pretty low when it comes to wind turbines. Regardless the elimination of over 1.2 million tons of carbon dioxide each year does sound like a really impressive number. I hope the project follows through and is successful.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Will about the skepticism about the number of jobs that could created by this large project. I wonder if installing wind turbines in an area actually provides a significant number of jobs. If it does, then that's really an added benefit. I think that the environmental impact will be great, as such a large amount of carbon dioxide will be cut from emissions. I would like to see if this project goes through, as this is still in planning stages. I think with a large milestone like this, other areas might also catch on and try to build large farms. But the reason why I'm a little concerned is because of the loan. $1.3 billion is a large amount and for one project, I wonder if this is a risk at all. Being the largest wind project in the world, I'm interested to see how this project fairs financially and if it makes a good investment. I hope that the project is not controversial with the people in the northeast.
ReplyDelete