Amazon Jeff Bezos Parachutes Into North Carolina To Save Wind Power

Wind Energy / Economics

Date posted: 09/15/15

Dr. Conca reports that the U.S. military is trying very hard to expand and incorporate alternative energy sources. The American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) published an excellent review last year on Renewable Energy For Military Installations. But poorly-sited wind turbines continue to present problems to both flyovers and to radar and surveillance systems. Three-hundred and 500-foot-tall thin linear rotating structures can cause quite a few issues with aircraft and with long-distance remote sensing systems. The America Wind Energy Association (AWEA) says these issues can be worked out through proper planning, transparency and, when necessary, mitigation. Of course everyone is supposed to talk to everyone else when they decide to build a wind farm with 500-foot towers, but often that does not happen. Each state seems to have this recurring issue as we struggle to make renewable energy routine, but North Carolina seems to have some whoppers right now. Spanish wind turbine manufacturer, Iberdrola Renewables, just broke ground on a $600 million wind farm, The Desert Wind project, that will erect one-hundred and fifty 500-ft wind turbines on about 20 square miles in North Carolina just across the border with Virginia. Which might be fine if it did not interfer with the nearby Hampton Roads Naval base. Hampton Roads houses a sophisticated and semi-classified AN/TPS-71 ROTHR (Over The Horizon Radar), one of only two such facilities in the U.S. Iberdrola gets more subsidies from U.S. taxpayers than any other renewable energy company in the world. Yet, it seems to be on the verge of economic collapse and is the subject of several federal investigations (FitBit). That also did not sit very well with the energy companies. Even worse, many in the North Carolina legislature want to eliminate their mandate, citing higher energy costs and its dampening effect on bringing new businesses to the state. Oh, the webs we weave.