November 2017 Blog Posts (64)

On Maine’s Vinalhaven Island, David and Sally Wylie said they were shocked when the three offshore turbines were turned on in 2009 before the new rules were enacted.

“We’d been told the wind and the trees would cancel the noise out. We stood outside as the wind turbines came on, it was just whack, whack, whack! It was so loud,” David Wylie said. They built a soundproof bedroom with 12-inch thick walls just so they could sleep.…

“The CMP Maine Power Reliability Program certainly did not keep the lights on in Maine despite the program’s $1.4 billion price tag,” he wrote. “CMP’s incompetence and lack of planning turned what should have been a short power outage into a prolonged and painful experience.”

Rep. Seth Berry, D-Bowdoinham, who chairs the Legislature’s committee overseeing energy and utilities, also held utilities’ feet to the fire on his Facebook page.

“As a CMP customer, you … pay the cost for…

The four largest CO2eq emitters are shown in the below table. The world CO2eq emissions, all sources, is based on 50 billion metric ton CO2eq in 2012. See URLs.

http://climateactiontracker.org/countries/india.html

https://www.carbonbrief.org/paris-2015-tracking-country-climate-pledges…

Every winter, some Mainers must choose between groceries and their heating bills. Worldwide, millions of energy-poor people die every year because they lack a clean fuel such as natural gas for cooking and heating and the energy necessary to make clean water.

I am an early adopter of solar energy; unfortunately, there are times when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow. At those times, I need a reliable source of electricity provided by a regulated…

The CMP Maine Power Reliability Program (MPRP) certainly did not keep the lights on in Maine despite the program’s $1.4 billion price tag........“If we don't do this, the lights will go out in southern Maine,” said Sara Burns, the former CEO of CMP, in 2008......To put the scale of this transmission investment in perspective, only about 1.3 million people live in Maine, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This means CMP spent about $2,500 for every single customer it serves in…

On Nov. 2, House Republicans released their proposed tax reform legislation, providing for massive alterations to tax law. On Nov. 5, Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, formally submitted the bill as H.R.1 to his Committee on the Ways and Means.…

Germany, a major industrial country, is a leader in renewable energy generation. However, Germany made a significant mistake. Germany decided to phase out its nuclear plants, which produce low-cost electricity that has near-zero CO2/kWh, instead of replacing the plants. Germany continued to the use of lignite, a soft coal (low-Btu/lb.) coal, and hard coal. As a result, the CO2eq emissions have not decreased for the past 8 years.

Germany is headed for a clear failure to meet…

Following that hearing, expected to last about an hour, Bethel will hold public hearings on proposed amendments to the town’s commercial wind ordinance and a request for authorization for selectmen to dispose of the former West Bethel Children’s Center building. The wind proposal will be voted on at a special town meeting Nov.…

Is any of the money going to wind "farm" maintenance and repair one wonders?

Pingree is a resident of North Haven. She says the electrical energy for the islands' grid is mostly generated on Vinalhaven by a community-owned wind farm. …

The world’s largest wind turbine makers said a proposed Republican tax bill that would cut support for the industry in the U.S. would put its businesses and future investment at risk, in a rare public criticism on Friday of government proposals.......Equipment makers operating in the world’s second-largest wind turbine market have relied upon so-called production tax credits (PTC) agreed in 2015. In a new tax bill, unveiled late on Thursday, the PTC would be cut to 1.5 dollar cents per…

One notable example of alarm-raising is the description of sea-level rise, one of the greatest climate concerns. The report ominously notes that while global sea level rose an average 0.05 inch a year during most of the 20th century, it has risen at about twice that rate since 1993. But it fails to mention that the rate fluctuated by comparable amounts several times during the 20th century. The same research papers the report cites show that…