Problems of Maine offshore wind energy extraction. Part 1

While many consider offshore Maine locations for windfarming to be preferable to the building of more and more wind utility operations in Maine's majestic mountains, a decent respect for the opinions of humankind requires we take a careful look at what effects ocean wind extraction operations could have on Maine's ocean weather and currents, and thusly on the wild fishes shellfish whales plankton birds and others that already occupy that oceanic environment.

The Issue: Extracting energy at industrial scale from above ocean waters creates large "upwelling" events in the sea beneath and downwind of the turbines. In summer, the sudden localized 10 -15% energy drop over the water pulls cooler seawater to the surface, and in winter, following the seasonal thermal inversion, it pulls warmer bottom water to the surface.

(Horns Rev Windfarm, 10 miles off Denmark)

According to a pivotal study by Norwegian meterologist Goran Brostrom the oean water is pulled upward by the windmill's operation at about 3 & 1/3 feet per day. With offshore wind much more constant than land's wind, the upwelling effect will be most significant to the

. Depending on currents,the number and type of turbines and their spatial deployment, the upwelling area could affect few or many square miles

As the report points out, these energy disruptions will cause changes to local weather conditions and local water currents, and cause changes to the Gulf of Maine's seasonal energy flows of nutrients/grazers/predators/bigger predators. Koyaanisqatsi: Life out of Balance, happens.

I'll go into more details later, but suffice it to say that, just as it has in Maine's mountains, the wind industry is banking on bypassing fundamental marine conservation laws to rush through the process of leasing up our marine public lands.

Stay tuned.



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Comment by Art Brigades on June 27, 2010 at 4:31pm
Much ballyhoo lately about how America's dependence on oil is a threat to national security. Makes some sense, but we all know that electricity doesn't come from oil, and if it did, who would want to pay triple for that electricity.... That said, who's talking about national security & defense if we ever have all those gigawatts of dependence on offshore wind? I mean, what did the USA hit with all those bombs in Iraq? The infrastructure: airports, refineries, power plants. Talk about sitting ducks in the Gulf of Maine...
Comment by Long Islander on June 27, 2010 at 10:21am
Koyaanisqatsi indeed. Perhaps Reggio, Glass, Coppola, et al could do a sequel in Maine.

 

Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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