The Oil Drum: Local | In A Year, It'll Be Like Telephone Poles

In A Year, It'll Be Like Telephone Poles

Posted by Glenn on March 15, 2006 - 5:14pm in The Oil Drum: Local
Topic: Alternative energy
Tags: new york, new york city, oil, peak oil, upstate new york, wind power [list all tags]

New York's annual average wind power

Wind power is sweeping New York State. From Staten Island testing it on top of the old Fresh Kills Landfill to a TOD NYC original idea of Lady Liberty's torch being powered by wind to wind farms in the far north of the state near Lake Ontario, Wind is popping up all over the state. New York State is poised to become one of the national wind power leaders. Currently it has an installed capacity of 186MW, with an additional 487MW in various stages of planning and an estimated potential of 4,070MW at peak capacity. (AWEA). But realizing that potential has some hurdles.

The Gotham Gazette did a recent in depth article about the state of Wind Power in the Empire State, touching on the aesthetic debate and The New York Times recently discussed the debate between individual land owners vs. the surrounding folks that seems to be happening in every rural community upstate as some farmers start to invest in wind power as a new cash crop. One quote that I thought really crystalized the whole debate was this:

Martin J. Beyer, a retired farmer who owns a motel and has two turbines on his land said a few local residents, mostly those who do not farm, objected to the turbines, saying they obstructed rural vistas. But they were outnumbered. "Does anybody pay any attention to electric light poles on the side of the road?" Mr. Beyer asked, saying, "That's exactly what windmills are going to be like in a year."

I hope Mr. Beyer is right. His quote also reminded me of Baloghblog's photos on the aesthetics of wind power in upstate New York. Judge for yourself.