Gulf Energy Purveyors Get Second Wind

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Wind's Bad Rap Wind turbines can't yet provide a significant source of energy, but the technology is also running into some misconceptions. There's an element of truth in each of these, but the wind-power industry says it's dedicated to making wind work. "Every energy source has an impact," says Laurie Jodziewicz, a policy specialist with the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), "and we feel that wind-energy impacts are reasonable, certainly when you consider that it's emissions-free energy." No Wind = No Lights Right now, with wind power currently supplying less than one percent of U.S. electricity, this isn't a problem. Wind farms are hooked into larger electricity grids; they're just one of several power sources, including hydroelectric and coal-fired plants, feeding into a utility system. So on a still day, coal-power may make up the difference and the lights do stay on. But this could be a problem as more wind farms are built to provide a larger percentage of a community's energy; transmission lines that allow communities to reach out to farms where the wind is blowing on any given day could help with wind's unreliability. Not Enough to Replace Coal There's plenty of wind in the United States, but inadequate transmission lines and NIMBY-ism are some of the potent blocks to development. As of December 2005, U.S. wind-power capacity was 9,149 megawatts, enough to supply juice to 2.3 million average homes, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). In February, President Bush said that wind power could someday provide 20 percent of the United States' energy needs. But for now, wind-power advocates are pushing for wind to make up six percent of energy supplies by 2020. The wind industry agrees that wind is not the solution to the United States' reliance on fossil fuels, says Jodziewicz, "but we feel wind energy is part of that solution. There's no silver bullet, but we're part of the silver buckshot." Wind Farms Are Noisy The blades do make a swooshing noise as they cut through air, but it's not an overpowering sound, says Jodziewicz. "You could stand below a wind turbine and have a normal conversation," she says. And in very windy places, she adds, wind drowns out the swoosh of the turbine. Wind Farms Kill Birds Birds do collide with wind turbines, as they do with other tall, man-made structures. Bird kills are considered quite a problem at Altamont Pass in California, the first commercial wind project built in the United States. But studies indicate turbines can be designed to minimize bird-kills, and site placement is key. But even if bird problems can be solved, some biologists are now worried about the impact that turbines can have on another flier: bats. Overall, according to the AWEA, the impact of wind turbines on birds is "low compared with other human-related sources of avian mortality," such as collisions with buildings, high-tension lines, pesticide use, habitat pollution and even cats. Wind Power Isn't Economical Wind-power providers do get a production tax credit to make wind energy affordable on the consumer end, but as the U.S. Department of Energy points out on its renewable-energy Web site, every energy source receives significant federal subsidies. -- Vikki Valentine The rest of the story by Christopher Joyce NPR

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NEW IBERIA - Herman Schellstede and Harold Schoeffler thought the future of wind-powered electricity lay only in Texas. But after positive national media coverage last week, it appears the winds of energy change may blow in Louisiana after all. The entrepreneurs and co-founders of New Iberia-based Wind Energy Systems Technology were featured in an extensive piece on National Public Radio a week ago, detailing their plans to build a $250 million wind farm off the Galveston, Texas, coast. The next day, they got a call from Louisiana land officials, granting them permission to put up an 80-foot monitoring tower off the coast of Port Fourchon. The tower, along with two others near Galveston, will go up in the coming weeks and will monitor everything from wind speeds to bird traffic for an entire year. It's the groundwork of the local men's ambitious plan to build the nation's first farm of wind turbines in the ocean, creating cheap and environmentally friendly power for Texas, Louisiana and eventually the entire South. "It's taken time, but we can go in the state of Louisiana now and do this," Schellstede said. Although original plans called for taking advantage of oil and gas platforms already in place off the Louisiana coast, the project stalled last year. So, the men took their plan to Texas, where "green" power is easier to market and sell. Still, there are governmental hurdles to jump before Louisiana is as ready as Texas, including changes in Public Service Commission regulations to allow the power to be marketed and sold to Louisianians, Schoeffler said. The rest of the story Kayla Gagnet kgagnet@theadvertiser.com