Virginia is really, really ripe for wind farms, nowhere as effectively as in the Chespeake. There are some spots suitable along the spine of the Blue Ridge, but in the whole of the Chesapeake and in the whole of the continental shelf, there is just a stunning amount of wind energy waiting to be harvested. And as Jim Bacon pointed out a few years ago, Norfolk/Newport News is uniquely equipped to fabricate, haul, and install the enormous turbines.
Comments are closed.
You’re such a troll. :-P
I know. :)
Man, I’ve seen this same set of data time and time again, and it confuses me as to why there hasn’t been more of a push, even from the private sector, to do this. The only catch I can think of is that it lies smack dab in the middle of a major bird migratory pattern, but a study found that wild cats kill more birds than wind turbines annually.
Oh oh. I will *totally* support this if it’s tied to some sort of cat eradication program (wild or otherwise).
I’m betting that wild cats won’t kill migrating birds in the middle of the Chesapeake!
tomr,
Actually, recent reports have suggested that large segments of the Great Dismal Swamp cat population have been forced out of their natural habitat due to the wildfires down there, and have taken up residence along the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina. Last I recall, they are expecting a 12% increase in migratory bird deaths this year. :^P
Chesapeake… Continental Shelf… heck of a swim for a feline! Needless to say, the birds passing by a wind turbine in the ocean are less likely to be killed by a cat than those that follow the inland spine of the Blue Ridge, and are therefore more likely to be killed by the turbine blades.
Yes, I am a smartass. ;)
Yeah, so am I. There are no GDS cats. While I agree with your technical point, I think we can all agree that the marginal loss in birds does not outweigh meeting 20% of the Commonwealth’s energy needs from purely renewable energy.