Very interesting article in Feb. issue of Wired magazine. The title of the article is called Inherit the Wind and it is about a company called Wind Energy Systems Technology (WEST). This company is reusing old oil platforms to mount conventional windmills to create one of the first off-shore wind farms in the U.S.
Of course the article played to a few typical Texan stereotypes but that’s okay because the article also included this:
…a Stanford University study that identified the Louisiana-Texas
coastline as one of the best spots in the US for wind power. Average
wind speed is exceptionally high, and it blows hardest during the
hottest hours of the day, when demand for power is at its peak and
electricity prices are highest.
But what about the hurricanes? There are quite a few discussions going about that and one of the gentlemen involved with the project (Herman Schellstede) is talking platform height and shutting turbines down during a storm. So, we’ll see but definitely an interesting topic.
Boulder Green 