Win For Water-Based Wind Farms

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Apr 28, 2010 7:00PM

Remember that talk about a wind farm on Lake Michigan? While the Evanston City Council unanimously approved the first (small) step into making it a reality, one of the main issues regarding a water-based wind farm is that there is currently no precedent. But now, thanks to an OK given by the White House, that will change. President Obama gave approval today for a wind farm to go up offshore at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, granting the project the necessary federal permits. From the Boston Globe:

The decision had been delayed for almost a year because of two Wampanoag Native American tribes' complaints that the 130 turbines, which would stand more than 400 feet above the ocean surface, would disturb spiritual sun greetings and possibly ancestral artifacts and burial grounds on the seabed. The ocean floor was once exposed land before the sea level rose thousands of years ago.

[Interior Secretary Ken] Salazar said he had ordered modifications to "minimize and mitigate" the impact of the project that would "help protect the historical, cultural, and environmental resources of Nantucket Sound." He said his approval would require the project developer, Cape Wind Associates, to conduct additional marine archaeological surveys and take other steps to reduce the project's visual impact.

There are other elements that supporters and opponents alike in Evanston will be watching about the project Besides creating 1,000 construction jobs, Salazar claims the energy output of the Cape Cod project would be the same as "a medium-sized coal-fired power plant" and carbon emission reduction would be that of around 175,000 cars. The catch? While deals are still being worked out, the cost of the electricity produced will likely be more expensive than that produced by coal and gas.