Hearst and more: A report on US Wind Energy (and how much is that in nukes, really?)
...Oil & Wind in Texas / NYT Photo
The other evening, driving on Rte 580 where it leaves the Central Valley of California through the Altamont Pass inland of the Bay Area, I saw the forest of turbines that once made California the nation’s leading harvester of wind energy. First, seeing that from the downwind side that those that were spinning were all going counterclockwise, I idly wondered if that’s the industry standard or if perhaps some go the other way around. Second, there are many kinds up there with varying heights, blade configurations, and towers. But nearly all are tiny things. They are toys compared to the monsters going up elsewhere in the US and in the world. It looks like a renewable energy museum.
The Chronicle used an old file photo of a few of those turbines, non-representative as they are of the new norm, on a report from Hearst’s Washington bureau by Jennifer A. Dlouhy on the industry’s continuing national expansion. The American Wind Energy Association reports that last year wind harvesters installed 5,700 turbines with more than 10,000 megawatts of generating capacity. That’s a record.
It goes on to mention that the top state is not California any more, it is Texas. And midwestern wind fields are coming on fast. It does not – maybe the Chron’s editors cut this out, but one wonders – explain how that 10,000 megawatts is measured. Not that one expects a utility industry white paper in a few column inches, but is that the average power of the nation’s wind production, or the theoretical peak power were the wind to be blowing everywhere real hard? The association compares it to three big nuclear power stations. One would like to know if capacity and availability factors are applied to make it a legit comparison. And how does the U.S. stack up against other nations? It’s #1 but China and other nations are closing fast. The story nonethelss bestows on Texas bragging rights as the “Saudi Arabia of wind power. “ Incidentally, the Houston Chron used a version of Dlouhy’s piece, but without the reference to being the Saudi Arabia of wind – maybe because it’s a strained metaphor, or maybe Texans don’t like being reminded that early in the last century they lived in the Saudi Arabia of oil before there even was a Saudi Arabia of oil, and then lost the mantle.
The press release behind this news is in Grist below. And unlike the unvarnished bullish tone of this (and other) coverage, while the total installation was a record, the report’s press release says right up top that it represented a slowing in percentage growth rate compared to that in 2008.
Personally, I’d suggest the Chronicle look into whether the iconic windfarms in the Altamont remain competitive and are likely to modernize with giant newfangled turbines, or are so outclassed in wind resource that investment is drying up and the whole enterprise east of Livermore will fade into a historic footnote. After all, the US oil industry got started in Pennsylvania. I just saw a reference claiming it produced half the world’s entire petroleum supply in the 19th century. But you don’t see too many oil fields there today. And if the Chron has done a story like this, it has no excuse using a picture of Altamont to illustrate modern wind energy gear.
Other stories on the wind energy report:
- Reuters – Matt Daily: US adds record amount of wind power in 2009 – AWEA / More than 10,000 MW of wind turbines installed in U.S.
- Market Watch/Medill News Service – JeniecePettitt: Wind industry grew at record pace in 2009 ; The record pace was, actually, it appears, less than the rate in2008 if I understand that press release down in Grist.
- Guardian/SolveClimate (Guardian news agency, UK) Dave Levitan: U.S Wind Industry Bullish on Offshore Potential, but Breakthrough Needed: This is the story that U.S. readers could have used – context and detail from, it appears, a reporter familiar with the topic. Its point: If the US is to remain a player in wind energy, it has to build on the continental shelf.
- San Jose Mercury News – Dana Hull: United States sees surge in wind power ;
- CNET/GreenTech – Candace Lombardi: Iowa, Texas tops in wind power efforts ;
Grist for the Mill:
American Wind Energy Association Press Release; (Full report apparently not available free, but the page with the release links to lots of the association’s data. It includes a listing of its releases meant to “debunk” things said by wind power skeptics or reporters it regards as misguided. Feisty outfit, is this).
- Charlie Petit
