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Power summit explores pros, cons of green energy

Carteret County News-Times|Ben Hogwood|June 26, 2011
North CarolinaGeneral

Onshore wind farms appear to be more hazardous to wildlife, said Dr. Peterson, mainly because there are more birds and bats on the coast than miles out at sea. Offshore, marine life could also be affected, he said, as the construction or sound of the turbines may affect their habitat.


NEW BERN - The N.C. Coastal Federation has long been opposed to offshore drilling along the state's coast.

But that doesn't mean the nonprofit environmental organization doesn't understand the need for energy, so on Friday, the federation held a summit at the New Bern Convention Center devoted to studying the pros and cons of renewable energy.

The summit coincided with the organization's release of its 16th annual "State of the Coast Report." The report, which also explores renewable energy, is inside this edition of the News-Times.

While the summit included discussions on solar energy and renewable biofuels, it kicked off with a panel that examined capturing wind energy, both on the shore and off.

In the U.S., harnessing …

... more [truncated due to possible copyright]

NEW BERN - The N.C. Coastal Federation has long been opposed to offshore drilling along the state's coast.

But that doesn't mean the nonprofit environmental organization doesn't understand the need for energy, so on Friday, the federation held a summit at the New Bern Convention Center devoted to studying the pros and cons of renewable energy.

The summit coincided with the organization's release of its 16th annual "State of the Coast Report." The report, which also explores renewable energy, is inside this edition of the News-Times.

While the summit included discussions on solar energy and renewable biofuels, it kicked off with a panel that examined capturing wind energy, both on the shore and off.

In the U.S., harnessing offshore wind is in its infancy, said Frank Tursi, an assistant director with the federation. Still, he said, it has the potential to "shut down every power plant" in the nation.

But it also has its challenges. Wind, said Mr. Tursi, who gave an introduction to the day's discussions, "is fickle," and can't be relied on to meet peak energy demands in the morning and evening.

It also wouldn't be cheap, at least in the beginning, with costs to users expected to be about 20 cents a kilowatt-hour. Most residents in the state pay less than 10 cents.

Costs can be reduced by placing wind farms onshore, but it would come at the price of a reduction in wind, and is also more likely to impact birds and bats.

Craig Poff, a senior business developer for Iberdrola Renewables, was one of the panelists at the event. Iberdrola is the world's largest renewable energy company and Mr. Poff said one of the benefits to wind is that its price can be predicted both to today and 100 years from now. "It's still zero," he said.

Iberdrola is working on an onshore wind project near Elizabeth City and Mr. Poff said onshore wind farms shouldn't be overlooked in their importance.

While the wind is more abundant offshore, land-based wind is competitive now, he said. "Offshore will happen in due time, but we need to focus on today," he said.

Still, when it comes to offshore wind, North Carolina is positioned as the nation's best location. Despite a smaller population than many states, it is one of the highest energy consumers, using about 91 percent of the energy as New York, which has 9 million more people, said Brian O'Hara, president of the North Carolina Offshore Wind Coalition.

In addition to the state's need for energy, it also has the fastest growing population on the east coast, and according to the U.S. Department of Energy, it would be the cheapest place to build an offshore wind farm. There are also plenty of potential places to build such a farm.

And there is tremendous economic potential for the state, he said. Not only would it bring in thousands of construction jobs, but also North Carolina could become a manufacturing base for the blades, towers, cells and other machine parts.

Paul Quinlan, deputy director of the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Coalition, agreed that it was possible those manufacturing components could be made here.

But Mr. O'Hara agreed the first logical step is creating more onshore wind farms. "We should pick the low hanging fruit now and that's land-based wind," he said.

Mr. Poff said there are 1,500 megawatts of land-based wind energy in Eastern North Carolina that could be developed immediately.

Panelist Pete Peterson, a professor at the Institute of Marine Sciences, UNC-Chapel Hill, has been studying the possible conflicts of harnessing wind energy on coastal mammals such as birds, and also existing human uses such as commercial fishing.

Onshore wind farms appear to be more hazardous to wildlife, said Dr. Peterson, mainly because there are more birds and bats on the coast than miles out at sea.

Offshore, marine life could also be affected, he said, as the construction or sound of the turbines may affect their habitat.

Still, he said he supported the construction of offshore farms as the risks are relatively low.

But wildlife isn't the biggest obstacle to overcome with wind technology; money is.

The problem, said Mr. O'Hara, is that fossil fuels are priced well below their actual cost. If other factors were included, such as the related health impact, wind energy would be more competitive.

Education will also have to be a key part in moving into renewable energies, said Mr. Poff. "Those who would pay premium for clean energy are not normal people," he said.

"Until we can wean ourselves away from dirt-cheap dirty power, we're going to be in this condition."

But there's also only a finite amount of fossil fuels, he continued, and one day, people will be have to consider alternatives. In 2008, when gasoline prices skyrocketed to more than $5 in most states, people started getting very interested in his business, he said.

"These things are coming our way," he said.


Source:http://www.carteretnewstimes.…

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