DON QUIXOTE BATTLES WINDMILLS – AND SO DO THE FOLKS IN BOULEVARD
Printer-friendly version (photo courtesy of AWEA) Part III of a three-part series: HEALTH, SAFETY, AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF WIND FARMS February 22, 2009 (Boulevard) — Our country has jumped on a high-speed wind-energy bandwagon, as if the costs of developing and producing wind energy are as invisible as the wind itself. Are benefits commensurate with the costs? Can developers mitigate any risks and impacts? Our panoramic look at wind-farm issues continues, rendering potential fire risks, alleged health hazards, and environmental impacts of wind-development more visible, alongside wind energy’s better-known projected benefits. Planet heating up while global economy in the deep freeze: green energy to the rescue On February 17, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 into law. This legislation provides over $80 billion for clean energy technologies, green jobs, and many other important conservation advances and is intended to spur economic recovery. We are desperate for clean energy, not just to salvage the economy, but because our quality of life depends on it. With this urgency, political winds are clearly blowing in wind development’s favor. All for the greater good, advocates assert—with plenty of carbon-crunching statistics to back it up. The San Diego Foundation issued a “wake-up call” with its Focus 2050 Study, noting that our region is “uniquely threatened” by climate change: Within the next fifty years San Diego’s sea level will rise 12-18 inches, causing flooding; our climate will be hotter and drier, with severe water shortages; we’ll face more frequent and intense wildfires; public health will be at risk, especially for the elderly and children; plant and animal species will be lost forever; and we will not be able to meet our energy needs. The report says peak electricity demand will be up by more than 70 percent. Wind an integral part of the solution Experts say to avoid the worst dangers of global warming we need to reduce carbon emissions 80-90 percent by 2050. Using wind instead of coal reduces our carbon emissions 99%, using wind instead of gas reduces them 98%, according to AWEA. With political will behind it, wind energy is clearly on the horizon. Fire danger questioned In a high-fuel loaded region, one spark and a little wind can ruin everybody’s day. Not to mention ruin life for animals that moved into East County after their own habitats burned in the recent wildfires. Donna Tisdale, Chair of the Boulevard Community Planning Group warned her neighbors that turbines represent a fire threat, that they can burst into flame. The neighbors had come to Marie and Scott Morgan’s house to shoot the breeze, literally. They live next to a ridge in McCain Valley and the adjacent BLM lands, where Iberdrola Renewables, a wind developer, is seeking to erect a wind farm. The residents are not happy about giant, mechanical entities moving into their viewshed. Leslie: “I didn’t realize the explosion danger.” Donna: “And the blades shedding.” Linda: “That last one, right next to the freeway, it’s all black and smoky. Donna: “There was no answer to the shattered blade last year. We asked how far the fragments flew, and we did not get a response. That was the second one in from I-8.” Tisdale has been criticized by wind-energy proponents for exaggerating the potential dangers of wind turbines. “She’s misrepresented the facts and used inflammatory rhetoric,” a local wind entrepreneur stated, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The fire damage is typically insignificant,” he claimed. “She uses data on old turbines. The statistical significance of a blade shatter on a modern turbine is about zero. The number of blades that come off modern turbines is very, very small. The risk of fire on the wind turbine is extremely low.” Andy Linehan, Permitting/Environmental Director of Iberdrola Renewables, said Iberdrola is already running wind farms in very dry, fire-prone areas in the Western United States. The company keeps a water truck on site during construction, which is actually the most hazardous point. Jan Johnson, the company’s Communications Director, added that fire-fighting infrastructure is part of the picture once their turbines are out there. As far as increased fire hazard, Linehan said, “If transmission lines aren’t well maintained, they’re going to increase fire risk. There have been times we’ve had problems with our transformers—but in the entire business, I know that there have been turbines that have had mechanical problems, had shorts, and have burned, but I don’t believe there’s ever been a case in the U.S., for any wind farm, where that fire spread beyond the immediate turbine area.” Iris: “I look out my kitchen window at the [Campo] turbines and I say, ‘oh look, another breakdown.” John: “Next thing you know they got a big crane out there. It takes 3 or 4 semis just to bring crane equipment out.” John: “We have seen a blade that had shattered.” Donna, pulling out a photo: “This is a 1600-foot debris field from a turbine that had shredded. From a study in 2007, in Germany: ‘Brakes on the turbines failed in high wind, causing the rotor to hit the tower at high speed, resulting attached parts flying off.’” John: “Do they know how much wind we got out here?” Marie: “I think we’re too windy for wind turbines.” Donna: “They claim there’s better braking systems, but sometimes they can become overheated. On the Internet there was just one of an Iberdrola turbine in Spain that was on fire.” In the 2007 wildfires, three of the seven blazes were sparked by arcing from SDG&E power lines, according to a Cal Fire report. The utility now faces lawsuits from the County, State, insurers, and homeowners. That there will be even more high-voltage lines in a highly fire-prone area with high winds raises burning questions. “That’s a legitimate criticism, I suppose,” said Alan Ridley, Professor at Cuyamaca College and proponent of wind energy. “They could underground more of them.” Laurie Jodziewicz, Manager of Siting Policy with the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), said “turbines
EDITORIAL: WHY SDG&E PLAN TO SHUT OFF POWER MAY NOT PREVENT FIRES – AND WHAT SHOULD BE DONE INSTEAD
Printer-friendly versionBy Ed Clark February 25, 2009–I was reading the article on your site this morning, where SDG&E plans to turn off power to remote residences during high wind, low humidity days. This is nothing more than part of their cover-up to prevent a system ground fault on a high windy days from arcing at down guy anchors and starting fires. What they don’t get is that depending on where a ground fault occurs, it could still catch the grass on fire, if not corrected. Additionally, SDG&E has several alternatives other than turning power off to customers who are in need. Printer-friendly version