In the coming year the Vineyard and Gosnold communities will be deciding what kind of wind energy development we want, both on land and offshore in state and federal waters. We’d like to give the community an update on preparation of a Wind Energy Plan for Dukes County, an effort begun early this year by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission with the help of a work group made up of representatives of the seven towns of the county.
It’s a precarious time in the energy story of the Vineyard. Massive offshore turbine development seems all but inevitable and yet no shovels have broken the seabed. And this Sunday a group from the Vineyard and Beacon Hill want to talk about it all, at a forum titled The Island’s Future Blowin, in the Wind.
A divided Martha’s Vineyard Commission last Thursday clashed over whether the technical language in a recently adopted Aquinnah wind bylaw is in synch with a townwide district of critical planning concern (DCPC) approved over 10 years ago.
In the end the commission voted 7-6 that the new bylaw — drafted by the planning board and approved by voters at a November town meeting — does not conform with the guidelines of the townwide DCPC.
Wind generation is irrelevant to energy independence: Making electricity doesn’t give us oil, asphalt, plastics or tires; only 1.1 per cent of America’s electricity is generated by petroleum. As for fossil fuel savings, adding wind into the electricity mix tends to increase fuel usage and CO2 emissions due to the inefficiencies introduced into the system.
Ometepe is as unlikely a place as you could ever imagine to catch a glimpse of the future. Although unique in the world, an island composed of two volcanoes in the midst of Nicaragua’s freshwater Lake Cocibolca, it is mostly a quiet backwater, both off the grid and the beaten path as well.
A proposed Wind Energy Plan for Dukes County was released for public comment yesterday by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.
The document includes two fundamental options regarding possible offshore wind energy development. One would allow development in certain areas defined by the analysis; the other would hold off on short-term development within the waters of Dukes County.
Wind turbines get all the negative ink. Noise, vibration, flicker, interruption of beloved views. Big troublemakers, aren’t they?
Solar panels, on the other hand, are considered to be quite benign. The Nantucket Historic District Commission doesn’t like them much, and some people would rather see roofs without them, but by and large they have come to be widely accepted.
But what about when we scale them up with considerably larger installations that can make a meaningful contribution to our energy supply? Are they really so benign?
T here are many bird-watchers on the Vineyard. They come from all walks of life from architects to zookeepers. Some are liberals, some conservatives and maybe some are even Tea Party members. They have different ideas on what the definitions of conservation, ecology and green living are. The issue of turbines for the generation of electricity has caused some discomfort among the ranks.
