Thursday, August 21, 2008

Sweetwater, Texas :: Ground Zero for Wind Farming

Granted, there are wind farms in many other places besides Sweetwater, Texas and I will admit that "ground zero" may not be the best choice of words. This is a short video (3-4 minutes) produced by T. Boone Pickens & The Pickens Plan focusing on wind farming in the town of Sweetwater.

I thought it might be nice for people to see what a wind farm actually looks like, for those that haven't had the benefit of being up close and walking beneath the gigantic towers.



"It can be done, and it will be done, because it has to be done." T. Boone Pickens

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think it's great. I think power companies could have got on board with wind power a lot earlier than they did, though. (On the other hand, I suppose that by waiting we allowed time for Europe to foot the bill for improved turbine development.)

zigadenus said...

The former chairman of our local chapter of the Sierra Club is a big proponent of wind farming along the coast of Louisiana. I've been wondering if that would be an issue for migratory birds since so many flyways converge in Louisiana. During spring migration, the marshes and the few remaining barrier islands are littered with bird corpses. Would wind farms along the coast pose a threat to these birds? Just curious. Not an issue for Sweetwater obviously.

AlexTangoFuego said...

I saw thousands of Canadian geese feeding in the fields below the wind turbines in Wildorado, Texas. The blades turn pretty slow. I don't think it will be a problem.

The bigger problem is going to be the NIMBY factor. The vast majority of people are going to be against turbines on "their" skyline, I'm afraid.