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Wind Power Plan Could Solve Oil Crisis
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5 Comments ::  :: Gulf Coast, Investment |
Wind Power Plan Could Solve Oil Crisis
Oil billionaire T Boone Pickens has plan to build new wind generation facilities and better use of natural gas to replace more than one-third of our foreign oil imports.
 Read about the plan and see videos at texasgulfcoastonline.com/WindPower.aspx
Plan Overview- T. Boone Pickens launches plan to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil
- Oilman calls for more use of wind power, switch to natural gas to power vehicles
- Pickens' company has announced plan to build world's largest wind farm in Texas
- Wind turbines could supply 20 percent or more of U.S. power needs
If the United States takes advantage of the so-called "wind corridor," stretching from the Canadian border to West Texas, energy from wind turbines built there could supply 20 percent or more of the nation's power.
 Power from thousands of wind turbines that would line the corridor could be distributed throughout the country via electric power transmission lines and could fuel power plants in large population hubs.
Fueling these plants with wind power would then free up the natural gas historically used to power them, and would mean that natural gas could replace foreign oil as fuel for motor vehicles.
Using natural gas for transportation needs could replace one-third of the United States' imported oil and would save more than $230 billion a year.
As imports grow and world prices rise, the amount of money we send to foreign nations every year is soaring. At current oil prices, we will send $700 billion dollars out of the country this year alone.
Projected over the next 10 years the cost will be $10 trillion. America uses a lot of oil, every day 85 million barrels of oil are produced around the world and 21 million of those are used here in the United States. That's 25% of the world's oil demand used by just 4% of the world's population.
World oil production peaked in 2005. Despite growing demand and an unprecedented increase in prices, oil production has fallen over the last three years. Oil is getting more expensive to produce, harder to find and there just isn't enough of it to keep up with demand. The simple truth is that cheap and easy oil is gone.
A 2005 Stanford University study found that there is enough wind power worldwide to satisfy global demand 7 times over, even if only 20% of wind power could be captured.
Building wind facilities in the corridor that stretches from the Texas panhandle to North Dakota could produce 20% of the electricity for the United States at a cost of $1 trillion. It would take another $200 billion to build the capacity to transmit that energy to cities and towns. It's a one-time cost and compared to the $700 billion we spend on foreign oil every year, it's a bargain.
Building new wind generation facilities and better utilizing our natural gas resources can replace more than one-third of our foreign oil imports in 10 years.
The benefits for the Texas economy and real estate values on the coast are enormous - and the entire country will benefit from lower gas prices.
When you combine the massive capital investments from this wind plan, with our already in-progress Texas crude oil refinery capacity investments of over 20 billion dollars, our new nuclear plants, and the projected benefits of our recently approved NAFTA super highway - you can see that the lone star state has a bright future indeed.
Texas already leads the nation in population growth, economic performance, exports, real estate values and lifestyle. It's no wonder that boomers and birds are flocking to the Texas coast. Read article about Texas' advantages and the predicted Texas real estate boom.
The Texas coast resort market is transforming into the nations leading destination for vacation homes and rentals, with a diversity of location lifestyles, new projects from mega high-rises to new urbanism communities and affordable hurricane resistant modular homes.
 Be sure to check out our upcoming article on how the top Realtors and top developers are reacting to today's market and the projected future demand! This is one you won't want to miss.
One thing for sure, now is the best time to invest in real estate on the Texas coast. We have both bargains and new development opportunities that you'll find no-where else in the world.
 Explore our site to find out more - or contact us - and we'll prove to you just how special our market is right now - and where the best opportunities are - and how you can take advantage of them.
Click here to see some of our most exciting new developments! |
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By
Janet Elliott - Houston Chronicle @
Friday, July 18, 2008 12:38 PM |
Texas to harness more wind power
The land of oil and gas is staking a big chunk of its energy future on the Texas wind with a decision by utility regulators to build nearly $5 billion worth of transmission capacity.
The wind industry is supported by rural lawmakers for the jobs and growth it will bring, while urban legislators say wind will reduce pollution and global warming.
“This puts us on the path toward diversification of our energy sources so that by 2015 we should be reliant on wind for 25 percent,” said Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio.
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By
Fort Worth Star-Telegram @
Friday, July 18, 2008 2:15 PM |
WIND POWER'S BIG BREAK
The state’s Public Utility Commission yesterday put Texas on course to spend $4.8 billion on power lines needed to carry electricity from wind farms in the Panhandle and High Plains to the state’s urban centers.
Getting wind power from turbines to consumers has been problematic because of insufficient transmission lines running from the remote wind farms. The project would allow hundreds and possibly thousands of miles of power lines to be added. However, officials say it would be at least five years before the lines would be ready to handle electricity.
The costs would be covered by customers served by ERCOT, the Texas power-grid operator. Customers would pay an estimated $4 monthly fee for several years.
Texas leads the nation in wind-energy production, and the utility commission’s move, which still faces one more procedural hurdle, would put the state’s output ahead of the combined production of the other 14 states producing wind energy. |
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By
Wallstreet Journal @
Saturday, July 19, 2008 9:22 PM |
SOLAR POWER AND 10 STEPS TO LOWER ENERGY BILLS
1. Give your home an energy-audit
2. Seal existing air leaks in ductwork, and around windows, doors and recessed lights
3. Add insulation in the attic, basement and anywhere else you can
4. Upgrade to Energy Star appliances
5. Consider installing programmable thermostats
6. Tune up your boiler or furnace
7. Consider upgrading windows and glass doors to double-paned, insulated models
8. Install solar shades on windows and glass doors
9. Consider installing a cleaner-burning, EPA-certified wood stove or fireplace insert
10. Consider replacing your existing water heater with an on-demand tankless heater to reduce standby heat losses.
SOLAR POWER
Sun power gained traction in the U.S. during the last energy crisis in the 1970s. It went into a cold spell when tax incentives lapsed under President Reagan and oil prices fell. Now it's making a comeback. For starters, consumers are more focused on environmental issues such as global warming. Plus, new federal and state tax credits and rebates are available to homeowners, and systems often can be rolled into mortgages for new construction. (To find perks in your area, visit dsireusa.org.)
Sweetening the pot, many electric utilities have "net-metering" programs under which houses equipped with photovoltaic systems, which convert sun into electricity, can sell excess power back to the grid.
Nationally, an average-size, 4.5 kilowatt residential photovoltaic system costs $40,000 to $50,000, before any tax credits or rebates, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.
For a smaller investment, sun can be used to heat water for showers, laundry and dishwashing. At $2,000 to $8,000, these solar-thermal systems typically pay for themselves in under a decade.
With extra equipment, they also can help heat homes. "It's a very quick and easy way to get yourself out of two-thirds of your hot-water bill," says Jeff Irish, a former General Electric Co. executive who runs Hudson Valley Clean Energy in Rhinebeck, N.Y., which designs and installs renewable-energy systems.
The industry is cooking. U.S. installations of solar water heaters nearly tripled between 2005 and 2007, according to the SEIA. Last month, Hawaii became the first state to mandate solar water heaters in most new homes beginning in 2010.
Configuring a solar water-heating system varies, but most include a water-storage tank inside the house and solar collectors outside, often on the roof. In one typical design for areas with cold weather, the system pumps a nontoxic antifreeze fluid (a propylene glycol/water mix) through the collectors to be warmed by the sun and then down into the storage tank.
There the fluid passes through a heat exchanger to transfer the warmth to potable hot water stored in the tank. The solar tank feeds that warmed water into the home's existing water heater. On days when the solar tank's water doesn't get hot enough, it's heated further by the water heater.
The first step is to determine how solar-friendly your home is. The Department of Energy also helps sponsor a site, findsolar.com, which lists certified installers by state, as does the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (nabcep.org) To find certified solar-equipment manufacturers, go to solar-rating.org. |
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By JIM VERTUNO AP @
Thursday, July 24, 2008 10:36 PM |
Texas approves major new wind power project
Texas, headquarters of America's oil industry, is about to stake a fortune on wind power.
In what experts say is the biggest investment in the clean and renewable energy in U.S. history, utility officials in the Lone Star State gave preliminary approval Thursday to a $4.9 billion plan to build new transmission lines to carry wind-generated electricity from gusty West Texas to urban areas like Dallas.
"People think about oil wells and football in Texas, but in 10 years they'll look back and say this was a brilliant thing to do," said Patrick Woodson, vice president of E.On Climate & Renewables North America, which has about 1,200 megawatts of wind projects already in use or on the drawing board in Texas.
Texas is already the national leader in wind power, generating about 5,000 megawatts. But wind-energy advocates say the lack of transmission lines has kept a lot of that power from being put to use and has hindered the building of more turbines.
Supporters say Thursday's 2-1 vote by the Texas Public Utility Commission is critical to getting that energy to more people.
"We will add more wind than the 14 states following Texas combined," said PUC Commissioner Paul Hudson. "I think that's a very extraordinary achievement. Some think we haven't gone far enough, some think we've pushed too far."
Most of Texas' wind-energy production is in petroleum-producing West Texas, where nearly 4,000 wind turbines tower over oil pump jacks and capture the breeze that blows across the flat and largely barren landscape. The new plan would not directly build a slew of new turbines, but would add transmission lines capable of moving about 18,000 megawatts. One expert said that is enough to power more than 4 million Texas homes.
Supporters predict the plan will spur new wind power projects, create jobs, reduce pollution and lower energy costs. Texans pay some of the highest electric rates in the country, in part because of congested transmission lines.
Texas electric customers will bear the cost of construction over the next several years, paying about $3 or $4 more per month on their bills, according to Tom Smith, state director of the consumer group Public Citizen. But he predicted that increase would easily be offset by lower energy prices.
Smith called Texas' current transmission lines a "two-lane dirt road" compared to the "renewable energy superhighway" the plan would build.
"We have all these wind plants up and operating. What we're asking for is the superhighway to get the energy to the cities," Smith said. "This will send signals to manufacturers all across the world Texas is ready to be a world-class player in renewable energy."
The plan still needs to receive final approval later this year from the PUC. The transmission lines would not be up and running for three to five years. Who would build them and other details have yet to be worked out.
Environmentalists and landowners have launched protests against wind turbines from Cape Cod in Massachusetts to Idaho and Texas' South Padre Island, complaining that wind turbines spoil the view and threaten migrating birds.
But the turbines are already in West Texas, a sparsely populated region already pockmarked with oil drilling and exploration equipment. And this project will build only transmission lines.
PUC Commissioner Julie Caruthers Parsley was the lone dissenter, arguing the plan may add too much power for the electric grid to handle. She also worried it could delay other projects, such as construction of nuclear reactors.
The conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation said companies that build wind and solar farms should bear more of the cost of the new lines, and it warned that those power sources cannot be expected to consistently produce abundant energy.
Even with the run-up in natural gas prices, more gas plants would be a good backup "because the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow all the time," said Drew Thornley, a policy analyst for the organization.
The wind energy industry has benefited from the support of billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens, who is planning to build the world's largest wind farm on about 200,000 acres in the Texas Panhandle. When completed, Pickens' 2,700 turbines will be capable of producing enough electricity to power 1.3 million homes.
Pickens has become an evangelist for wind power as a way to break the nation's dependence on foreign oil, launching an advertising blitz in which he warned: "I've been an oilman all my life, but this is one emergency we can't drill our way out of."
"It's a good decision," Pickens spokesman Jay Rosser said of Thursday's PUC vote. "It recognizes the important role wind in Texas will play in meeting the state's growing energy and energy stability needs." |
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By
COLLEGE STATION (The Eagle) @
Tuesday, July 29, 2008 11:53 PM |
TEXAS A&M RESEARCHERS PART OF WIND ENERGY IMPACT STUDY
Two Texas A&M University researchers have been asked to be part of a five-year, $2 million study on the ecological and socioeconomic impact of wind farms in Texas.
"When you're building these turbines, it's going to affect local people," said Wendy Jepson, assistant geography professor at A&M and project researcher. "We're really interested in that story. How is it affecting the farmers and the citizens of those communities both in terms of economic development and how they perceive change in their landscape and their environment?"
Jepson and Christian Brannstrom, an associate geography professor at A&M, are joining with researchers from Texas Christian and Oxford universities for the project.
Jepson said researchers hope to take what they learn and feed it back into policymaking, enhancing the advantages of wind power and mitigating the potential problems.
According to officials at Texas A&M University, the study is privately funded by FPL Energy, the largest wind and solar energy producer in the country. |
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