World's Largest Wind Farm Gets Green Light

cliffski writes "According to the BBC website the UK govt has just given the go ahead to two large offshore wind-farm projects. Between them the schemes would produce enough renewable electricity to power about one million households. The larger London Array project covers 144 sq miles (232 sq km) between Margate in Kent and Clacton, Essex and will be the world's biggest when it is completed. The £1.5bn scheme will have 341 turbines rising from the sea about 12 miles (20km) off the Kent and Essex coasts, as well as five offshore substations and four meteorological masts"

Comments

Re:What about our fine feathered friends?

[Anonymous Coward]

It really helps to have some perspective.
Mans activity contributes to a vast number of bird deaths every year:

1. Utility transmission and distribution lines, the backbone of our electrical power system, are responsible for 130 to 174 million bird deaths a year in the U.S.
2. Collisions with automobiles and trucks result in the deaths of between 60 and 80 million birds annually in the U.S
3. Tall building and residential house windows also claim their share of birds. Some of the five million tall buildings in U.S.
4. Agricultural pesticides are "conservatively estimated" to directly kill 67 million birds pe year.

In December of 2002, the report "Effects of Wind Turbines on Birds and Bats in Northeast Wisconsin" was released. The study was completed by Robert Howe and Amy Wolf of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, and William Evans. Their study covered a two-year period between 1999 and 2001, in the area surrounding the 31 turbines operating in Kewaunee County by Madison Gas & Electric (MG&E) and Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) Corporation.

The report found that over the study period, 25 bird carcasses were found at the sites. The report states that "the resulting mortality rate of 1.29 birds/tower/year is close to the nationwide estimate of 2.19 birds/tower.16- The report further states, "While bird collisions do occur (with commercial wind turbines) the impacts on global populations appear to be relatively minor, especially in comparison with other human-related causes of mortality such as communications towers, collisions with buildings, and vehicles collisions."

Re:Such specific numbers, blah.

[NSIM]

> How about a MW output. That's a specific number that can
> be compared to other forms of electric generation.

According to the Register, it's 1.3GW

> Or is that one million homes in the middle of summer when
> whole power grids collapse from the strain?

You are confusing US power requirements with UK. Vast majority of UK homes don't have A/C so you don't see that massive summer energy consumption spike, in fact quite the reverse, with fewer houses needing heat and daylight from 6am-10pm (give or take) the electricity requirements in the UK typically drop during the summer.

Re:The question nobody's asked.

[polar red]

wind power is rather good in that respect:
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Energy_return_on_in vestment_(EROI)_for_wind_energy