Tag Archives: Atlantic Ocean

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Atlantic Wind Connection …Google

10/12/2010 Nativegrl77

The Official Google Blog - Insights from Googlers into our products, technology and the Google culture

The wind cries transmission

10/11/2010 09:17:00 PM

We just signed an agreement to invest in the development of a backbone transmission project off the Mid-Atlantic coast that offers a solid financial return while helping to accelerate offshore wind development—so it’s both good business and good for the environment. The new project can enable the creation of thousands of jobs, improve consumer access to clean energy sources and increase the reliability of the Mid-Atlantic region‘s existing power grid.

When built out, the Atlantic Wind Connection (AWC) backbone will stretch 350 miles off the coast from New Jersey to Virginia and will be able to connect 6,000MW of offshore wind turbines. That’s equivalent to 60% of the wind energy that was installed in the entire country last year and enough to serve approximately 1.9 million households.

The AWC backbone will be built around offshore power hubs that will collect the power from multiple offshore wind farms and deliver it efficiently via sub-sea cables to the strongest, highest capacity parts of the land-based transmission system. This system will act as a superhighway for clean energy. By putting strong, secure transmission in place, the project removes a major barrier to scaling up offshore wind, an industry that despite its potential, only had its first federal lease signed last week and still has no operating projects in the U.S.

Why offshore wind and why the Mid-Atlantic? Many coastal areas in the United States have large population centers on an overstretched grid but limited access to a high-quality land-based wind resource. These coastal states can take advantage of their most promising renewable resource by using larger wind farms with larger turbines that can take advantage of stronger and steadier winds offshore.

The Mid-Atlantic region is ideally suited for offshore wind. It offers more than 60,000 MW of offshore wind potential in relatively shallow waters that extend miles out to sea. These shallow waters make it easier to install turbines 10-15 miles offshore, meaning wind projects can take advantage of stronger winds and are virtually out-of-sight from land. With few other renewable energy options ideally suited for the Atlantic coast, the AWC backbone helps states meet their renewable energy goals and standards (PDF) by enabling a local offshore wind industry to deploy thousands of megawatts of clean, cost-effective wind energy.

The AWC backbone is critical to more rapidly scaling up offshore wind because without it, offshore wind developers would be forced to build individual radial transmission lines from each offshore wind project to the shore, requiring additional time consuming permitting and environmental studies and making balancing the grid more difficult. As those in the Northeast remember from the 2003 blackout, transmission is severely overstretched on the east coast. The AWC project relieves grid congestion in one of two National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors which were deemed to have significant network congestion and need speedy creation of transmission capacity.

The AWC project is led by independent transmission company Trans-Elect and is financed by Google, Good Energies and Marubeni Corporation. We are investing 37.5% of the equity in this initial development stage, with the goal of obtaining all the necessary approvals to finance and begin constructing the line. Although the development stage requires only a small part of the total estimated project budget, it represents a critical stage for the project.

We believe in investing in projects that make good business sense and further the development of renewable energy. We’re willing to take calculated risks on early stage ideas and projects that can have dramatic impacts while offering attractive returns. This willingness to be ahead of the industry and invest in large scale innovative projects is core to our success as a company.

From the Great Plains to the waters off the coast of Northern Europe, windmills churn out clean power that lights our homes and powers our economies. We are pleased to support this investment that will ultimately enable the Mid Atlantic to benefit from the tremendous wind resource off its coast.

Posted by Rick Needham, Green Business Operations Director

~ my 2cents ...

Weekend reviews &some News

10/10/2010 Nativegrl77

I forgot to add that President Obama and VP Biden will be in Philadelphia today campaigning…reports of it being broadcast are great … so left coast be aware …the Band Roots will entertain…love them …FYI!!!The president spoke to more than 17,000 voters last week in Madison, Wis., where many more thousands watched on screens in an overflow area.

Weekend buzz … and rants include “the Media” screaming to all that will listen that it’s a tidal wave coming but if you are listening to the way the poll questions are configured and or how the hosts or commentators talk you start to get the sense that people have not been getting all the information so that they can make an intelligent decision when it is time to vote or maybe the question is skewed. Some days i want to wipe my nose with the stuff i hear from Political Pundits yet because i am not an insider some of it has to have some foundation and that is troubling. We are in the final weeks leading to the midterm elections and some interesting stories are coming out of the woodwork regarding a few candidates clearly on the extreme right and while it seems we cannot boot them out for their extreme ideology it is important to expose them on as many levels as possible: The fact that Meg Whitman or any other candidate would employ an undocumented worker while talking the political hard line against immigration is practicing hypocrisy at its worst…to be honest the whole wh**e comment does not bother me because Brown did not say it and why it was said proves Whitman is in fact buying votes and or endorsements which she is against right… sigh. The story about the guy who used to play Nazi dress up on weekends who is now running for a Public Service job is so outrageous as well the story about Governor Christie trying to dump the Hudson Tunnel Project which did not get enough airplay and it epitomizes why its likely we are not improving …how many other Republican officials have or are trying to lay people off or dumping projects and if so what do we assume their intent is and should they be responsible for paying back the money they took from the stimulus fund —that is a Hell yes! To continue …After the latest comments from Senator DeMint i wonder what his constituents are saying and what seems even clearer for me is DeMint definitely is telling Americans to do as we (Republican Tea Party) say not as we do and that truly is un-American. I am still trying to get over how DeMint was able to implement Universal Health Care but managed to give the rest of us the proverbial finger. I know that even though the people in Massachusetts hated the process, hated who was implementing HCR, some even protested what they call the sausage making yet while Congress was putting HCR together Massachusetts voted for a tea party guy into Congress complaining about HCR, but when you asked them 80% stated they wouldn’t give up the Universal Health Care that DeMint and others implemented but I guess they did not want the rest of us to have it. I believe the current dissent in the country is not just class warfare, race, religion so on and so forth it is because this Congress did not take a hard left and while that might be what we all want it is not what the office of President is all about. Unfortunately, Republicans refuse to let President Obama govern, refuse to be apart of the solution and well here we are – I blame the Republican Tea Party

I admit it …I feel tense when I listen to the opinion news but because I am listening closely they do fail to convince me that Congress will have a new look after Nov.2nd but if the scream of a tidal wave helps people do their civic duty -Vote for DEMS; then by all means scare us but with folks like ab stoddard all you get is democratic gloom and doom and that is tiring. I have faith that people will come to their senses even those in “the Media” because though they seem to exclude themselves from the inevitable …they too are apart of the voting consortium and should be concerned that crazy people actually have a chance to represent Americans. In the end do we blame “the Media” for what happens in November or the obvious side of the issues they seem to take because money does talk and what with major corporations owning all the cable and main stream stations can we expect them to tell the truth …food for thought eh? the comment below is from our President while at the Chicago rally.

“Sometimes I feel as if we had such a high on election night, and then there was the inauguration and Bono was singing and Beyonce,” Obama said at a fundraiser in Chicago last week. “That was the start, not the finish, of the journey. And it made each of you a shareholder in the mission of rebuilding our country and reclaiming our future.” -President barack obama -source: charles babington -AP

Saturday …For sure the 206 will be raining, cloudy with frequent bouts of wind… sigh it’s all good this weather could be worse right. The News Tribune reports heavier-than-normal traffic is expected for a holiday weekend at the U.S. -Canada border crossings because Monday is Columbus Day in the United States and Thanksgiving Day in Canada.

My rant today is about the extreme and somewhat silly behavior of the Republican Tea Party. If you are watching the news it is hard to look away from the ugly behavior but now they are becoming downright desperate and oh boy does Meg Whitman symbolize that on so many levels. The rumors that she has been buying votes seems to have become a reality …first of all it was an aid to not the next Gov Jerry Brown and while Whitman has been unleashing the conversation with out the full context or the entire conversation i would like Jeanne and Whitman to know that given the facts behind the comment i agree with the aid. It proves that you madam are definitely buying votes. The comment was bad for anyone to make but all we heard is what it meant on the surface and a lot of people in “the Media” came out saying oh no he did not say that on all sides of the aisle the facts remained undercover and by late last night most of us heard how and why the aid would say such a thing. My take is those quiet meetings, backroom deals if you will and include, if the talk is real – a sum of 45million dollars. It does prove once and for all that Meg Whitman indeed is engaging in desperate moves to get ahead of the competition by buying votes from at least the Police in California but then someone from the Police must have gotten greedy and called Brown’s camp … and i paraphrase -were giving Meg our endorsement unless you deal with our union pensions. bad behavior gone ugly

Last … some days you just have to share right maybe ask did that strike you as weird too but then i have this need to respond because the comment seemed extreme, the writer seemingly gothic and then again it could be all about sarcasm with a little bit or splash of threatening behavior at the same time. I have a choice of taking what the writer says seriously or decide that what the writer is sharing is that right of center love or rhetoric that so many of the Republican Tea Party members seem to engage in and spew at any given moment …always lurking under the surface. Well, i decided to share it with everyone, heck this blog is on the interwebs right …Anyway, the article Tattoo is getting some attention, actually the article from Speaker Pelosi received quite a few comments, most were nice and because we do have 1st Amendment rights folks use it and i choose to share it. The article is about the need for the Democratic Party to help support our candidates attack their opponents because clearly the Republican Tea Party has big maybe foreign Corporations funding their party not to mention the rhetoric is ugly at best, it is also filled with mis-information or their truths and should be challenged now more than ever. I have absolutely no problem with someone who wants to use their 1st Amendment rights, share their view or ideology but let’s keep it nice, play fair and don’t throw jabs that seem like threats eh? And btw stay away from my lady parts…. so …below is a comment in response to the article Tattoo

thank you for the comment from

… jonolan

Yes, Americans and American industry has arrayed themselves against the Leftist filth who want to destroy America.

Be thankful that, so far, it’s being handled through elections. Keep to your treasonous ways and we’ll have neither reason or desire to refrain from exterminating your ilk unto the last misborn crotch-dropping of unknown paternity.

For myself, I hope you continue; I look forward to the purge.

————————————————————

Other News …

**NOW has chosen to back Jerry Brown instead Meg Whitman -i am proud

**Queen of Gospel’ Albertina Walker dies at age 81

** Greenlake mtg w/ officials at library 10/16

**NYC/Fed charged tried and sentenced bungled time sq bomber to life in prison

**Tumwater -A 45million dollar prison sits empty due to budget cuts,lack of inmates and employee layoffs -yes they are trying to figure out what it can be used for in the interim

**The Federal home improvement Rebate will be over at the end of the year

**Did anyone hear Bill Maher say President Obama may get impeached -reckless use of time or does bill have an agenda?he certainly has the platform …people please remember he is a Pundit of fun, jokes ,sarcasm and a whole lot of mean barbs …the Prez

**Mercedes recalls 85thousand cars

**BofA stops home foreclosure activity for all 50 states

**Job employment 9.6% 95thousand govt jobs lost 80% due to temp census and i guess 20%layoffs, 64thousand Private Sector jobs gained –I would like to know the states and companies that laid folks off

**Asst Mgr Jeanne Cumming from Politico got on cable and stated how offended she was to hear about the Jerry Brown wh–e comment.

**Hurricane Otto is forming in the Atlantic Ocean

**John Lennon a music icon would be 70 this weekend

**Solomon Burke -king of soul/rock dead at 70

**Chile…drill reaches 33 trapped miners

**NRA supporting at least 58 democratic candidates …as well as Repubicans

CSPAN …