Thanks for reporting this. I wonder why it is never on the national news.
I have been off the grid for over a quarter of a century. I have all of the toys, but not the monthly utility bill. I rarely run out of power - and if I do, I know why and when I will restore it.
Even the "Smart Grid" is prone to outages due to breaks in the supply lines and thousands of people go without electricity for days or weeks due to supply line breaks - ice, tornadoes, over demand in peak times. This system no longer works.
I would like to see smaller neighborhood or state grids. They would be more cost effective, less prone to problems of old infrastructure and disasters in far away places bringing down power to thousands in a large area.
If all consumers, both residential and commercial, had an alternative energy system feeding into as well as being supplies by the grid, the power would be very secure from almost any interruption. Costs would pay for themselves and new technology is easier to add as it is feasible. We could phase out the environmental problems of the coal or atomic "power plants" and their huge expense.
The U.S. East Coast has many sweet spots for wind power development. (Image credit: National Renewable Energy Laboratory)
The United States has cleared the waters for wind farms to be built in large swaths of ocean off of its mid-Atlantic Coast as part of a broader strategy to promote renewable energy development.
Today, the Interior Department announced that a subsequent environmental review has cleared the way for wind energy leases to be granted in areas designated as Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Building on the OCS required thorough geophysical, geotechnical, archeological and biological surveys.
An initiative to streamline the permit process on the Eastern shore began in Nov. 2010, and four projects were fast-tracked as a consequence. New development should be even easier - the environmental review will be used as the basis to grant and renew permits in the future.
Interior Secretary Salazar echoed President Obama’s State of the Union speech saying, “When it comes to powering our nation’s homes, businesses and economy, we need to take an all-of-the-above approach to safely and responsibly developing our domestic energy resources.”
Salazar hailed the “incredible potential” of wind energy and assured that the government was moving quickly to accelerate the siting, leasing and construction of new projects.
The major findings from the environmental review major are available online to the public via the Federal Register.
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