David Hallquist
CEO of Vermont Electric Cooperative
VELCO Board member
Renewable Energy of North America board member
Principal at Stowe Consulting Company
Mohawk Valley Community College
Q: What was the largest hurdle to get over, as far as
permits, laws and zoning?
A: Public service board approval – getting water
resources.
Q: Was the opposition from the public mostly due to
consideration of wildlife/environment, noise/sight problems or safety concerns?
A: Noise and aesthetics—50/50. Every single electric source has issues,
however wind has the most potential.
Q: Has there been any major issues yet? (safety concerns, reports of wildlife
problems...etc)
A: Safety is our biggest concern. Hauling the equipment can be dangerous. 2
weeks ago a man was injured hauling heavy equipment and is still in a coma.
Q: Has the support for wind power gained strength or lost strength in the
region since the wind farms have been built?
A: Lost strength. Public support dropped from 80% to 70%
In reality, it’s easy for people to say they support it
until it actually shows up. Then they question if it is worth it.
Willem Post
Founding
member of Coalition for Energy Solutions
Consulting
Engineer and Project Manager
BSME
New Jersey Institute of Technology
MSME
Rensselear Polytechnic Institute
MBA,
P.E. University of Connecticut
Focus:
Master Plans and Case Studies
VERY interesting conversation with Willem Post who knows
just about everything there is to know about wind energy around the world (specifically in Europe).
Focuses on Master plans and studies for past
10-15 years of his career.
-
Helped design UVMs mater plan for the steam and
water pressure systems.
-
He talked a lot about wind energy in Europe
(Norway, Denmark, Sweden tradeoffs)
·
Asked him the most important message to convey
to class: “I think New England should just forget about wind”
o Midwestern
prairie states have tremendous wind power opportunities and that’s where we
should utilize wind energy
o He
compared Midwestern wind capacity to that of Saudi Arabia’s oil capacity
·
Biggest issue surrounding wind energy is noise
o In Willem’s article on Lowell Wind Farm in July 2011 he states:
·
infrasound consists of air
pressure pulsations; not audible, but felt; usually not measured by acoustics
engineers; and more or less ignored by state regulators
·
People have been known to get sick from the
infrasound that the turbines emit
o Infrasound
was used in the war to torture people
o He
met a farming family in Austria that lives less than a mile away from a wind
farm and after a while the chickens started laying eggs without yolks
·
Needless to say, noise has a huge impact on the
community and environment
Q: Adverse effects of Lowell wind project?
A: Environmental degradation. Preserving the Lowell mountain
environment is very important.
Q: What is Vermont’s energy potential?
A: Vermont is not good for solar. There is decent wind on
the ridge lines and better winds offshore as well, but offshore is very
expensive.
àKansas
has the best wind energy potential—maintence is low cost and there is a tremendous
wind capacity
àSaudi
Arabia of wind = Midwestern prarie states à
evilvalent of Saudi oil
àMaintence
of operation for Kansas wind farm = 1, VT ridgeline = 2
àOperation
of maintenance + initial capital cost > energy actually produced in Vermont.
We are spending unnecessary capital
cap in Kilowatt x 8760 x capital factor = kilowatt hours
*equation is critical to know
Q: When are winds strongest in Vermont?
A: wind is stronger at night
spring & fall = moderate wind
winter = strongest winds at night
summer = weakest winds
Spring and fall intermediate
denmark sends their wind to Norway and Sweden
these plants close water valves and absorb surges of wind
½ is consumed in Denmark and ½ is exported
Sweden and Norway have more storage capacity than Denmark….they don’t
have to use their own water
to run hydroplants
Germany is going to shut down all of their nuclear reactors by 2023.
Q: What do you think should be the most important takeaway
from my presentation?
A: I think new England should forget about wind.
Q: Why?
A: noisy, visually offensive, destroys ridgelines
people get sick, low frequency noise /infrasound à used in the war to
torture people
In Austria, I met a farm family that lives within a mile
from a wind farm and eventually their chickens were laying eggs without yolks.
