On November 10th, 2014, the city of Pawleys Island passed an ordinance that would formally oppose the “placement of any wind turbines in any location where the turbines, or any part of the turbines, are visible, day or night, from thirty feet above mean high water at any point within the town of Pawleys Island.” This Read More …
Author: Lainey Lewis
Oil Industry v. Fishing Industry
Proponents of offshore oil and gas exploration affirm oil spills are unlikely to happen. According to a report from British Petroleum in 2009, if a spill were to occur, adverse effects to the environment would not be expected. One year later, in 2010, Deepwater Horizon happened, a large, deep water oil spill that gushed “4.9 million Read More …
Big Oil
British Petroleum (BP) is one of the world’s largest oil companies and is infamously known for the Transocean oil rig explosion which released approximately 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The revenue lost by 210 million gallons of crude is worth approximately $408,807,000 at market prices in 2010. Combined with other losses BP incurred, Read More …
Onshore v. Offshore Wind
Wind energy is a renewable energy source which means there is an inexhaustible amount of energy that can be cultivated. With zero greenhouse gas emissions, wind energy has very low impacts to the environment and can be used virtually anywhere the wind blows. According to the American Wind Energy Association, the wind industry has generated Read More …
New Orleans Solar
The Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans, Louisiana was one of the hardest hit areas in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Located adjacent to the Industrial Canal levy, the neighborhood flooded with over 20 feet of water. However, after this devastating blow, a conglomeration of humanitarian aid and philanthropic deeds, the community began Read More …
How Wind Turbines Work
The rotation of the blades cause the internal generator system to spin producing wind energy. This motion converts the rotational energy into electrical energy and moves down the shaft to a transformer where the energy is fully converted to electricity. Lastly, the electricity produced is distributed through a power grid where it is consumed by Read More …
History of Wind Energy
Forms of wind energy, such as windmills, have been used for hundreds of years to pump water, grind grains, and perform other farm-related tasks. It was only in the early 1980’s that people began to convert wind into electricity. The first wind farm was built in 1981 in Crotched Mountain, New Hampshire. Directly following, wind farms Read More …