NY Times
May 21, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
There has been much debate in this campaign about which of our enemies the next U.S. president should deign to talk to. The real story, the next president may discover, though, is how few countries are waiting around for us to call. It is hard to remember a time when more shifts in the global balance of power are happening at once — with so few in America’s favor.
Let’s start with the most profound one: More and more, I am convinced that the big foreign policy failure that will be pinned on this administration is not the failure to make Iraq work, as devastating as that has been. It will be one with much broader balance-of-power implications — the failure after 9/11 to put in place an effective energy policy.
It baffles me that President Bush would rather go to Saudi Arabia twice in four months and beg the Saudi king for an oil price break than ask the American people to drive 55 miles an hour, buy more fuel-efficient cars or accept a carbon tax or gasoline tax that might actually help free us from what he called our “addiction to oil.”
The failure of Mr. Bush to fully mobilize the most powerful innovation engine in the world — the U.S. economy — to produce a scalable alternative to oil has helped to fuel the rise of a collection of petro-authoritarian states — from Russia to Venezuela to Iran — that are reshaping global politics in their own image.
If this huge transfer of wealth to the petro-authoritarians continues, power will follow. According to Congressional testimony Wednesday by the energy expert Gal Luft, with oil at $200 a barrel, OPEC could “potentially buy Bank of America in one month worth of production, Apple computers in a week and General Motors in just three days.”
But that’s not all. Two compelling new books have just been published that describe two other big power shifts: “The Post-American World,” by Fareed Zakaria, the editor of Newsweek International, and “Superclass” by David Rothkopf, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment.
Mr. Zakaria’s central thesis is that while the U.S. still has many unique assets, “the rise of the rest” — the Chinas, the Indias, the Brazils and even smaller nonstate actors — is creating a world where many other countries are slowly moving up to America’s level of economic clout and self-assertion, in every realm. “Today, India has 18 all-news channels of its own,” notes Zakaria. “And the perspectives they provide are very different from those you will get in the Western media. The rest now has the confidence to present its own narrative, where it is at the center.”
For too long, argues Zakaria, America has taken its many natural assets — its research universities, free markets and diversity of human talent — and assumed that they will always compensate for our low savings rate or absence of a health care system or any strategic plan to improve our competitiveness.
“That was fine in a world when a lot of other countries were not performing,” argues Zakaria, but now the best of the rest are running fast, working hard, saving well and thinking long term. “They have adopted our lessons and are playing our game,” he said. If we don’t fix our political system and start thinking strategically about how to improve our competitiveness, he added, “the U.S. risks having its unique and advantageous position in the world erode as other countries rise.”
Mr. Rothkopf’s book argues that on many of the most critical issues of our time, the influence of all nation-states is waning, the system for addressing global issues among nation-states is more ineffective than ever, and therefore a power void is being created. This void is often being filled by a small group of players — “the superclass” — a new global elite, who are much better suited to operating on the global stage and influencing global outcomes than the vast majority of national political leaders.
Some of this new elite “are from business and finance,” says Rothkopf. “Some are members of a kind of shadow elite — criminals and terrorists. Some are masters of new or traditional media; some are religious leaders, and a few are top officials of those governments that do have the ability to project their influence globally.”
The next president will have to manage these new rising states and these new rising individuals and networks, while wearing the straightjacket left in the Oval Office by Mr. Bush.
“Call it the triple deficit,” said Mr. Rothkopf. “A fiscal deficit that will soon have us choosing between rationed health care, sufficient education, adequate infrastructure and traditional levels of defense spending, a trade deficit that has us borrowing from our rivals to the point of real vulnerability, and a geopolitical deficit that is a legacy of Iraq, which may result in hesitancy to take strong stands where we must.”
The first rule of holes is when you’re in one, stop digging. When you’re in three, bring a lot of shovels.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Windmill project at heart of lawsuits in Freedom
Maine Coast Now
Town to vote again on commercial development review ordinance
By Megan Richardson
May 21, 2008
FREEDOM — Two lawsuits that could affect the wind turbine project have been brought against the town, weeks before residents will be asked to vote for a third time on the commercial development review ordinance that was repealed last year.
In addition to the lawsuits, Jeff Keating started a petition to put the re-enactment of the commercial development review ordinance on the ballot for upcoming elections. According to Town Clerk Cindy Abbott, Keating turned in a petition containing 38 signatures.
The question, “Shall an ordinance entitled Town of Freedom Commercial Development Review Ordinance be enacted with all of its provisions being retroactive to June 12, 2007?” will be voted on by secret ballot referendum June 10.
When asked to comment on the upcoming vote, First Selectman Ron Price said he would do so “as a citizen, not as a selectman.” Price said the vote is another way for people who are opposed to the windmill project to try to stop it from happening. He said there is a lot more to the ordinance than windmills.
“Take the windmill issue right out of it, I think the town of Freedom can do a lot better,” Price said.
He said the ordinance as a whole is very restrictive, and that a person interested in any sort of commercial development would likely have to hire a team of lawyers to get through the permitting process.
“It’s not a good ordinance,” Price said, adding that he did not support it when it was first enacted and does not support it now. He also expressed his confidence that the ordinance would not be re-enacted.
“I’m pretty sure the town won’t accept it,” Price said Tuesday. “I would bet on it.”
Details on the lawsuits
Attorney Ed Bearor served two lawsuits to the town early last week. One lawsuit was brought against Beaver Ridge Wind LLC, Central Maine Power and Price by Steve and Judy Bennett, David and Mary Ann Bennett, Jason Wade and Erin Bennett-Wade, Jeff Keating, Thomas Keating, Sallyann Hadyniak, and Amanda Martin, all owners of land abutting Beaver Ridge access roads. The lawsuit says that the access roads — Sibley Road Extension, Beaver Ridge Road, and Deer Hill Road — have been abandoned or discontinued by the town, and that the roads therefore now belong to the abutting property owners.
The suit goes on to say that because the roads belong to the plaintiffs, the defendants do not have the legal right to construct utility service or transmission lines, or to construct a new road needed for the windmill project.
Price, who according to the lawsuit owns a piece of property abutting the Sibley Road Extension, as well as portions of all three access roads, said Tuesday that while abandoned or completely discontinued roads do become the property of the abutting landowners, the date of abandonment or discontinuance depends on when the town last took legislative action on the roads.
He said the town took action in the 1950s on the Beaver Ridge Road, discontinuing it for maintenance only. He said that action declared that the road was to be held open as a public way forever.
Price also said that action was taken in the 1970s to discontinue the other two roads, for maintenance only, although it was not specified that they were to remain open. He said none of the roads have been completely discontinued, and that it is unclear who owns the roads now. He said in the case of the Beaver Ridge Road, though, that the town clearly meant to keep the road open as a public way.
The construction of new roads and utility and transmission lines is a necessary part of the plan for the windmill project on Beaver Ridge.
Portland-based Competitive Energy Services (CES) first approached Freedom about constructing windmills on Beaver Ridge in the summer of 2006.
The commercial development review ordinance was created in response to the proposed project, and according to a letter to the editor written by Freedom resident Glen Bridges, CES put its building permit application on hold while the town worked on the ordinance. The ordinance was passed in August 2006.
CES applied for a building permit in September 2006, and the planning board approved it in January 2007. Soon after, a group of Freedom residents appealed the permit, claiming the project could not meet standards in the ordinance. The anti-windmill group won their appeal.
Having lost that battle, supporters of the windmill project turned their attention to the ordinance itself.
Bridges started a petition to bring the repeal of the ordinance to a vote. On June 12, 2007, residents voted 159-112 to repeal the ordinance.
On June 25, CES submitted another building permit application. This one was approved July 12.
The second lawsuit brought against the town has to do with the denial of an appeal of that new building permit in March 2008. According to the lawsuit, Freedom’s building ordinance requires that work on a project be “substantially commenced” within six months of the issuance of a building permit.
In February, Steve Bennett, Jeff Keating and Erin Bennett-Wade asked Code Enforcement Officer Jay Guber to determine in writing whether the windmill project had been substantially commenced. When Guber determined that it had, they filed an appeal. The appeal was denied in a 3-0 vote.
In the lawsuit, Bennett, Keating and Bennett-Wade said the appeals board failed to deal with a conflict of interest concerning one of the members of the board of appeals.
They asked that the conflict of interest be addressed and the appeal be reheard. They also asked that the Waldo County Superior Court find that the building permit is void.
According to Price, the potential conflict of interest was not a problem. He said that the 3-0 vote indicated that all the board members present at the appeal agreed that work had been substantially commenced on the project.
“I think it was fair, what happened there,” Price said.
Price also confirmed that work had started on the windmill project.
Town to vote again on commercial development review ordinance
By Megan Richardson
May 21, 2008
FREEDOM — Two lawsuits that could affect the wind turbine project have been brought against the town, weeks before residents will be asked to vote for a third time on the commercial development review ordinance that was repealed last year.
In addition to the lawsuits, Jeff Keating started a petition to put the re-enactment of the commercial development review ordinance on the ballot for upcoming elections. According to Town Clerk Cindy Abbott, Keating turned in a petition containing 38 signatures.
The question, “Shall an ordinance entitled Town of Freedom Commercial Development Review Ordinance be enacted with all of its provisions being retroactive to June 12, 2007?” will be voted on by secret ballot referendum June 10.
When asked to comment on the upcoming vote, First Selectman Ron Price said he would do so “as a citizen, not as a selectman.” Price said the vote is another way for people who are opposed to the windmill project to try to stop it from happening. He said there is a lot more to the ordinance than windmills.
“Take the windmill issue right out of it, I think the town of Freedom can do a lot better,” Price said.
He said the ordinance as a whole is very restrictive, and that a person interested in any sort of commercial development would likely have to hire a team of lawyers to get through the permitting process.
“It’s not a good ordinance,” Price said, adding that he did not support it when it was first enacted and does not support it now. He also expressed his confidence that the ordinance would not be re-enacted.
“I’m pretty sure the town won’t accept it,” Price said Tuesday. “I would bet on it.”
Details on the lawsuits
Attorney Ed Bearor served two lawsuits to the town early last week. One lawsuit was brought against Beaver Ridge Wind LLC, Central Maine Power and Price by Steve and Judy Bennett, David and Mary Ann Bennett, Jason Wade and Erin Bennett-Wade, Jeff Keating, Thomas Keating, Sallyann Hadyniak, and Amanda Martin, all owners of land abutting Beaver Ridge access roads. The lawsuit says that the access roads — Sibley Road Extension, Beaver Ridge Road, and Deer Hill Road — have been abandoned or discontinued by the town, and that the roads therefore now belong to the abutting property owners.
The suit goes on to say that because the roads belong to the plaintiffs, the defendants do not have the legal right to construct utility service or transmission lines, or to construct a new road needed for the windmill project.
Price, who according to the lawsuit owns a piece of property abutting the Sibley Road Extension, as well as portions of all three access roads, said Tuesday that while abandoned or completely discontinued roads do become the property of the abutting landowners, the date of abandonment or discontinuance depends on when the town last took legislative action on the roads.
He said the town took action in the 1950s on the Beaver Ridge Road, discontinuing it for maintenance only. He said that action declared that the road was to be held open as a public way forever.
Price also said that action was taken in the 1970s to discontinue the other two roads, for maintenance only, although it was not specified that they were to remain open. He said none of the roads have been completely discontinued, and that it is unclear who owns the roads now. He said in the case of the Beaver Ridge Road, though, that the town clearly meant to keep the road open as a public way.
The construction of new roads and utility and transmission lines is a necessary part of the plan for the windmill project on Beaver Ridge.
Portland-based Competitive Energy Services (CES) first approached Freedom about constructing windmills on Beaver Ridge in the summer of 2006.
The commercial development review ordinance was created in response to the proposed project, and according to a letter to the editor written by Freedom resident Glen Bridges, CES put its building permit application on hold while the town worked on the ordinance. The ordinance was passed in August 2006.
CES applied for a building permit in September 2006, and the planning board approved it in January 2007. Soon after, a group of Freedom residents appealed the permit, claiming the project could not meet standards in the ordinance. The anti-windmill group won their appeal.
Having lost that battle, supporters of the windmill project turned their attention to the ordinance itself.
Bridges started a petition to bring the repeal of the ordinance to a vote. On June 12, 2007, residents voted 159-112 to repeal the ordinance.
On June 25, CES submitted another building permit application. This one was approved July 12.
The second lawsuit brought against the town has to do with the denial of an appeal of that new building permit in March 2008. According to the lawsuit, Freedom’s building ordinance requires that work on a project be “substantially commenced” within six months of the issuance of a building permit.
In February, Steve Bennett, Jeff Keating and Erin Bennett-Wade asked Code Enforcement Officer Jay Guber to determine in writing whether the windmill project had been substantially commenced. When Guber determined that it had, they filed an appeal. The appeal was denied in a 3-0 vote.
In the lawsuit, Bennett, Keating and Bennett-Wade said the appeals board failed to deal with a conflict of interest concerning one of the members of the board of appeals.
They asked that the conflict of interest be addressed and the appeal be reheard. They also asked that the Waldo County Superior Court find that the building permit is void.
According to Price, the potential conflict of interest was not a problem. He said that the 3-0 vote indicated that all the board members present at the appeal agreed that work had been substantially commenced on the project.
“I think it was fair, what happened there,” Price said.
Price also confirmed that work had started on the windmill project.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Stranded in Suburbia
NY Times
May 19, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist
By PAUL KRUGMAN
BERLIN
I have seen the future, and it works.
O.K., I know that these days you’re supposed to see the future in China or India, not in the heart of “old Europe.”
But we’re living in a world in which oil prices keep setting records, in which the idea that global oil production will soon peak is rapidly moving from fringe belief to mainstream assumption. And Europeans who have achieved a high standard of living in spite of very high energy prices — gas in Germany costs more than $8 a gallon — have a lot to teach us about how to deal with that world.
If Europe’s example is any guide, here are the two secrets of coping with expensive oil: own fuel-efficient cars, and don’t drive them too much.
Notice that I said that cars should be fuel-efficient — not that people should do without cars altogether. In Germany, as in the United States, the vast majority of families own cars (although German households are less likely than their U.S. counterparts to be multiple-car owners).
But the average German car uses about a quarter less gas per mile than the average American car. By and large, the Germans don’t drive itsy-bitsy toy cars, but they do drive modest-sized passenger vehicles rather than S.U.V.’s and pickup trucks.
In the near future I expect we’ll see Americans moving down the same path. We’ve already done it once: over the course of the 1970s and 1980s, the average mileage of U.S. passenger vehicles rose about 50 percent, as Americans switched to smaller, lighter cars.
This improvement stalled with the rise of S.U.V.’s during the cheap-gas 1990s. But now that gas costs more than ever before, even after adjusting for inflation, we can expect to see mileage rise again.
Admittedly, the next few years will be rough for families who bought big vehicles when gas was cheap, and now find themselves the owners of white elephants with little trade-in value. But raising fuel efficiency is something we can and will do.
Can we also drive less? Yes — but getting there will be a lot harder.
There have been many news stories in recent weeks about Americans who are changing their behavior in response to expensive gasoline — they’re trying to shop locally, they’re canceling vacations that involve a lot of driving, and they’re switching to public transit.
But none of it amounts to much. For example, some major public transit systems are excited about ridership gains of 5 or 10 percent. But fewer than 5 percent of Americans take public transit to work, so this surge of riders takes only a relative handful of drivers off the road.
Any serious reduction in American driving will require more than this — it will mean changing how and where many of us live.
To see what I’m talking about, consider where I am at the moment: in a pleasant, middle-class neighborhood consisting mainly of four- or five-story apartment buildings, with easy access to public transit and plenty of local shopping.
It’s the kind of neighborhood in which people don’t have to drive a lot, but it’s also a kind of neighborhood that barely exists in America, even in big metropolitan areas. Greater Atlanta has roughly the same population as Greater Berlin — but Berlin is a city of trains, buses and bikes, while Atlanta is a city of cars, cars and cars.
And in the face of rising oil prices, which have left many Americans stranded in suburbia — utterly dependent on their cars, yet having a hard time affording gas — it’s starting to look as if Berlin had the better idea.
Changing the geography of American metropolitan areas will be hard. For one thing, houses last a lot longer than cars. Long after today’s S.U.V.’s have become antique collectors’ items, millions of people will still be living in subdivisions built when gas was $1.50 or less a gallon.
Infrastructure is another problem. Public transit, in particular, faces a chicken-and-egg problem: it’s hard to justify transit systems unless there’s sufficient population density, yet it’s hard to persuade people to live in denser neighborhoods unless they come with the advantage of transit access.
And there are, as always in America, the issues of race and class. Despite the gentrification that has taken place in some inner cities, and the plunge in national crime rates to levels not seen in decades, it will be hard to shake the longstanding American association of higher-density living with poverty and personal danger.
Still, if we’re heading for a prolonged era of scarce, expensive oil, Americans will face increasingly strong incentives to start living like Europeans — maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of our lives.
May 19, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist
By PAUL KRUGMAN
BERLIN
I have seen the future, and it works.
O.K., I know that these days you’re supposed to see the future in China or India, not in the heart of “old Europe.”
But we’re living in a world in which oil prices keep setting records, in which the idea that global oil production will soon peak is rapidly moving from fringe belief to mainstream assumption. And Europeans who have achieved a high standard of living in spite of very high energy prices — gas in Germany costs more than $8 a gallon — have a lot to teach us about how to deal with that world.
If Europe’s example is any guide, here are the two secrets of coping with expensive oil: own fuel-efficient cars, and don’t drive them too much.
Notice that I said that cars should be fuel-efficient — not that people should do without cars altogether. In Germany, as in the United States, the vast majority of families own cars (although German households are less likely than their U.S. counterparts to be multiple-car owners).
But the average German car uses about a quarter less gas per mile than the average American car. By and large, the Germans don’t drive itsy-bitsy toy cars, but they do drive modest-sized passenger vehicles rather than S.U.V.’s and pickup trucks.
In the near future I expect we’ll see Americans moving down the same path. We’ve already done it once: over the course of the 1970s and 1980s, the average mileage of U.S. passenger vehicles rose about 50 percent, as Americans switched to smaller, lighter cars.
This improvement stalled with the rise of S.U.V.’s during the cheap-gas 1990s. But now that gas costs more than ever before, even after adjusting for inflation, we can expect to see mileage rise again.
Admittedly, the next few years will be rough for families who bought big vehicles when gas was cheap, and now find themselves the owners of white elephants with little trade-in value. But raising fuel efficiency is something we can and will do.
Can we also drive less? Yes — but getting there will be a lot harder.
There have been many news stories in recent weeks about Americans who are changing their behavior in response to expensive gasoline — they’re trying to shop locally, they’re canceling vacations that involve a lot of driving, and they’re switching to public transit.
But none of it amounts to much. For example, some major public transit systems are excited about ridership gains of 5 or 10 percent. But fewer than 5 percent of Americans take public transit to work, so this surge of riders takes only a relative handful of drivers off the road.
Any serious reduction in American driving will require more than this — it will mean changing how and where many of us live.
To see what I’m talking about, consider where I am at the moment: in a pleasant, middle-class neighborhood consisting mainly of four- or five-story apartment buildings, with easy access to public transit and plenty of local shopping.
It’s the kind of neighborhood in which people don’t have to drive a lot, but it’s also a kind of neighborhood that barely exists in America, even in big metropolitan areas. Greater Atlanta has roughly the same population as Greater Berlin — but Berlin is a city of trains, buses and bikes, while Atlanta is a city of cars, cars and cars.
And in the face of rising oil prices, which have left many Americans stranded in suburbia — utterly dependent on their cars, yet having a hard time affording gas — it’s starting to look as if Berlin had the better idea.
Changing the geography of American metropolitan areas will be hard. For one thing, houses last a lot longer than cars. Long after today’s S.U.V.’s have become antique collectors’ items, millions of people will still be living in subdivisions built when gas was $1.50 or less a gallon.
Infrastructure is another problem. Public transit, in particular, faces a chicken-and-egg problem: it’s hard to justify transit systems unless there’s sufficient population density, yet it’s hard to persuade people to live in denser neighborhoods unless they come with the advantage of transit access.
And there are, as always in America, the issues of race and class. Despite the gentrification that has taken place in some inner cities, and the plunge in national crime rates to levels not seen in decades, it will be hard to shake the longstanding American association of higher-density living with poverty and personal danger.
Still, if we’re heading for a prolonged era of scarce, expensive oil, Americans will face increasingly strong incentives to start living like Europeans — maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of our lives.
Ocean energy institute takes different tack
Maine News
By Amy Lea
(Created: Sunday, May 18, 2008 3:23 AM EDT)
The Ocean Energy Institute that had been expected a year ago to move into the Rockland Harbor Park LLC to study alternative energy sources from the ocean is taking a different and greatly expanded course.
The expansion requires a larger location. The project’s organizers are looking at locations such as Bath Iron Works and the decommissioned Brunswick Naval Air Station. In the end, the plan is to erect a series of wind turbines offshore and use that energy to power Maine homes and businesses.
Rockland Harbor Park LLC purchased the former MBNA waterfront complex in Rockland in March 2007. At that time, one of the uses cited was an ocean energy research institute. Retail and offices were also planned for the Water Street complex.
Harbor Park LLC consists of Mathew and Ellen Simmons, who are seasonal residents of Rockport; Marianne and Stuart Smith of Camden; Jay Kislak who is a seasonal resident of Rockport; and Tom and Linda Meyer, who are seasonal residents of Lincolnville.
Matthew Simmons is the founder and operator of the energy firm Simmons & Company International. The company provides investment banking for energy products.
In an initial e-mail last March Simmons stated, “I am very intent on pressing ahead on creating what I am calling an Ocean Energy Institute. Initially it will not take much of the building space. Ideally over time, this center will be the “silicon valley” headquarters for Ocean Energy expertise and spun many growing business activities for what might become the only real way to begin weaning ourselves from what will soon become clear peaking of global oil and gas.”
The growth of that plan has resulted in the project looking for larger space.
The Rockland Harbor Park LLC complex, however, is expected to be occupied by a Boston financial company that plans to employ at least 300 people. Details are still being worked out before the identity of the company is announced. The complex will also be occupied by Amalfi’s restaurant and a new restaurant in the boathouse at the end of the pier.
According to George Hart, the chief technical officer of the Ocean Energy Institute, initially they were thinking of a much smaller energy project.
“After doing some research of the real situation in Maine, it became clear we needed a solution quickly to what will be a huge problem for the state in the relatively near future,” he said.
“The point is not only to address he Maine energy problem but to try to create thousands of jobs (up to 10,000 or more) in what will be a new Maine renewable industry,” Hart said.
This shift will also require hundreds of installation and maintenance jobs on the water.
“We are trying to put together a business plan for the state, looking to all that would be involved, such as job creation, connecting to the grid and the environmental aspects of all this,” he said.
He said the idea for wind turbine energy on the gulf of Maine is so attractive is because the wind on the coast is twice as strong in the winter than in the summer months.
“You could extract 8 times the electrical power in the fall and winter months,” he said.
Hart said each farm would be about six miles square and can have 100 to 200 towers on the out of sight of land. The diameter of the blades would be about 400-feet across. The towers would also be placed with input from fishermen, so that they would be located in places that would be least likely to have an impact on their livelihood.
“A lot of the rest of the country is paying attention to what is going on here because of the seriousness of the need Maine is facing. This is a powerful resource. Maine will probably lead the rest of the country in using this sustainable energy resource.”
Hart said the primary focus in the last few months has been intense collaboration with politicians, business owners and educational institutions.
He lot of activity has been centered in the University of Maine campus.
The company is working with the University of Maine, Maine Maritime Academy and the Passamaquoddy Indians in the narrows and the Western Passage to determine whether the large-scale offshore wind farms are practical.
Hart and University of Maine Professor of Civil/ Structural Engineering Habib Dagher also spent time at the European Wind Energy Conference last month and are working closely with offshore wind turbine developers with companies named Blue H and SWAY. Both companies have floating wind turbines in development.
Dagher said the conference discussed many of the changes Europe is making in regards to energy and he learned that Europe is moving in the direction of offshore wind. He said wind will be the source of about 20 percent of electrical energy in Europe by 2020.
“Plans are taking shape very strongly all over the world and Maine can be positioned to do the same thing,” Dagher said. “I am very excited to be involved and to make this a reality.”
Dagher is in charge of the composites lab at the Orono campus and is working with Hart to develop lightweight corrosion resistant structural composites for the wind turbines. Dagher has also been in contact with companies in the state who could potentially manufacture the composites.
Dagher said providing power through wind could be a positive shift for the state, turning a problem of high gas prices and electricity into an opportunity. He said if the Maine manufactured and produced the wind turbines, there could be the potential for as many as 25,000 to 50,000 jobs in state.
“We are looking at an investment of $17 billion dollars,” he said. “The opportunities are very exciting for the state. We have a wonderful resource off the coast of Maine. As many countries might have oil, we have wind and until now, we have not taken advantage of this resource.”
Hart is also collaborating with the Canadian government, Cianbro Chief Executive Officer Peter Vigue, Hallowell International owner Ed Paslawski, former Maine Gov. Angus King, Maine Director of the Office of Energy Independence and Security John Kerry, the Maine Marine Research Coalition, and the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.
He has also been working with University of Maine Professor of Mechanical Engineering Michael Peterson.
Hart said Maine is poised to lead the country in the use of wind power as a sustainable energy resource.
“A lot of the rest of the country is paying attention to what is going on in Maine because of the seriousness of the need Maine is facing. This is a powerful resource,” Hart said.
Hart said the company ran into some obstacles about a year ago while looking at tidal currents and extracting ocean wave energy. When they took a closer look at the plans, he said a couple of things jumped out.
One was that Maine faces an energy crisis over the next 12 years since 80 percent of people in the state heat with oil.
He said even with somewhat optimistic views of the price of oil, he estimates that the price will go over $10 per gallon over the next 12 years.
“If you are using about 1,000 gallons a winter, that would be $10,000 a year just for heat,” he said. “These were numbers I put together in mid-February and presented to former governor Angus King.”
King gave a lecture at Bowdoin College on April 15, called the Saudi Arabia of Wind, Confronting Maine’s Energy Catastrophe.
According to Hart, the average family spent 4 percent of its income on energy in 1998. Now, he said, Maine families are spending about 20 percent of their budget on energy and in 12 years the average family will be spending 50 percent on energy and 20 percent on healthcare, leaving only 30 percent for everything else.
He said in order to create the amount of energy needed the Ocean Energy Institute decided to put the focus on what Maine has an abundance of, which is deep water offshore wind.
Hart said analysis done by National Renewable Energy Labs has indicated potentially 200 gigawatts of offshore energy in the gulf of Maine. This is the equivalent of 200 coal power plants, he said.
Hart said, it is clear that many people on land do not like these wind farms anywhere near them, so the wind turbines used to generate power would be placed about six miles offshore and would not be visible from land. Hart said the challenge would be to make sure to place them in a location that would not interfere with fishing and boating.
In order to place the wind turbines, the company would use technology developed in deep water oil drilling and place the turbines on platforms.
With help from a Company in Bangor called Hallowell International owned by Ed Paslawski, they have developed a cold climate heat pump, which is designed to take heat from the air in winter and use it for home heating. Through heat pump technology and, heat could also be sucked out of the earth.
Hart said a glorified air conditioner would be used to move heat from the outside-in, instead of from inside-out.
He said the models that have already been developed, such as the Acadia, plug into electrical outlets. The Acadia was developed by Hallowell International in Bangor.
The electric power from the offshore could be put into electric baseboard heating, producing a certain amount of heat per kilowatt hour. With the heat pump, residents would get four times amount of heat.
He said the only problem at this point is that the cost of this heat pump is about $10,000. He said, however, with rising oil prices, the pump would pay for itself in about 3 to 4 years and offshore wind electric prices would be stable and wouldn’t keep rising the way oil will.
He said this technology is currently being used in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
“The idea here in broad terms is to get something of a predictable fixed energy price so Maine doesn’t get killed by energy prices going up,” Hart said.
The benefits of wind turbine energy is that it will leave no carbon footprint, it would create thousands of jobs and keep money in the state of Maine, Hart said.
“For each dollar gas and oil that jumps, the state looses $1.2 billion that Maine will never see again, that goes over to the middle east, Hart said. “We want to try to do this in a way that people living in Maine don’t feel their experience in Maine is ruined by this.”
By Amy Lea
(Created: Sunday, May 18, 2008 3:23 AM EDT)
The Ocean Energy Institute that had been expected a year ago to move into the Rockland Harbor Park LLC to study alternative energy sources from the ocean is taking a different and greatly expanded course.
The expansion requires a larger location. The project’s organizers are looking at locations such as Bath Iron Works and the decommissioned Brunswick Naval Air Station. In the end, the plan is to erect a series of wind turbines offshore and use that energy to power Maine homes and businesses.
Rockland Harbor Park LLC purchased the former MBNA waterfront complex in Rockland in March 2007. At that time, one of the uses cited was an ocean energy research institute. Retail and offices were also planned for the Water Street complex.
Harbor Park LLC consists of Mathew and Ellen Simmons, who are seasonal residents of Rockport; Marianne and Stuart Smith of Camden; Jay Kislak who is a seasonal resident of Rockport; and Tom and Linda Meyer, who are seasonal residents of Lincolnville.
Matthew Simmons is the founder and operator of the energy firm Simmons & Company International. The company provides investment banking for energy products.
In an initial e-mail last March Simmons stated, “I am very intent on pressing ahead on creating what I am calling an Ocean Energy Institute. Initially it will not take much of the building space. Ideally over time, this center will be the “silicon valley” headquarters for Ocean Energy expertise and spun many growing business activities for what might become the only real way to begin weaning ourselves from what will soon become clear peaking of global oil and gas.”
The growth of that plan has resulted in the project looking for larger space.
The Rockland Harbor Park LLC complex, however, is expected to be occupied by a Boston financial company that plans to employ at least 300 people. Details are still being worked out before the identity of the company is announced. The complex will also be occupied by Amalfi’s restaurant and a new restaurant in the boathouse at the end of the pier.
According to George Hart, the chief technical officer of the Ocean Energy Institute, initially they were thinking of a much smaller energy project.
“After doing some research of the real situation in Maine, it became clear we needed a solution quickly to what will be a huge problem for the state in the relatively near future,” he said.
“The point is not only to address he Maine energy problem but to try to create thousands of jobs (up to 10,000 or more) in what will be a new Maine renewable industry,” Hart said.
This shift will also require hundreds of installation and maintenance jobs on the water.
“We are trying to put together a business plan for the state, looking to all that would be involved, such as job creation, connecting to the grid and the environmental aspects of all this,” he said.
He said the idea for wind turbine energy on the gulf of Maine is so attractive is because the wind on the coast is twice as strong in the winter than in the summer months.
“You could extract 8 times the electrical power in the fall and winter months,” he said.
Hart said each farm would be about six miles square and can have 100 to 200 towers on the out of sight of land. The diameter of the blades would be about 400-feet across. The towers would also be placed with input from fishermen, so that they would be located in places that would be least likely to have an impact on their livelihood.
“A lot of the rest of the country is paying attention to what is going on here because of the seriousness of the need Maine is facing. This is a powerful resource. Maine will probably lead the rest of the country in using this sustainable energy resource.”
Hart said the primary focus in the last few months has been intense collaboration with politicians, business owners and educational institutions.
He lot of activity has been centered in the University of Maine campus.
The company is working with the University of Maine, Maine Maritime Academy and the Passamaquoddy Indians in the narrows and the Western Passage to determine whether the large-scale offshore wind farms are practical.
Hart and University of Maine Professor of Civil/ Structural Engineering Habib Dagher also spent time at the European Wind Energy Conference last month and are working closely with offshore wind turbine developers with companies named Blue H and SWAY. Both companies have floating wind turbines in development.
Dagher said the conference discussed many of the changes Europe is making in regards to energy and he learned that Europe is moving in the direction of offshore wind. He said wind will be the source of about 20 percent of electrical energy in Europe by 2020.
“Plans are taking shape very strongly all over the world and Maine can be positioned to do the same thing,” Dagher said. “I am very excited to be involved and to make this a reality.”
Dagher is in charge of the composites lab at the Orono campus and is working with Hart to develop lightweight corrosion resistant structural composites for the wind turbines. Dagher has also been in contact with companies in the state who could potentially manufacture the composites.
Dagher said providing power through wind could be a positive shift for the state, turning a problem of high gas prices and electricity into an opportunity. He said if the Maine manufactured and produced the wind turbines, there could be the potential for as many as 25,000 to 50,000 jobs in state.
“We are looking at an investment of $17 billion dollars,” he said. “The opportunities are very exciting for the state. We have a wonderful resource off the coast of Maine. As many countries might have oil, we have wind and until now, we have not taken advantage of this resource.”
Hart is also collaborating with the Canadian government, Cianbro Chief Executive Officer Peter Vigue, Hallowell International owner Ed Paslawski, former Maine Gov. Angus King, Maine Director of the Office of Energy Independence and Security John Kerry, the Maine Marine Research Coalition, and the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.
He has also been working with University of Maine Professor of Mechanical Engineering Michael Peterson.
Hart said Maine is poised to lead the country in the use of wind power as a sustainable energy resource.
“A lot of the rest of the country is paying attention to what is going on in Maine because of the seriousness of the need Maine is facing. This is a powerful resource,” Hart said.
Hart said the company ran into some obstacles about a year ago while looking at tidal currents and extracting ocean wave energy. When they took a closer look at the plans, he said a couple of things jumped out.
One was that Maine faces an energy crisis over the next 12 years since 80 percent of people in the state heat with oil.
He said even with somewhat optimistic views of the price of oil, he estimates that the price will go over $10 per gallon over the next 12 years.
“If you are using about 1,000 gallons a winter, that would be $10,000 a year just for heat,” he said. “These were numbers I put together in mid-February and presented to former governor Angus King.”
King gave a lecture at Bowdoin College on April 15, called the Saudi Arabia of Wind, Confronting Maine’s Energy Catastrophe.
According to Hart, the average family spent 4 percent of its income on energy in 1998. Now, he said, Maine families are spending about 20 percent of their budget on energy and in 12 years the average family will be spending 50 percent on energy and 20 percent on healthcare, leaving only 30 percent for everything else.
He said in order to create the amount of energy needed the Ocean Energy Institute decided to put the focus on what Maine has an abundance of, which is deep water offshore wind.
Hart said analysis done by National Renewable Energy Labs has indicated potentially 200 gigawatts of offshore energy in the gulf of Maine. This is the equivalent of 200 coal power plants, he said.
Hart said, it is clear that many people on land do not like these wind farms anywhere near them, so the wind turbines used to generate power would be placed about six miles offshore and would not be visible from land. Hart said the challenge would be to make sure to place them in a location that would not interfere with fishing and boating.
In order to place the wind turbines, the company would use technology developed in deep water oil drilling and place the turbines on platforms.
With help from a Company in Bangor called Hallowell International owned by Ed Paslawski, they have developed a cold climate heat pump, which is designed to take heat from the air in winter and use it for home heating. Through heat pump technology and, heat could also be sucked out of the earth.
Hart said a glorified air conditioner would be used to move heat from the outside-in, instead of from inside-out.
He said the models that have already been developed, such as the Acadia, plug into electrical outlets. The Acadia was developed by Hallowell International in Bangor.
The electric power from the offshore could be put into electric baseboard heating, producing a certain amount of heat per kilowatt hour. With the heat pump, residents would get four times amount of heat.
He said the only problem at this point is that the cost of this heat pump is about $10,000. He said, however, with rising oil prices, the pump would pay for itself in about 3 to 4 years and offshore wind electric prices would be stable and wouldn’t keep rising the way oil will.
He said this technology is currently being used in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
“The idea here in broad terms is to get something of a predictable fixed energy price so Maine doesn’t get killed by energy prices going up,” Hart said.
The benefits of wind turbine energy is that it will leave no carbon footprint, it would create thousands of jobs and keep money in the state of Maine, Hart said.
“For each dollar gas and oil that jumps, the state looses $1.2 billion that Maine will never see again, that goes over to the middle east, Hart said. “We want to try to do this in a way that people living in Maine don’t feel their experience in Maine is ruined by this.”
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