It doesn't seem like a wind farm should be particularly controversial, considering other methods of energy production range from dirty (coal and natural gas) to downright frightening (Chernobyl and Three Mile Island). To read MIT's thoughts on nuclear power, read this.
But some people don't want the wind farm mostly because they don't want to look at it.
The proposed 130-turbine wind mill farm, slated for Nantucket Sound, could produce as much as 420 megawatts of energy. While that's a far cry from the 12.4 billion MWH produced by the average nuclear power plant, it's truly a comfort to know a bunch of oversized windmills can't do this. It also won't come cheap; estimates have the project running upwards of $2 billion, and it will cost $120 per megawatt hour to build compared with just $80 if it were to be built on land.
So why stick these reverse-fans way out in the ocean? According to the American Wind Energy Association, the wind blows harder and allows the construction of larger turbine blades. But why install them near Cape Cod? Why not just set them way offshore where nobody could see them? Current technology limits the depth at which turbines can be built out to about 20 to 30 meters (60 to 90 feet), though Scotland has built some experimental turbines that can go down to 50 meters. That being said, you need to find places where you can go far enough offshore to get strong wind, but without the ocean shelf dropping off too much.
Enter Cape Cod, whose relatively shallow ocean depths make it such a place. The opposition has been strong, and active for the nine years since the project was proposed, coming from those who just think it will be an eyesore (here's a simulation of what the turbines would look like from shore), to Native American tribes whose sunrise rituals will be affected by the 400-foot tall towers--not to mention that construction could disturb Native American artifacts buried for eons under soil which was once dry land.
As with most billion-dollar projects, the proposed wind farm is a very thorny issue with many sides to consider, but in the end, we either need to tamp down on our energy consumption habits or find ways to support them.
--Brandon
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