Goulais Bay - Click to see Larger Map
Here are two maps of the 100’s (yes, hundreds) of windmills planned for the north shore of Lake Superior between Sault Ste. Marie and Wawa.
It doesn’t seem right – more and more Crown Land is being restricted from public access, we don’t dare touch a twig or gad for ice fishing, and the Lake Superior coast is officially designated as the “Heritage Coast”. Yet the government of Ontario is prepared to completely desecrate the landscape from Sault Ste. Marie to Wawa – one of the most beautiful wilderness coasts in the world.
Lake Superior North Shore - Click to see Larger Map
I’m afraid to think of all the access restrictions that will be added to entire region from Sault Ste. Marie to Wawa. We won’t have anywhere left to fish, hike, hunt, or kayak – heck, we may as well just move to Toronto.
You can read more about opposition to the Algoma windmills at the SOAR (Save Our Algoma Region) website.
You can also visit Wind Concerns Ontario to see the huge amount of opposition to various windmill projects from citizens all across Ontario.
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THIS IS A BIG COUNTRY,TO HOLD BACK WHAT WE NEED MOST CLEAN CHEAP ENERGY BECAUSE YOU FEEL LIKE EATING SOME FISH OR GOING FOR WALK IN THE COUNTRY IS ALMOST A NON DISCUSSION ,AND I DON’T SEE HOW It WOULD RESTRICT THESE ACTIVITIES ANYWAY .WE HERE In The SAULT KNOW HOW THAT WIND BLOWS On THE GREAT LAKE ,FINALLY It’s BEEN FOUND To HAVE ANOTHER Use . OPPORTUNITY HAS To DEVELOP It Just DOESN’T HAPPEN, EXPLORING ALL FACETS AT THIS POINT IS NOT DESTRUCTION BUT YOU COULD CALL IT EVOLUTION ,DO YOU STILL WANT TO USE A SLING TO HUNT FOOD OR DO YOU WANT THE BEST WE COULD HAVE ? GIANFRANCO FRONZI/ SAULT ST. MARIE / ONTARIO / CANADA / OCTOBER /22/2010
Your comment reflects the common misperception that wind generation and thermal generation are interchangeable. But they are not.
AWEA board member E.ON, which operates German transmission grids and also builds wind plants in the US, is succinct:
“Wind energy is only able to replace traditional power stations to a limited extent. Their dependence on the prevailing wind conditions means that wind power has a limited load factor even when technically available…. Consequently, traditional power stations with capacities equal to 90% of the installed wind power capacity must be permanently online [and burning fuel] in order to guarantee power supply at all times”
http://www.nerc.com/docs/pc/ivgtf/EON_Netz_Windreport2005_eng.pdf
This means wind generation cannot replace fossil generation to any meaningful extent.
This also means that comparisons between wind and fossil with respect to emissions are ill informed. Wind is entirely reliant upon fossil fuel. Wind is more honestly referred to as fossil/wind. Wind cannot stand on its own and cannot replace fossil generation.
I agree with Mr. Fronzi…. The wind should be utilized, as Europe has been doing this for years. The Lake Superior off shore line makes sense. I believe the windmills should be put offshore so they will not destroy our natural woodlands. These Windmills can be serviced throughout the winter months. Very large windmills can be installed. Our local windmills are 1 Megawatt units. In Europe they are installing 5 & 7 Megawatt units out in the sea. My brother works in this industry. Good jobs for Ontario. Joe Schmidt (Sault).
Your European fairy tale was written by the Brothers Grimm: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/high-costs-and-errors-of-german-transition-to-renewable-energy-a-920288.html
I sure wouldn’t want to be the person trying to service Windmills in Lake Superior in the winter – I’m not sure it would even be possible. Well, I guess we could spend another couple of billion dollars for some more government helicopters – we would only have to pay another 100% for our power bills!
The new wind mills are not even needed as it is being reported that Ontario is selling hydro to Quebec and the Us at dicsount rates just to get it off the grid.
Ontario is paying Bruce power NOT TO PRODUCE electricity. What we need at this point is a public inquirery on what eactly is going on with hydro in Ontario.
wow just what we in northern ontario need, more windfarms in our bautiful area so southern ontario could suck up more of our enery and to hell with our wilderness
If you still believe Industrial Wind Turbines are a good thing, you haven’t done enough reading on the subject and/or you have been drinking the Liberals Green Koolaid far too long. Wind is not clean. 2 Tonne of rare earth minerals mined in China per turbine is not clean. Not counting the tonnes of concrete and rebar / so forget the ‘saving the planet’ argument. And maybe you don’t care about wildlife habitat (or human) but you might want to consider the economics. We are selling our excess power at a loss. It is far too expensive. We need to consider new technologies however we cannot ignore the costs. 300,000 manufacturing jobs lost – and people will not be able to afford to heat their homes. Denmark is energy poor. I lived in Geraldton. Heat was a pretty important requirement.
This is great information John. I have faimly that live along the Grand River just outside of Brantford, Ontario and every year dozens and dozens of turtles decide to cross a winding road to bask in the sun or lay their eggs in the ditch. Many residents handle the turtles as you mentioned but there are individuals who see them as stationary targets on the road which is a devastating and unecessary tragedy. Are there laws against this type of sociopathic behaviour?