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Posted on 08/24/2006 3:05:34 PM PDT by WestTexasWend
A news release from the Texas General Land Office
Jerry Patterson, Commissioner of the Texas General Land Office, staked a claim for the future of wind power today, announcing a Texas bid for the proposed U.S. Department of Energy large-scale wind turbine research and development facility.
“The race for wind energy is like a modern day space race,” Patterson said. “In Texas, our program is go for launch. Were charging ahead to bring a large-scale turbine testing facility to the Texas coast.”
Texas has brought together a coalition of its best academic minds, industry leaders and public servants to focus on this bid, which will be submitted to the Department of Energy by the University of Houston. Austin-based Good Company Associates is coordinating the coalitions efforts.
Patterson, speaking on behalf of the coalition, explained that Texas best fits the Department of Energys requirements for the new research and testing facility.
“This test facility will be a magnet for research and manufacturing,” Patterson said. “It will establish Texas as a worldwide leader in wind power for the next 100 years. It is a vital race. It is a race Texas will win.”
Wind is the fastest growing source of energy in the world today. And the potential for coastal wind power is greater than the nations entire capacity to generate electricity, according to researchers at the University of Houston. No coastal state has greater wind energy potential than Texas.
But research into the huge turbines that will power the future just cant be done at the Department of Energys National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado. The Colorado facility is unable to test blades 70 meters long. The next generation blades are expected to grow even larger. Without a Texas-sized facility, the nation will be at a disadvantage in the projected $80 billion annual international business in designing and building turbines.
Texas has the deep-water ports, strong gulf winds, industrial know-how and political will to make our coast the perfect site for the Department of Energys new blade-testing facility, Patterson said. The only hard part here will be deciding where along the coast to place it.
A competitive site-selection process is ongoing along the Texas coast.
The Texas coalition seeking the testing facility is being organized by the University of Houstons Cullen College of Engineering, and includes the University of Texas at Austin, Texas Tech University, West Texas A&M University, the Houston Advanced Research Center, the State Energy Conservation Office, Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, the Texas Workforce Commission, Governor Rick Perrys Emerging Technology Fund and the Wind Coalition.
“Texas is now the largest producer of wind energy in the United States and is on the path to be the U.S. leader in offshore wind development,” said Ray Flumerfelt, Dean of the University of Houstons Cullen College of Engineering. “We believe we will submit a formidable proposal to the Department of Energy that will ultimately result in a world-class facility being built in Texas as soon as 2008.”
The potential for offshore wind power in Texas is enormous. Texas could generate as much as 10 gigawatts of offshore wind energy, according to resource assessments conducted by the University of Houston. The nations cumulative wind power capacity is currently 9,971 megawatts.
In May, the Department of Energy announced it is seeking partners to build a new facility capable of testing blades up to 70 meters long.
Texas which has already signed two offshore wind leases is a natural fit for such a Texas-sized research and development effort, Patterson said.
Patterson admitted that the groups goals are ambitious, but added that failure would mean ceding a potential $80 billion business in designing and building wind turbines to the Europeans.
“It aint bragging if its true,” Patterson said. “Texas leads the nation in the production of wind energy today, and will lead the world in the production of wind turbines tomorrow. No lesser state can compete.”
Wd could just stick old Ann Richards, Kinky Friedman and Lloyd Bentsen in front of one of those big windmills and generate enought to power Houston for a century.
I knew all that hot air from Austin would come in handy some day...
I thought Kennedy, Kerry, Reid, Murtha, Turbin Durbin and Pelosi, had this contract sewed up......
Meadow Muffin
If they could only make them Hurricane proof, imagine how much power could be generated from a cat 3-5!
Yo, Dave!
Well, the first order of business should be for this group to hire someone competent to proof its press release for grammatical errors.
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