Bloomberg's NY Energy Plan: Windmills On The Brooklyn Bridge?

Windmills atop the Brooklyn Bridge. Green power in Fresh Kills. The Statue of Liberty's torch powered by an ocean windfarm.

That's the vision for a green revolution Mayor Bloomberg laid out in a speech at the National Clean Energy Summit on Tuesday night.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[GunboatRI]

A company by the name of Aerotecture has developed an alternative to the traditional windmill that works more efficiently in urban areas. It supposedly works better in areas with other tall building around which create swirling winds. Plus there is no vibration. Seems pretty cool. It was featured on the Science Channel.

[ddesario]

weak.
the ultimate NYC green living...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOEF75VwAtY
no cost, no carbon, no kidding

[markie1111]

we probably can get by without windmills on that nice bridge. lol. ..but windmills in the medians of part of the interstate highway system might do the trick.

[JScott]

Don't one of the proposals for 'Freedom Tower' replacing the WTC have wind turbines on them.
And it seems with the vortex effect in NYC concrete canyons there would be plenty of wind energy that could be captured. And I seem to recall old historic pics of NYC there were some windmills around, so in a way it's nothing new.

[Jason357]

They had a show on Science Channel, Eco Tech about a guy with an innovative windmill design, and how he was trying to get them to use city currents that big buildings create. There is also a guy working on a solar panel that comes in a roll and maybe one day can be integraed into roofing and shingles. It worries me that none of the government powers mention any of the new stuff...they're still chasing more or less traditional windmills, and they say NOTHING about point of use power generation.

[research]

I saw that one too, very good program. It was NanoSolar which has already sold out their first year of production to Germany. They are shipped panels but only to secure commercial sites. It's easier to get a few big orders and they are trying to delay competitors getting cells to reverse engineer.

That program also had the incredible A123 Super powerful batteries.

[jctripp]

If the Mayor would embrace conservation as a priority, many of these measures would be unnecessary. If every New York City household simply replaced their incandescent lightbulbs with compact fluorescents that'd be quite substantial, probably a lot more than solar panels on every roof. And that's just the tip of the (melting) iceburg. How about powering down our city's buildings? Why all of the waste in lighting empty buildings, keeping computers and machines turned on, etc. Then there is the millions of gallons of gas wasted by idling vehicles that shouldn't be in the city to begin with! I say, get rid of the plethora of taxis, limos, delivery trucks, SUVs, etc. How? Well, sadly enough the Mayor tried a congestion plan that was shot down by Sheldon Silver and his cronies. So, how the hell is he going to put windmills on bridges? He's not. This is all bunk in the end. After all, no matter how much we conserve here, the oceans will inevitably rise and do their thing. Which, for those that have been following, is why in the end it is best not to give a damn.

[UnbiasView]

Solar panels take years and years to pay for themselves, they are not at the price point where you will see people putting them on their roofs regularly.

[research]

not if they can get NanoSOlar panels. They are only 1dollar/ peak watt,

4$ PER AVERAGE WATT.
$1.5 DOLLARS AT 17 CENTS/KWH
LESS THEN 3 YEARS TO PAYBACK.

[research]

Offshore oil platforms have about the same payback as wind and solar: 3-4 years.

[research]

Rooftop solar might be worth it,

Previously a commenter used the twin towers to discuss the covering the sides with solar cells. you might get 500K$ worth of electricity per year out of it.

If you used the best 45% concentrator solar panels, the roofs alone would give about $1 Million per year in electricity at 17cent per kwh This is a much smaller array, able to point directly at the sun. 208 by 208 feet.

[CrittersRTasty]

Ooh! Wait! maybe they could put one in front of Bloomberg! It would NEVER stop spinning!

[research]

Why not? The Noise will be no problem. OOOOo, we are desecrating a sacred icon, the Brooklyn bridge!

Problem is, the Brooklyn bridge was not designed to handle the additional wind load.

Check out these underwater turbines in NY:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=tidal-wave-renewable-energy

[danoj]

I say put them everywhere and anywhere. matter of fact make it a law then Sen K ennedy can't do squat about them in his backyard.

[corsair1917]

A clever video on youtube - meet Mr. W
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mTLO2F_ERY

[eyecon]

They can put one on top of my apartment building tomorrow. People outside of NYC don't know from expensive electricity. In So. Cal., btw, PGE has to credit you for energy supplied. Thus, if you install a large enough wind turbine, PGE will owe YOU money at the end of each month.

These things can be a tad noisy. In Manhattan, I doubt that we'll hear them over the ambulanci, fire and police vehicles.

[sandiegoconservative]

SDG&E does the same. My home puts electricity back on the grid about 1/2 of the year, depending on how much we use. Our solar energy system is pretty efficient.

[JBS]

"In So. Cal., btw, PGE has to credit you for energy supplied." - eyecon

It's a federal law. ALL electric utilities are required by law to buy that electricity. They can, however, require you to install expensive equipment to "protect" their grid. The rate you get for your input is a pittance compared to the rate they charge you for what you use off the grid. You'll be lucky to get 10% of the retail cost per kilowatt/hour.

And they make it as difficult as possible for you to find out about it.

It's possible to install a system that will always produce excess, so that you do get a check from the utility every month, but it's expensive and it takes a long time to pay for itself ... figure to amortize it over 30 years like a mortgage.

[Nyla785]

Notice how Republicans mock and disrespect ANY suggestion about conserving our energy resources or implementing alternative energy---like ridiculing Obama for talking about tire pressure and its effect on gas consumption...or ridiculing Bloomberg for his attempts at alternative energy for NYC.
What's the deal on that? Why do Repubs have NO respect for conservating energy or alternative energies??

It's like they are working directly for the oil companies, isn't it?? and have NO intention of putting in alternative energies at all.

And though they may TALK about energy independence, they seem to be doing EVERYTHING POSSIBLE to keep Big oil is catbird seat in every way!

[UnbiasView]

"Notice how Republicans mock and disrespect ANY suggestion about conserving our energy resources or implementing alternative energy"

This guy wants to put windmills on the top of buildings . . . forgetting these things are massive and weigh tons.

You through an idea like this out there . . . you deserve to get mocked.

[sandiegoconservative]

Most conservatives are not mocking anything, just pointing out that some things are not possible at this time. There are fringe nuts that may mock, but people like you complain when we mock your fringe loonies. I also not there are many conservatives that practice a green lifestyle instead of preaching about it and doing nothing. Conservatives are usually for reasonable, logical ideas.

I also note that there were quite a few people on here that mocked Pickens and his plan for wind power because he might make a buck off of it. Why was everyone on this site not on board?

[ramal]

Whatever it takes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MisterCole]

No chance in hell of big windmills on top of the Brooklyn Bridge. Once again a story gets blown out of proportion to get attention.

[Chapmanp2]

Why not???
I just returned from a trip to Germany & they have em' EVERYWHERE!!!
They sure as hell don't look worse than power lines & they produce 0 emissions.
I applaud efforts to move US in this direction. Solar should be used where we can as well.
We have the technology to make HUGE dents in our dependence on foreign oil. we need leaders who have the will to make it happen...

[UnbiasView]

"I just returned from a trip to Germany & they have em' EVERYWHERE!!!"

Great, do you have any clue how much energy those windmills EVERYWHERE generate . . .

2006 energy consumption was met by the following sources: oil (35.7%) , coal, including lignite (23.9%) , natural gas (22.8%) , nuclear (12.6%) , hydro and wind power (1.3%) , and other (3.7%).

[CrittersRTasty]

There are miles of these in upstate NY (Fenner) and they have already proven themselves to be economically viable. I dont know how much I'm digging the location, but the idea I applaud Wholeheartedly.
BTW Nyla785, I'm a republican.....So much for your last tirade...

[KillTheMessenger]

If you happen to live in Denmark it adds up. But then... they are twenty years ahead of us over there...