
U.S. Wind Turbine Database Viewer - trimbo
https://eerscmap.usgs.gov/uswtdb/viewer/
======
tda
Interesting how the total installed capacity is pretty respectable at 96GW,
even though there are only 5 turbines above 5MW. In Europe the 7,5 MW Enercon
onshore turbine is fairly common, and offshore the 8-10MW turbines are very
much in fashion. For reference, the EU has 179GW installed as of 2018
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_the_European_Uni...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_the_European_Union)

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adventured
I'm surprised the US is that close to the EU on installed capacity on a
population adjusted basis (~148 GW if you adjust the US population up to the
EU population). I'd like to see the US do a lot more with its wind power
resources. We've done relatively little with offshore for example (that's only
just beginning to see a serious push), while having rather epic offshore
potential. The US Department of Energy lists the US with a technical offshore
potential of 2,000+ GW.[1] Conveniently the US population is of course also
concentrated along the coasts.

[1] [https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/computing-america-s-
off...](https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/computing-america-s-offshore-
wind-energy-potential)

~~~
sverige
The relatively recent political pushback against building turbines on farmland
may encourage more of a push to develop offshore turbines. Development there
was stopped early on by political resistance to having the gigantic, ugly,
bird-killing machines spoiling the scenery.

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pjc50
People who complain about turbines killing birds are almost inevitably not
interested in any of the other big killers of birds: habitat loss, invasive
species, domestic cats, collisions with glass buildings, and so on.

~~~
tasty_freeze
Although blade strikes are easy to diagnose as a killer of birds, I'm sure the
pollution released by coal/oil/gas power plants kills many birds too, not to
mention all the other wildlife and humans.

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chromaton
This map shows why there's very few turbines in the southeast:
[https://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/30m_US_Wind.jpg](https://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/30m_US_Wind.jpg)

It's just not windy here, except for a few spots.

~~~
ip26
Comparing the two I can only marvel at all the untapped opportunity in
Wyoming.

~~~
scblock
Wyoming has very low air density, which reduces the power generation
potential. It also has a tiny population, limited transmission capacity,
difficult terrain, and short building seasons.

That said, there are transmission system upgrades for Wyoming coming in 2020.
Because of this PacifiCorp released an RFP for up to 1,270 MW of wind
generation on this upgraded system and I believe it is already all spoken for.

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beat
I wonder if/when solar will catch up with or surpass wind? Part of the reason
wind got so big in the past decade is cost - it's significantly cheaper now
than fossil or nuclear. But solar costs are dropping even more rapidly than
wind, and storage tech is improving (storage being more necessary for solar
than wind).

~~~
IAmEveryone
This[0] says just about now, and you're right that solar has been improving
faster than wind (which is probably a function of one being semiconductor
technology and the other being generators, where the low-hanging fruits have
been harvested a long time ago).

Of course there may well be local factors that may still make wind the better
choice, and a mixture helps to even out production. So wind turbines aren't
going to go out of fashion any time soon. Unlike coal.

[0]: [https://blog.aee.net/the-numbers-are-in-and-renewables-
are-w...](https://blog.aee.net/the-numbers-are-in-and-renewables-are-winning-
on-price-alone)

~~~
beat
Something I expect to see is a lot more highly localized solar installations -
namely parking lots. While I don't think it's financially viable at the home
level, I think it'd be great at the office or business level, where there's
often large outdoor parking lots. A quick solar panel installation (maybe with
some local storage) could power the building. It's the sort of thing where the
long-term cost factors are so appealing it might become standard with new
construction, and certainly appeals to manufacturers to make easy-install
products specifically for this market.

~~~
IAmEveryone
Something I hope to see a lot less of is parking lots.

Eliminate street-level parking in cities, and density could double (in US
cities smaller than, say, Chicago). Average distances could be cut in half,
making public transport or even biking or walking possible for far more trips
than today.

"We only need cars because others have cars" isn't entirely true, or there
would have never been cars in the first place. But it's not entirely untrue,
either.

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ejcx
Really interesting stuff here. The little cluster in North Carolina is "Amazon
Wind Farm US East".

I wonder if Amazon announces an electricity play soon, or if it's just related
to sustainability efforts? Their use of wind is actually described more here:
[https://aws.amazon.com/about-
aws/sustainability/](https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/sustainability/)

~~~
dwyerm
It is in Amazon's DNA to try not to brag. The US-WEST datacenters are pretty
much all hydroelectric, but that says more about the incredibly low costs of
hydro power in the area than the environmental benefits of it.

The PR boost is nice, but I think for many organizations the switch to
renewables is plain old everyday boring economics: Renewables have become
cheap and easy to invest in.

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LegitShady
Everyone talking about wind turbines and I'm just appreciating how fluid the
cluster zooming is...I should add mapbox to my list of things to try. Their
free tier looks like a good learning tool, or a good gis portal for small
porfolio apps.

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bamboozled
Unfortunately the site has been HN'd, maybe give it a rest :)

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joey_bob
It's not very windy in the South. Also, where are the offshore turbines
mentioned?

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RmDen
Block Island..Here:
[https://eerscmap.usgs.gov/uswtdb/viewer/#10.13/41.1282/-71.5...](https://eerscmap.usgs.gov/uswtdb/viewer/#10.13/41.1282/-71.5269)

Also Ørsted has been awarded the right to build New Jersey’s first offshore
wind farm [https://cleantechnica.com/2019/06/24/orsted-set-to-build-
new...](https://cleantechnica.com/2019/06/24/orsted-set-to-build-new-jerseys-
first-offshore-wind-farm/)

~~~
cr1895
Some more in the development pipeline:

Vineyard off of MA: [https://www.iberdrola.com/about-us/lines-
business/flagship-p...](https://www.iberdrola.com/about-us/lines-
business/flagship-projects/vineyard-wind-offshore-wind-farm)

Empire off of Long Island: [https://www.equinor.com/en/what-we-
do/empirewind.html](https://www.equinor.com/en/what-we-do/empirewind.html)

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jwin742
Is there a similar page for solar? Would be interesting to compare the two.

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duckymcduckface
As a random aside, is it just me or does the logo that the USGS uses for this
project look a lot like the Klingon insignia?

