Greater City Providence

Green Ocean State

David Segal is freaking out over on Daily Dose this morning after reading a ProJo editorial. Freaking out in a good way though.

New energy projects ASAP

The Ocean State has great potential sites for wind turbines, both offshore and on land, and it has plenty of room for wave-energy generators

But as renewable-energy companies approach the state with cutting-edge wind- and wave-energy proposals, the state Office of Energy Resources is taking its time, handing over a lot of initiative to University of Rhode Island scientists to study (and study and study and…) alternative-energy projects. It wants them to come up with a statewide alternative-energy zoning plan that would take into account impacts on wildlife, commercial fishing, navigation, coastline views and the environment.

It would be better to at least quickly try out some of these ideas in some of the more obvious places - the state has plenty of unnavigable reefs and shoals for wind turbines, and wave-power generators could go just about anywhere – and then study the results and proceed expeditiously from there. If Rhode Island were to get in on the ground floor of the renewable-energy business, there would be major spin-off opportunities. Who knows? Maybe an Australian firm that wants to sell us wave-energy generators would like to set up a production facility here, say at Quonset, where a wind-turbine maker could join it.

Jef Nickerson

Jef is Greater City Providence's co-founder, editor, and publisher. He grew up on Cape Cod and lived in Boston; Portland, Maine; and New York before settling in Providence. In addition to urbanism, Jef is interested in art, design, and ice cream. Please feel free to contact Jef if you have any question or comments about Greater City Providence.

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