[Sparrow_temp]

Michigan is much better suited for nuclear power. The water usage requirements would not be an issue. There are no emissions. If it weren't for all of the hippy protesters, the state would already have more nuclear plants and be exporting energy to nearby states. Government regulations and protesters have made it so expensive to build a plant that we it's just not economical. Fermi 3 was originally proposed back in 1972 and is still being protested yet again in 2009. I guess people would rather see 500 or more ugly wind turbines than a new nuclear reactor.

I thought it was a sad day when the Big Rock Point Nuclear Power Plant was decomissioned back in 1997. The thing only took 29 mo's to build and produced power for 35 years. I grew up in Charlevoix county during the time it was in operation and don't remember seeing people glowing in the dark, mutating, or dying of radiation poisoning.

[JGatti]

Originally Posted by magellan

Studies have been conducted to build offshore wind turbines in Lake Michigan that wouldn't be visible from land:

Wind Turbines in Lake Michigan

This idea is gaining traction, from what I hear.

I love that. They need more research. No they need more red tape to spend more money and line the pockets of some wealthy pricks wallet. Research to see the impact it would have on the wild life. What? If it is GREEN energy and does not produce any toxic chemicals etc what kind of impact could it have? My guess is it would cut down the skyrat population considerably and their bodies would help feed the fish. That's a good thing in my book. Then maybe they would not be crapping all over every beach along Lake Michigan. I went to a beach in Manistee over the summer......smelled like a giant dirty bird cage. If I had my way every one of those things would be killed. They are more of a rat with wings than a bat.

[xlabel]

Kinda hard for those to spin when the blades would be loaded down with ice for 5 months outta the year.

[JGatti]

Originally Posted by xlabel

Kinda hard for those to spin when the blades would be loaded down with ice for 5 months outta the year.

Ice for 5 months? Hardly.

[SnowPrincess]

I agree that putting them along the shoreline would ruin the view but I do agree with putting them offshore. I live in Manistee and I know that one of our small plants is now manufactoring the small upright wind turbines so it has helped the economy a little.At least these people aren't getting laid off like everybody else here in town.

JGattie- I totally hate the dumpster ducks here too. They really gross up the beaches and docks and the boardwalk.

[unclejake21]

I think they look horrible... the ones in mackinaw city made the view less intriguing.

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by xlabel

Kinda hard for those to spin when the blades would be loaded down with ice for 5 months outta the year.

Actually they spin just fine with snow and ice. Not that we have 5 months of ice anyway.

[tecpatl]

An installation way offshore is a great idea, if there is a spot that's not too too deep to anchor them at less than huge expense. Right on the shore would greatly damage the tourism industry, so there really isn't a win-win there.
I've seen the forests of wind turbines all over Texas, and at a distance they have little or no impact. I know the ranchers around Hereford love them...they make more money day-in-day-out than they do running cattle, and the cattle don't mind them.
The pic earlier is deceptive...taken with a telephoto to cram everything together and make it look as ugly as possible. The reality is quite different.
I do agree that some nuclear power would be good...but the fact is that the power industry screwed up their chance, designing all different plants at great expense, both for construction, safe operation, maintenance and decommissioning. France has the right idea here...find a solid design and build it over and over.

[SpaceGhost79]

Dug up some better info from Baryonyx Corp, which is planning three wind farms in Texas, two of which will be offshores.

According to their FAQ, one 6 megawatt turbine can power approximately 1,400 Texas homes.

Their Mustang offshore project is suppose to install between 170-225 6MW turbines, which can power between 245,000 to 320,000 homes.

So going by their data, if Michigan has enough offshore area to produce 321,000 megawatts of power, assuming they install 6 megawatt turbines that would mean erecting 53,500 turbines offshore (goodbye, skyrats).

If each turbine can power about 1,400 homes, that means those 53,500 turbines could in theory power up to nearly 75 million homes They could help power the whole friggin' Midwest.

Here's a Google Image search for "offshore wind farm" to give you all an idea of how they look. Obviously some of the zoomed in pictures will give a false appearance that these turbines are huge, while ones taken from the air show them much smaller, so use your best judgment.

Honestly, here in Marquette, Granite Island is like eight miles NNW of Presque Isle Park and unless it's a clear day, you can barely...if even...spot the small island that has a lighthouse. So you throw these turbines out about 8-10 miles and you probably won't notice a thing on shore (unless you're on top of Sugarloaf), and if you do it'll probably be almost unnoticeable.

Keep the research going and hopefully they can get a power company to build a small offshore wind farm to see how feasible it is as a long term solution.

[tecpatl]

you can look at any areas in red (relatively shallow water) and see plenty of areas that could support offshore windfarms. I'd imagine the NPS wouldn't want them around Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore, for obvious reasons, but just south of the Fox Islands there is a big area with shallow water that could support a huge windfarm with very little visual or environmental impact. A lot of the south-central part of Lake Michigan is also very useable.
Not that deeper water can't be used...but it's more expensive to install turbines in 300 to 800 feet of water than in 50 to 100 foot depth. South Lake Michigan is also closer to energy consumers, thus making transmission more affordable, which is another often overlooked issue for wind farm location.