Deepwater Wind off Block Island (house, buy, beach)

[Hollytree]

This has now been completed and will be up and running very soon.

Can Block Islanders see the turbines?? Has anyone been there recently??

Just wondering... the picture makes it look like you can see them all offshore????

Block Island Wind Farm - Deepwater Wind

[boulevardofdef]

I went today! The turbines were very prominent from the ferry as we approached the island, but I didn't notice them at all once we were on island. Maybe I just wasn't in the right place -- I imagine there are spots where they'd be highly visible.

[Hollytree]

Thanks- interesting. I know a lot of people were opposed to these because they thought the views would be spoiled. It would be of interest to see from what vantage points they are visible.

[Chicago3rd]

They looked beautiful when I saw them from the ferry going out to Block Island. Didn't look for them on the island. Our culture...is so crazy. What about the ugliness of I-95 dividing the state and our cities? What about the breakwater protecting Block Islands boats. Both are ugly...but are necessary.

[Hollytree]

I personally don't find a few wind turbines offensive but I don't think objecting to ugly industrial objects is at all crazy.

Most would rather buy a house with a nice view of the water rather than a nice view of the cooling towers in Fall River, Ma, or of the dump in Johnston.

Industrial design of all kinds has a long way to go to achieve beauty and designers need to work on that idea. Necessary can be beautiful.

[boulevardofdef]

It's a matter of personal taste, but I also found the turbines to be attractive. On land, they can be a mixed bag -- sometimes they can look very nice, sometimes not so much, depending on the setting -- but out on the water, they looked great.

[ormari]

The five new Block Island wind turbines are highly visible from Southeast Lighthouse and from the beach at Mohegan Bluffs, as well as from private property in the immediate area of these points of reference.

I don't find them attractive like classically styled windmills. I know the trend in current wind turbine/windmill design tries to maximize efficiency and minimize build cost, but I wonder if designers couldn't strike some better balance between efficiency and aesthetics. I most certainly support wind energy, but I also think wind energy projects must also take both aesthetic considerations and the welfare of songbirds into account when designing and deploying them. We are not up the learning curve yet.

[Hollytree]

Interesting. Do you have a vision for how they should look?

It's kind of hard to imagine how they could be redesigned since it's such a mechanical object. Even a Dyson's fan sort of thing would still involve a giant lollipop shape.


Enormous sunflowers??? ha ha.... big blue wavy arms?????

Maybe emit some ultrasonic sound that would warn birds???

[ABQConvict]

Aesthetics are subjective, of course, but modern wind turbines are designed with a maximum efficiency of materials meaning the only way to substantively change their appearence for aesthetic purposes is to add bulk to them or paint them thus bringing more attention to them.

I basically consider them an eyesore and don't like their impact on wildlife (though I suppose the submerged parts may actually be good for marine life), but ultimately I think the minimalist/functionalist approach is best for these things, in my opinion.

[ormari]

Birds generally have a similar hearing spectra to humans, so ultrasonics probably aren't a solution. But maybe lights would work to scare away birds.

Surface coloration might be one way to improve the aesthetics but changing the shape of the towers themselves could have an aesthetic impact. Look at the variation in street lamp posts for an example of this.