Description:
Mars, Incorporated, in partnership with Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, announced an agreement on a new 200 MW wind farm that will generate 100% of the electricity needs of Mars’ U.S. operations, which is comprised of 70 sites.
‘Mesquite Creek Wind,’ a 118-turbine wind farm was jointly developed by Sumitomo and BNB Renewable Energy and is based near Lamesa, Texas with a footprint of 25,000 acres. With an annual output of over 800,000 megawatt-hours, the energy created from the wind farm will represent 24% of Mars’ total global factory and office carbon footprint.
It will be an enormous wind farm but keep in mind that the 118 turbines will be spread over the 25,000 acres, and that most of that land will still be open and largely undisturbed. Each turbine has a footprint of about a quarter acre so the 118 turbines will cover about 30 acres. Access roads and ancillary equipment pads will cover additional acreage but the aggregate impact will be small.
Remember, too, that installation of the wind farm and the projected annual generation of over 800 gigawatt hours will require less water than a single fracked gas well – most of the water being used to mix concrete for the turbine foundations. This is an important aspect for an area suffering a multi-year drought.
For comparison with the fracking footprint, look at the Midland Airport on Google maps in Earth view. Then scroll west, and keep scrolling.
That’s heartening news from Mars, my favourite sweet snack in my pre-diabetes era, now alas forbidden fruit. A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play, and soon it will be a leading light in the anthropocene.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/04/30-2
Pie in the Sky from a sweet tooth purveyor?
Let’s think a bit about what the Mars Sustainability presenter did not make very clear to us.
He showed a map with a foci at Lamesa, TX. Currently presumably a ranch of some sort but as of yet, undeveloped as a base energy production center. Fine. Everyone’s got to start sometime.
But let’s think for a second about the distribution of energy from the Lamesa power generation station. First thing I’ve got to ask is where are the interties to connect Lamesa to the Mars plant in Pennsylvania and California?
As I see it, the Mars-Lamesa generated power doesn’t have an announced grid it is going onto. Choices seem to be either ERCOT which would mean the Mars power would be sold in Dallas and San Antonio mostly, or the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) in which case, the Lamesa power will keep the lights on in Tulsa and OK City.
The notion presented by the video that the Lamesa power will power the lights at Mars Exton, PA HQ is at best fuzzy and at worst kind of a Disneyland fantasy. Mars is NOT going to power its 70 manufacturing and admin facilities with Lamesa power. It is going to sell power onto the grid and declare an offset from the typically coal-power energy it will buy east of the Mississippi River.
More on grids from the perspective of those who will be paying for them:
http://www.texascooppower.com/energy/technology-renewables/technology-renewables/electric-highways-in-the-sky
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While Mars is using the agreement to purchase wind power as a corporate plum and an advertising tool, the actual owner of the Lamesa facility is Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo with financing by a consortium of Japanese commercial banks. GE will be providing the turbines.
http://www.windtech-international.com/project-and-contracts/sumitomo-corporation-becomes-sole-owner-of-mesquite-creek-wind-farm-in-texas?eprivacy=1
Ain’t she purdy?
Some beauty shots of wind power plants courtesy of the Guardian:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2014/may/02/the-beauty-of-windfarms-in-pictures