Tag: wind energy

Texas Addressed Conservation Issues

Just last week, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst announced interim charges for Texas Senate committees that will explore issues and solutions during the interim period before the 82nd Texas Legislature convenes in January 2011. Among the agencies addressed was the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). Below is a listing of some committee interim charges relevant to TPWD and its mission that could impact its constituents.

Natural Resources

  • Analyze and compare the differences in cost between immediate implementation of the State Water Plan compared to staged development over time.
  • Review the joint planning process for management of groundwater resources and monitor the progress of groundwater conservation districts’ efforts to establish, before the statutory deadline, desired future conditions for aquifers.
  • Study the need for the state to regulate the drilling of new wells within proscribed depths and distances of Texas rivers, in order to prevent the draining of surface water from alluvial plains of river basins.
  • Monitor the environmental impacts, including water usage, and role of the TCEQ and other agencies in oil and natural gas development in areas of the state such as the Barnett Shale Continue reading Texas Addressed Conservation Issues

Wind and Wildlife Conference 2009

Wind and Wildlife Conference 2009 

The South Plains Agriculture Wind and Wildlife Conference will take place February 13, 2009, at the American Wind Power Center and Museum in Lubbock, Texas. The event is sponsored by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas Wildlife Association, and Texas AgriLife Extension. The conference is intended to provide an objective overview of wind energy development trends and how they could affect wildlife and natural resources. Conference agenda topics include:

    • The Way the Wind Blows: History and Current State of Wind Energy
    • The Past, Present, and Future of Wind: Energy in the South Plains
    • Anatomy of a Wind Turbine and Construction of Wind Turbines
    • Wind and Wildlife: What We Know and Don’t Know
    • Wind and Lesser Prairie-Chickens: The Role of a Candidate Species
    • Wind Development and Wildlife Associated with Playa Wetlands
    • Catered Lunch—Legislative Presentation
    • CREZ and Transmission
    • Land Appraisals and Real Estate Impacts
    • Community Wind – Small Tract Landowners and Wildlife Concerns
    • Wind Development and South Plains Land Uses: Are They Environmentally & Economically Compatible?
    • TPWD Voluntary Wind Guidelines and Federal Wind Guidelines
    • Landowner Panel- Multiple Perspectives
    • What Does the Future Hold?
    • Optional- Wind Power Center Tour

The conference $50 late registration fee includes a catered lunch, with late registration through February 3 and door registration possible afterward. Conference details and registration instructions are on the TWA Website. For more information, contact Heather Whitlaw at Heather.Whitlaw@tpwd.state.tx.us or (806) 742-4968.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Wind Energy

Wind Energy

Wind energy offers many advantages, which explains why it’s the fastest-growing energy source in the world. Research efforts are aimed at addressing the challenges to greater use of wind energy.

Advantages

Wind energy is fueled by the wind, so it’s a clean fuel source. Wind energy doesn’t pollute the air like power plants that rely on combustion of fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas. Wind turbines don’t produce atmospheric emissions that cause acid rain or greenhouse gasses.

Wind energy is a domestic source of energy, produced in the United States. The nation’s wind supply is abundant. Continue reading Advantages and Disadvantages of Wind Energy