|
Berkeley,
California (Wednesday, June 20, 2007) - With
annual daily wind speeds averaging close to ten miles per hour, the
Berkeley shoreline is a natural site for generating energy from the
wind – and that’s just what Berkeley intends to do, and in the
most environmentally safe way possible.
The City of
Berkeley will become the first city in the U.S. to rely on wind
power for one of its buildings.
There will
be a ground breaking ceremony on Tuesday, June 26, at 1:30 p.m. at
the Shorebird Park Nature Center, located at 160 University Avenue
in Berkeley. Speakers will include Mayor Tom Bates, and
representatives from Southwest Windpower, Golden Gate Audubon
Society, Pacific Gas and Electric, and Fat Spaniel, the energy
monitoring company donating their services to this project.
The
City-owned Shorebird Nature Center will use a small, 1.8-kilowatt
wind turbine to produce energy for the saltwater aquariums,
computers and lighting. The turbine, donated by Southwest Windpower
in Flaggstaff, Arizona, will supplement the building’s existing
solar electric system and solar hot water system, which provides
heat.
This wind
turbine, named the Skystream 3.7, is specifically designed to
produce energy at low wind speeds.
The tower is environmentally friendly, having no guy wires or
lattice structures to act as perches for birds.
The tower and turbine combined are only 40 feet tall, about
the height of a streetlight pole, and the swept-back polycarbonate
blades are quieter than other turbines of its size. The Golden Gate
chapter of the Audubon Society has written a letter in support of
this project.
Wind energy
has the potential to produce power during rainy days and at night,
something that even the best solar electric systems can’t do.
By combining two renewable energy systems, the Shorebird
Nature Center will come very close to being completely energy
self-sufficient and will be the first City building to reach the
Measure G goals of an 80 percent reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions.
Measure G was passed
by more than 80 percent of Berkeley voters to reduce City-wide
greenhouse gas emissions, including emissions from residential,
commercial and city buildings. For more information about Measure G,
visit the
City of Berkeley’s website at http://www.cityofberkeley.info/sustainable/
or http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/mayor/GHG/index.htm
or call Berkeley's Measure G Coordinator, Timothy Burroughs,
at 981-5437.
For more information
about this project and other renewable energy projects in Berkeley,
contact Alice La Pierre, at 981-5435 or email Energy@ci.berkeley.ca.us.
|
