Vineyard Wind 1, which is set to become the first large-scale offshore wind project in the U.S., is one step closer to starting construction with the completion of an environmental impact statement from the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management last month.
Located about 15 miles off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, the project is set to power 400,000 homes and businesses across Massachusetts.
A combination of strong winds, shallow water, and a nearby population who could benefit from the renewable energy source makes the location prime real estate for a wind farm.
"Basically what we're trying to do is to harness the strong and consistent winds that are offshore," Vineyard Wind CEO Lars Thaaning Pedersen told Cheddar. "The corridor from Washington to Boston, some people have dubbed it the Saudia Arabia of offshore wind."
Pedersen said the company is working hard to make sure it sets a good example in how it locates the project, coexists with other ocean users, and protects the natural environment.
"Sometimes being the first is a blessing and a curse," he said.
"Not only do we have to deliver a project that is well-sited and responsibly constructed, but also we have to kickstart a new industry that will create thousands of jobs in the U.S.," he added.
In order to combat climate change, Pedersen said an "all of the above'' strategy is necessary, and given the Northeast region's dense population, on-shore wind and solar are more difficult.
While other parts of the country may have the raw acreage to build out large renewable energy sources, such as solar farms that require a sizable physical footprint, the Boston to Washington, DC, corridor has a plentiful supply of coastal wind.
Offshore has other advantages as well, said Pedersen, like it's easier to employ bigger turbines, which generate more power, because of the ability to ship them out by sea.
"For our project, we're using the largest turbine in the world manufactured by GE," he said.
For the moment, Vineyard Wind is pioneering offshore turbines in the U.S., but the nascent industry could get a boost from the Biden administration's $2.3 trillion infrastructure bill, which calls for the construction of 30-gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030.
That's roughly 30 projects of the size of Vineyard Wind's 800-megawatt farm.
"We think that is doable and will attract a lot of investment into the U.S.," he said.
The company plans to deliver the first electrons into the Massachusetts grid by 2023.
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
William Falcon, CEO and Founder of Lightning AI, discusses the ongoing feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, and how everyday people can use AI in their lives.
