Wish This Study Were Available When Ted Kennedy Was Alive

As a prime moron and scumbag who still has a fan following that even calls him "green," the late Ted Kennedy was a crook who managed to hoodwink many otherwise somewhat intelligent people with his supposed environment-friendly credentials. Treehugger published a laudatory note after his death that could only come from a true believer, never mind that the idols that treehugger believes in turn out to have feet of clay almost regularly these days. But then they do some good work highlighting some enw tech and that overrules everything else, I guess. Dead snakes also have their uses, as the old Indian saying goes . . .

In any case, the New York Times has an interesting report on its Green Inc blog which should have told the senior Kennedy that though this might not, quite, have altered the view from his summer home which he wanted preserved, offshore wind power be damned, the price of his cottage would not have been affected by a wind farm offshore or anywhere on land near any property in the country. Anyone else who is reluctant would do well to look close and hard at this study. Though some individual houses in some areas could be negatively affected by wind turbines being around them, the vast majority of homes wouldn't be affected negatively in any way. And that can only be considered a good thing!

An Eco Baron's Fall from Grace?

The latest issue of Forbes magazine which I just received has a sobering entry about billionaires going bust. While, on the whole, the news isn't really as bad as it sounds - some of these people still have several billion left - one name caught my eye: Tulsi Tanti, the founder of Suzlon Energy. A pioneer in the wind energy business, Tanti built his company up quite fast buying REI Power in Germany and expanding his business to the far corners of the world during a period when oil prices hit record highs. Unfortunately, poor quality control seems to have led to his downfall. Last year there were already rumors about blades on his turbines cracking in Minnesota. While the Suzlon people attributed this to the blades not having been adequately tested in the kind of severe Midwestern weather that we often face, they claimed to be working on better designs and that they had offered to replace the damaged blades under warranty. It turns out that for some reason, clients in the USA are not buying this argument. A leading Californian power producer has cancelled an order for 150 turbines from Suzlon. My guess is that this would go to Clipper Wind who are based in California and who have had their own problems recently due to the recession. But what is clearly a symptom of Suzlon's sickness is a godsend fro Clipper. They do not have quality problems of any kind going by the reports available to me. And that is their salvation in these difficult times.

Forbes estimates that Tanti who was worth $ 3 billion last year is worth much less - his net worth has fallen by "at least $ 2.6 billion" according to them. My guess is that if some other company steps in at this point in time, they may be able to buy Suzlon and REI's assets for a bargain price. I also know, for certain, that a certain prominent Indian businessman's claim that he was setting up a wind energy farm on the country's West Coast in association with Suzlon is complete BS. I doubted as much when he talked to me last and I even told his managers this. Well, if he reads this blog as I suspect he does from time to time, he knows that I know about his "project."

That apart, I will be looking harder for a large turbine for a friend who has a hilltop property near a large Indian city and who has been thinking about putting up a large turbine there. Luckily for him, there is a power station belonging to the state government right below the hill. When some businesses fail, I guess others have opportunities to work on and succeed. When it comes to green business, I do hope that the successes are vastly more than the failures and that Suzlon's failure is forgotten when other companies begin to shine. And, finally, I do hope that Suzlon manage to pull back from the brink.

PS A link to Indian billionaires who have dropped in net worth to a considerable extent is accessible at this link: http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/11/india-financial-loss-billionaires-2009-billionaires-india_slide.html

Tanti figures prominently in the list.

Britain Plans Wind Turbines Along Canal Banks

Treehugger has this very interesting piece: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/10/100-megawatts-of-wind-turbines-along-british-canals.php

Now when is India going to think about something similar in Kerala? That is one of the most power-deprived states in the country, and one of the most picturesque as well. I can also see something similar along the banks of the huge rivers that flow through several parts of India, if the government decides to do something serious. Kolkata has huge power problems and the Hooghly could see these turbines along its banks feeding the city. Ditto for Varanasi and the Ganges. In Karnataka there is the Cauvery. The Punjab has its huge rivers. The possibilities are endless if you ask me, in a country that is already doing well in some pockets as far as wind power is concerned. Perhaps, if these wind turbines were coupled with tide powered ones, the many small communities along river banks would find their power needs fulfilled locally and without costly and inefficient power lines from fossil fuel plants located far away. How about that?