There are no environmental or technological barriers to deploying renewable energy in West Virginia .
VAN NOSTRAND : West Virginia already has six operating wind farms generating over 760 megawatts ( MWs ), with an additional project , the 115-MW Black Rock project to be located on the Grant-Mineral county line , announced in January . With respect to solar potential , Downstream Strategies analyzed in 2017 whether brownfield sites in West Virginia — for example , abandoned mine lands , landfills and former industrial sites — could serve as feasible locations for solar farms . They identified at least 140,160 acres of brownfield sites that are viable for large solar energy installations .
WRIGHTSTONE : WVU Geology Professor Dr . Tim Carr compared the energy created by the Boggess well pad — 39.35 acres — outside of Morgantown to that needed for wind and solar in West Virginia . To generate the same energy as the Boggess pad from wind would require 7,368 acres , or 187 times the land required for the Marcellus well pad . To generate the same energy from solar would require 6,432 acres , or 163 times the land required for the Marcellus well pad .
The Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy estimates that by 2050 the total area covered by wind and solar will be approximately 590,000 square kilometers , or an area equal to Illinois , Indiana , Ohio , Kentucky , Tennessee , Massachusetts , Connecticut and Rhode Island put together .
Solar and wind energy are unreliable and intermittent .
VAN NOSTRAND : Solar and wind facilities are commonly referred to as variable or intermittent generating facilities due to their reliance on the sun and wind for generating capability . The capacity factor , which compares the average output to the generator ’ s nameplate capacity , of an onshore wind farm , for example , is about 41 %, meaning that a 100-MW windfarm will , on average , produce about 41 average MW each hour over the course of a year . The comparable figure for solar is somewhat lower — about 30 %. The variability is increasingly being reduced through greater use of battery storage or , in the case of concentrating solar , using solar thermal energy storage systems . While the capacity factors for solar and wind have improved considerably over the past decade , renewable resources alone will never have the level of reliability to serve as baseload generation .
WRIGHTSTONE : True . Solar and wind are exceedingly inefficient generators of electricity because they are unavailable most of the time , often less than 35 % of the day . By contrast , the availability of coal and nuclear plants are typically 70 % and 90 %, respectively . Similarly , solar and wind facilities last for two or three decades at best while coal and nuclear plants have lives in excess of 50 years . During their operating life , wind turbines are well-known for killing birds and creating eyesores that draw the ire of nature lovers and neighbors .
The Hatfield McCoy Trail System would like to congratulate
GLENN YOST on being selected as a 2021 Sharp Shooter !
“ Without his partnership and vision , the trail system would not be what it is today .”
– Jeffrey Lusk , Executive Director , Hatfield McCoy Regional Recreation Authority
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WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE