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Steel Winds (or Steel Winds I & Steel Winds II) is a wind energy project located on the coast of Lake Erie in Lackawanna, New York, just south of the City of Buffalo in Erie County. Its first phase was operational in 2007 and the second phase came online in 2012, for a combined production capacity of 35 MW.〔 The unique project was built on part of the brownfield of a former Bethlehem Steel plant. By using much of the existing infrastructure of roads and transmission lines, it could reduce project costs. This is one of the largest urban wind farms in the world and uses turbines manufactured in Iowa. ==Background== According to the U.S. Department of Energy, wind farms are producing the fastest-growing energy source in the world. American wind farms generated an estimated 35,000 megawatts (MW) of wind energy in 2009, just over two percent of the U.S. electricity supply, powering the equivalent of nearly 10 million homes.〔("Renewable Energy: Super Fund Programs" ), EPA〕 Prior to this project, studies for solar power options at the site were extensively studied.〔()〕 The Steel Winds project has been developed on of the brownfield remaining from the former Bethlehem Steel Plant. This facility, declining since 1983 and ending its coke production in 2001,〔 is being returned to productive use under the New York Department of Environmental Conservation Brownfield Cleanup Program.〔("Bethlehem Steel Site in Buffalo Gets New Life as Steel Winds Wind Farm" ) 〕 EPA had completed sufficient cleanup of the Super Fund site by early 2006 to allow the next phase of the project to proceed under state supervision.〔 A 2002 change in environmental laws gave the city and developers immunity from the costs of remediating the site. Such associated costs had earlier stymied redevelopment of the planned 1,600-acre site for public use under the state's brownfield cleanup program.〔(), EBSCO Host 〕 Brownfields are the remains of accumulated low-level toxic waste, which developed around factory operations. They were left when industry restructured, and factories were abandoned.〔(David Staba, "An Old Steel Mill Retools to Produce Clean Energy" ), ''New York Times'', 22 May 2007〕 Norman Polanski, then mayor of Lackawanna, New York and a former worker at Bethlehem Steel, has supported this project. He believes it can help attract industry to the area, as well as tourism. The city and state are studying the possibility of manufacturing turbine equipment locally to revive local industry and reduce costs of future projects in New York. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Steel Winds」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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