City of wind quickly developing in Kern

[Kevin Rooney]

For those interested in wind power, here's an article from the Bakersfield, CA newspaper. It's on a megascale, especially compared to the very small wind projects in New England.

The area where these windmills are located is at the southern end of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, where the warm, dry Mojave Desert air collides with the cooler, moister air of the San Joaquin Valley streaming over the Tehachapi mountain range. The town of Mojave is located about 100 miles north of LA, and is the location of the Mojave Air and Space Port, which bills itself as "as the world’s premier civilian aerospace test center".

 

[Guthook]

Walked through a portion of that on the PCT, and it was truly mind-boggling seeing those things up close and then seeing that they just went on as far as the eye could see. Thanks for the article. I needed some good reading.

 

[walker]

The town of Mojave is located about 100 miles north of LA, and is the location of the Mojave Air and Space Port, which bills itself as "as the world’s premier civilian aerospace test center".

It also Not so famous for being the home of the "Hyundri-Kia Motors Calf. Proving Ground"

Check out the vastness of the Wind Farm on Google Maps

It's freakin' huge.

See you in the wind...Walker

 

[Kevin Rooney]

It also Not so famous for being the home of the "Hyundri-Kia Motors Calf. Proving Ground"

Check out the vastness of the Wind Farm on Google Maps

It's freakin' huge.

See you in the wind...Walker

From the article:

Existing wind farms since the 1980s: 11 square miles

Recently approved projects: 104.7 square miles

Proposed projects: 28.1 square miles

Total: 132.8 square miles

Tehachapi Wind Resource Area: 362.8 square miles

Honda also has a proving ground nearby, although they may have moved some of their activities recently to Ohio, according to a hiking friend.

 

[Red Oak]

Nothing like the high desert....

Thanks for the link kevin....Very cool area,I have been there three times.Twice driving thru and once on vacay. Never noticed the wind farm.Can you see it from the 58?Wonder if those wind farms will be safe from fire potential?I saw some terrible past burn areas just south of that area on the 14.Very hard to imagine the beauty of Sequoia national forest beyond those barren Tehachapi mountains.Of course when you are driving 90-100 miles per hour[what people drive on the 58] you tend to keep your eyes in front of you.Biggest regret of my years in Cali was not exploring all those ridges everywhere.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Thanks for the link kevin....Very cool area,I have been there three times.Twice driving thru and once on vacay. Never noticed the wind farm.Can you see it from the 58?Wonder if those wind farms will be safe from fire potential?I saw some terrible past burn areas just south of that area on the 14.Very hard to imagine the beauty of Sequoia national forest beyond those barren Tehachapi mountains.Of course when you are driving 90-100 miles per hour[what people drive on the 58] you tend to keep your eyes in front of you.Biggest regret of my years in Cali was not exploring all those ridges everywhere.

If you're driving on the 58 from Mojave to Tehachapi you drive thru the middle of the original windfarm, and yes - they're enormous. Two or three years ago they began to expand the farm to the north, towards Jawbone Canyon and Red Rock Canyon SP, and now are expanding to the east, out on the valley floor of the Mojave Desert itself, towards the town of Mojave and south towards LA.

The original windfarm demonstrates the technological progression in terms of size of windmills, as outlined in the article. This is noticable if you hike along underneath them. The area up in the hills is pretty spectacular during wildflower season.

The limiting factor now is the capacity of the power lines to put the power into the grid, which is a common infrastructure issue everywhere there's a growth in wind, solar or geothermal power.

 

[Brambor]

Sometimes they are fascinating to look at.

 

[Guthook]

Fascinating, indeed. Here's the view from the PCT where it goes by the giant farm. If I recall correctly, there were plenty of other views where you could see even more of the turbines, but this is the pic I still have at the moment. More located here.

 

[Brambor]

Guthook, I wonder, did you find the turbines noisy?

 

[Guthook]

Guthook, I wonder, did you find the turbines noisy?

The short answer to that question is yes. What bothered me more, though, was walking directly under them and feeling like if one of those blades popped off, the search parties wouldn't be able to find the smear that used to be me.