Members of the South Carolina Legislature, the state’s congressional delegation and industry executives joined university officials at the Clemson University Restoration Institute in North Charleston to mark the official start of construction of the $98 million one-of-a-kind project.
The testing facility will be housed in a former Navy warehouse adjacent to existing rail and ship-handling infrastructure. Planning and construction of the facility is under way and it is expected to begin operating in 2012.
It will be capable of full-scale highly accelerated testing of advanced drive-train systems for wind turbines in the 5 megawatt to 15 megawatt range with a 30 percent overload capacity. A drive train takes energy generated by a turbine’s blades and increases the rotational speed to drive the electrical generator, similar to the transmission in a car.
Contact Elizabeth Colbert-Busch, ebusch@clemson.edu, 843-554-7226/x 11
A watershed stewardship mapping tool helps connect volunteers with groups that seek to protect and restore watersheds. For example, residents interested in wildlife habitat may want to help restore shorelines and wetlands. Those who are interested in fishing may want to get involved in reporting sediment erosion, which can harm the ecological health of a stream.
Concerned residents can be watershed stewards, and there are many roles to play, said Katie Giacalone, Carolina Clear’s statewide coordinator.
A watershed is the area where all of the water that drains from the land goes into the same point on a stream, lake or other water body. In South Carolina, watersheds are located in eight major river basins: Broad, Catawba, Edisto, Salkahatchie, Saluda, Santee, Savannah and Pee Dee, all of which contain sub-basins.
Contact: Katie Giacalone kgiacal@clemson.edu 843-554-7226/x 115