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In the past 40 years, only two new major airports have been built in
the United States - Dallas-Fort Worth and Denver International. Even globally, construction of a new international airport
is a very rare thing.
In the U.S., Ivanpah Valley Airport is proposed as the very first 21st Century new international
airport.
Most likely, Ivanpah is destined to be a GREEN AIRPORT.
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This page was posted on IvanpahValley.com February 12, 2008.
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| Photo courtesy Nellis Air Force Base. |
Nevada leads the nation in the development of renewable/sustainable energy, and the University of Nevada
is at the forefront of research into "green" energy improvements. This combination will assuredly affect the
design of Ivanpah Valley Airport. The photovoltaic power plant (above) at Nellis Air Force Base in Southern Nevada
- which produces more than 25 per cent of Nellis' electricity - could possibly serve as a model for solar power generation
at Ivanpah Valley Airport, 30 miles south of Las Vegas.
In a state that is a leader in the "green" trend toward reducing reliance
on fossil fuels, and with a state university deeply committed to the study of possibilities for alternative energy, Ivanpah
Valley Airport, if approved, is probably destined to become the world's first GREEN AIRPORT.
Southern Nevada will be the site of the nation's first new international airport in decades, and the University
of Nevada, Las Vegas, is only 30 miles from the proposed airport's location.
Imagination, science and extensive
natural resources can be joined to create a truly 21st Century international airport that is both efficient and pleasant for
the travelers, as well as an engaging topic of discussion in aviation circles around the world.
| Wind power is in Nevada's future. |
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| Nevada leads the nation in solar watts per capita. |
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| Geothermal will be an energy source for Nevada. |
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At the 2007 Inaugural Energy Symposium aty UNLV last
August, Thomas Fair, Executive-Renewable Energy Program, Nevada Power Company, said Nevada is now leading the nation in solar
and geothermal power development. He added that wind power expansion in Nevada will also certainly come along.
Solar,
geothermal and wind power are strong in Nevada. The University of Nevada is engaged in numerous projects studying these renewable/sustainable
forms of energy.
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And now, along comes the prospect of Ivanpah Valley Airport. As IvanpahValley.com states repeatedly in this website, the "supplemental" international airport
south of Las Vegas appears to be pretty much inevitable. If this part of the country, and of the world, is to remain vibrant
and solvent far into the future, additional long-haul aviation infrastructure will be needed in Southern Nevada.
Here is a question: Is this large (about 23,000 acres total) international
airport going to look like something designed and built with yesterday's blueprints, or is it going to be developed with
refreshingly new plans that reflect very new and different times?
Ivanpah Valley Airport will not even open
until 2018. It does not take a genius to realize Ivanpah Valley Airport is going to have to be a GREEN
AIRPORT.
In an August 15, 2007, article in the Las Vegas Sun, by Christina Littlefield,
titled "UNLV's place in the sun," Robert Boehm, director of University of Nevada's Center for Energy Research,
was talking about the availability in Nevada of alternative energy resources. He makes an interesting statement. He says,
"Just like the hotel college has the Strip to work with, we have all the sunlight to work with."
Now,
it appears, they could also have a GREEN AIRPORT to work with, a major airport
in the desert that cleverly and intelligently leaves a surprisingly delicate footprint in the recently restive sands of Ivanpah
Valley.
To IvanpahValley.com, designing a new international airport should be as
much fun as it is work. What a wonderful achievement it would be to create a new airport that accommodates
the world's most modern aircraft - for millions of passengers annually - in a way that minimizes energy use and enhances
the image of Nevada as a here-and-now culture that knows how to take advantage of the state's renewable/sustainable energy
assets.
Is IvanpahValley.com getting too carried away? After all, an airport is just
an airport, right?
No.
This fact is surprising, but true: In the past 40 years, only two new major airports
have been built in the United States - Dallas-Fort Worth and Denver International. Even globally, a new international airport
is a very, very rare thing.
In the U.S., Ivanpah Valley Airport is proposed as the very first 21st Century major
airport, being considered at a time when the quiet, but determined, breezes of green building,
sustainable energy and sustainable architectureare beginning to blow across the sands of Ivanpah
Valley.
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The need for a solar powered airport at Ivanpah is almost too obvious.
UNLV is studying solar power with a passion. If Ivanpah Valley Airport is approved in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
Record of Decision (ROD) in 2010, 17,000 additional acres will be added, to the 6,000 or so acres already set aside, for a
noise compatability area.
Would this not be perfect acreage for a solar power plant that will supply energy
to the airport? What would work better in the noise compatability area than acres and acres of solar panels basking in the
sun?
And the proposed Ivanpah Valley Airport has mountains to the east and the west. Maybe wind turbines would
work on some of the uninhabited mountains, sending more power to the airport situated near the border of Nevada and California, adjacent
to I-15.
The state of Nevada is requiring that, by the year 2015, electric
utilities acquire 20 per cent of power from renewable resources. Does it take an Einstein to realize a brand
new international airport in Southern Nevada - not opening until 2018 - will have to be a GREEN
AIRPORT?
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