http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/opinion/16kennedy.html?n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and%20Op%2dEd%2fOp%2dEd%2fContributors

The capital invested in this project, financial and political, would be better spent on wind installations and power distribution upgrade in the northern midwestern plains.  No NIMBYs, hardly any people in fact!

His idea for siting farther off shore is a good one, but will not beat the low cost of plains based energy.  And distribution grid upgrade on the plains can form a loop to attach thousands of wind machines to the grid, more efficient and cheaper than a really long cable way out in the ocean.

And what about the crucial invention for renewable energy?  Energy storage.  High profile spokespersons for green energy ought to be pushing reserach in this area.  Superconducting energy storage is a practical technology that needs capital intensive government and private industry backing.

http://www.evworld.com/view.cfm?section=article&storyid=825

Energy CS's 150 mpg Prius plug-in hybrid. Valence Saphion (tm) lithium-ion batteries were installed in place of the Prius' 1kWh NiMH battery pack, which is located under the rear passenger seat. The car is a proof-of-concept prototype, which will make its official debut at the 21st Electric Vehicle Symposium in Monaco next month. The plug-in hybrid concept lets the car run further on electricity stored from the electric power grid instead of gasoline for the first 50-60 miles, effectively tripling the miles per gallon performance of the car.

With ever improving battery technology plugin hybrids will soon gove way to full plugin electric cars.  With no infernal sombustion or greenhouse gas emissions.  But these plugin hybrids at 150 mpg are exactly right at this moment in time.