Today I'll post half of the 1,080 word abstract of Wind Power: Economic Development for Rural Communities; tomorrow I'll post the second half. Wind Power is an eight-page PDF that has good introductory info about wind farming. A Wind Rush in the Great and Upper Great Plains states is on and now is the time to act.
p1 cover photo
p2 observations on wind power by noted citizens
"We support wind farming as both an alternative income stream for farmers and landowners and an economic development opportunity for rural communities.”
--Dan McGuire, Lincoln, Nebraska – Director of theAmerican Corn Growers Foundation and American CornGrowers Association Wealth from the Wind program
“Who would have guessed that the air above our land might be worth money someday?”
--Larry Widdel, Minot, North Dakota Farmer who leases his land to Basin Electric Power Cooperative
“I had heard some rumblings that wind energy was coming to South Dakota. I asked, ‘Isn’t there any way we can harness this energy and make it work around here?’ And the rest, as they say, is history.”
--Mike Newton, Highmore, South Dakota – Mayor of Highmore, a town that is now home to the 40-MW South Dakota Wind Energy Center [constructed, owned, and operated by FPL Energy, Juno Beach, FL, affiliated with Florida Power & Light Company. Hardly "homegrown"].
p3 Article titled Wind Energy for Rural Economic Development
"It’s tough to make a living on the family farm. In recent years, net farm income decreased as dry conditions in much of the country reduced the forecasted yields of corn, soybeans, and wheat."
"But there is a bright spot on the rural economic development horizon: wind energy."
Sidebar article titled Colorado Green Wind Farm
Article titled Jobs
p4 sidebar article titled The People Want Wind Energy
Article titled Landowner Revenues
"Wind energy offers rural landowners a new cash crop. Although leasing arrangements vary widely, royalties are typically around $2,000 per year for a 750-kilowatt wind turbine or 2% to 3% of the project’s gross revenues. Given typical wind turbine spacing requirements, a 250-acre farm could increase annual farm income by $14,000 per year, or more than $55 per acre."
"In a good year, that same plot of land might yield $90 worth of corn, $40 worth of wheat, and $5 worth of beef. Wind turbines have a minimal effect on farming and ranching operations. The turbines have a small footprint, so crops can be grown and livestock can be grazed right up
to the base of the turbine."
"As Leroy Ratzlaff, a third-generation landowner and farmer in Hyde County, South Dakota, said, 'It’s almost like renting out my farm and still having it. And the cows don’t seem to mind a bit.'”
Sidebar blurb- Wind Power Brings Relief to Rural Texas
"After the Texas legislature passed a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), utilities and wind companies invested $1 billion in 2001 to build 912 MW of new wind power projects."
Article titled Increased Local Tax Base
"Because wind projects are more capital intensive than conventional power plants, property taxes for wind projects are often two to three times higher per unit of energy than conventional plants."
"Seven examples, including Lincoln County, Minnesota: $471,822 in 2003 (155 MW)."
A handful of South Dakota wind-
5 PM May 25, S at 20 mph
2 PM May 25, S at 18 mph
Noon May 25, SE at 13 mph
9 AM May 25, SSE at 8 mph
2 AM May 25, Calm.
Do contact me if you want to buy any of this blog's content or would like to have other specific content uncovered.
'Til next time. Best Wind.
Friday, May 25, 2007
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