Harvest wind power; reap rural economic development, Part II

Part II concludes my 1,080 words abstract of the eight-page PDF titled Wind Power: Economic Development for Rural Communities.

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Article titled Minwind I and II: Innovative Farmer-Owned Projects Are the Wave of the Future

Article titled Wind Energy Helps Reduce the Pain of Natural Gas Prices

“A utility with both gas and wind plants can use wind energy when it’s available, back off on the gas plant during those periods, and then ramp up the gas plant to maintain total system output when the wind dies down,” DeMeo said. “The savings in gas resulting from the wind plant operation can more than cover the total wind plant costs, and the gas plant can maintain system reliability when the wind is fluctuating or not blowing."

Article titled Wind Energy vs. Conventional Energy

"Wind energy is “homegrown” energy that produces no air pollutants and doesn't take any water" out of aquafers or lakes. Conventional power plants use large amounts of water to generate power from fossil fuels; 4 - 11 gallons of water are used to produce each gallon of ethanol.

"Fortunately [yes, wind is a good thing], South Dakota experiences an estimated 1,030 thousand billion kW hours of wind power each year. For this reason, rural utilities should be looking for ways to diversify their energy portfolios and partner in utility-grade wind power generation."

Sidebar article titled Corn Growers Support Wind Energy

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Sidebar article titled Minnesotans Export Crop of the Future to Cities

“There’s no question in our minds that we need to move toward renewable energy, and wind energy development is significant for any community. This is one of the few bright spots in a rural landscape,” said Dave Benson, farmer and county commissioner of Nobles County, Minnesota.

Article titled How Can I Bring Wind Energy to My Community?
Five suggested actions include
--learn more about Section 9006 of the 2002 U.S. Farm Bill and the Value-Added Producer Grant Program, which provide grants and loans for farmers and ranchers who install renewable energy projects. Visit www.usda.gov/farmbill for more information.
[The 2007 U.S. Farm Bill will have a Farm Energy Section and the Value-Added Producer Grant Program as well. Tell your federal representative that this is important legislation.]

Sidebar article & photo of windmill and wind turbine in the same field.
"Making a living on the family farm has never been easy, but harnessing wind energy as the cash crop of the future is a viable way to ease the financial burdens of farmers, ranchers, and rural communities and preserve the rural way of life. "

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Description of some of the goals of the U.S. Department of Energy "Wind Powering America" program.

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A list of seven sources for additional information, including
--Utility Wind Interest Group, P.O. Box 2671, Springfield, VA 22152, (703) 644-5492, www.uwig.org

A color map of the U.S. wind resource with legend of wind energy density classes of wind speeds measured at 50 m [164 ft.].

Class 5 is "Excellent" wind, having 500 - 600 watts/meter squared of swept area at 16 - 18 mph. "Swept area" is the circular area created by each full revolution of the blades.
A community wind turbine- such as the Fuhrländer FL 100- having a swept area of 346 sq. meters will harvest in SD roughly 173 - 207 kW during every hour of Class 5 wind.

A handful of South Dakota wind

5 PM May 26, WNW at 22 mph
Noon (16) May 26, W at 25 mph
9 AM May 26, WSW at 26 mph
11 PM May 25, SSE at 12 mph
Oldest 6 PM May 25, S at 22 mph

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'Til next time. Best Wind.