Everything is connected to every thing else

Your great-uncle (like mine) or great-grandad may have used wind power to pump water from wells. Now a South Dakota resource- 1,030 billion kWhs- is being harnessed to help light homes and businesses.

27 wind turbines are in Highmore, the largest wind farm in South Dakota. Its 27 1.5 MW (1,500 kW) turbines produce enough electricity to power over 14 thousand homes.

Each ton of coal consumed at an electric power plant produces about 2,000 kilowatthours (2 MW) of electricity. 2,000 pounds of coal, 2,000 kWhs; we'll say burning one pound of coal yields one kWh. At these numbers, the turbines at Highmore prevent burning 40.5 tons of coal for every hour of 30+ mph wind.

A 500 megawatt coal plant uses 2.2 billion gallons of water a year, for cooling and for steam production. At these numbers, each turbine at Highmore prevents the loss of 341 gallons of water for every hour of 30+ mph wind. More water for people, plants, and livestock in addition to cleaner air.

As a friend of mine would say: Hmmmm.

1 kW = 1.359 HP

1 Pound of Coal = 10,000 Btu

1 Kilowatthour of Electricity = 3,412 Btu

1 Gallon of Heating Oil = 139,000 Btu

1 Gallon of Propane = 91,000 Btu

1 Cubic Foot of Natural Gas = 1,021 Btu

1 kg = 2.2 lbs

cubic meters to cubic yards, multiply by 1.31

To convert MPH to M/S divide MPH by 2.2

To convert M/S to MPH multiply M/S by 2.2

1 meter / second = 2.23 mph

1 meter squared = 10.764 feet squared

50 m = 164'; 1 m = 3.28 feet.