Diversifying income from thin air

Food for a wind farming effort is in the 30 March 2007 AgWeb.com (a division of Farm Journal, Inc.) Wind Energy Blows In, by Margy Fischer and Jeanne Bernick.

• Dan Moore's family farm is along Interstate 90 in southern Minnesota; Moore knew he had to have a second income. Instead of venturing off the farm, he saw potential in the thin air. Two wind turbines tower over his corn fields there.
  “I noticed all these wind turbines going up on the Buffalo Ridge in Minnesota and thought if they can do it, I can do it.”
• Buffalo Ridge {which originates in the northeastern South Dakota Coteau Hills} is a rise across southern Minnesota dotted with 470 wind turbines.
• Moore is lucky to live in the wind-friendly state of Minnesota, which offers a renewable energy production incentive—1¢ per kilowatt—to wind energy providers.
• Minnesota isn’t the only state turning to the sky for energy. In 35 other states you’ll find wind turbines shooting up over corn fields, staggered along the prairie and placed among hills and mountains.
• “It’s reasonable to think that the turbine, tower and necessary roads will take up a half an acre to an acre out of production for every megawatt generated,” says Larry Flowers, technical director at the National Wind Technology Center in Colorado.
• Many factors for wind projects to be financially feasible, including cooperation with the local utility. In many areas suitable for wind turbines, progress is stymied by the lack of adequate transmission systems.
• Turbine demand currently exceeds supply, and wind projects are capital-intensive undertakings. Right now, the wait for a new turbine is 2 years, Wind says.
• “In reality, only about 10% of the schools, farmers and other landowners who contact me about setting up wind towers even pass the feasibility test,” Wind says. “Of that 10%, only 5% of projects ever get done.”
• Physical and financial considerations—along with persistence—must tie together to develop a successful wind energy project. In Moore’s case, it took five attempts to get his wind project online.
• “You’ve got to be aggressive to be a wind developer,” he says. “I pretty much learned everything on my own. I looked up articles on the Internet and made many, many phone calls.”
• The obstacles Moore encountered included timing to receive production incentives, Federal Aviation Administration restrictions on the site and height of the turbines, and bidding and contracting with the utility company.
• “The first thing to do is to get a good lawyer {or a paralegal?} who has done wind energy projects before” Moore says. “There were probably 20 contracts and copious amount of paperwork that weren’t easy to decipher.”
• Landowners are changing the nation’s energy profile. With one successful project under his belt, Moore is now partnering with other local farmers and landowners to develop a 36-megawatt wind energy project.

A Handful of South Dakota wind-

• 4 PM May 31, SSW at 15 mph
• Noon May 31, S at 12 mph
• 8 AM May 31, S at 8 mph mist
• 1 AM May 31, SW at 14 mph
• 8 PM May 30, W at 21 mph.

Do contact me if you would like to buy any of this blog's content or to uncover other wind power content on the Web.

'Til next time. Best Wind.

Wind farming homework, Part One

Wind EnergyY Institute Wildcatting for Wind, June 1-2, 2006; Sweetwater, Texas, is a 3-page PDF that highlights one area of "homework" for a wind farmer.

Clearing the Hurdles to Economical Wind Power, Remarks of Jeffrey D. (Dan) Watkiss
Bracewell & Giuliani LLP

"On top of contracting to purchase or lease access to a wind resource and negotiating EPC agreements with equipment vendors and contractors, the developer of wind generation confronts an obstacle course of additional legal/economic hurdles that must be cleared if its project is to succeed."

Electricity from the Wind: What Landowners Should Know, an unsourced 4-page PDF retrieved 30 May W 07, advises

"But as with any business venture, rural landowners interested in leasing their land should do their homework."

Sections include

• Lease Agreement
• Easements
  
• More Factors to Consider
• Heavy industrial equipment


• Landowners should review their insurance policies


• Landowners should discuss taxes with the developer and with an attorney


• Wind turbines may be sited on Conservation Reserve Program and grassland easements. (Know which restrictions do apply)


• Landowners should not feel pressured by developers to enter into a leasing arrangement

"Landowners who install wind turbines on their land should expect a lot of attention."

Eminent Domain and Wind Development in New York is a webpage from Save Western NY, a voluntary association of residents and property owners in the Town of Wethersfield.

An article appeared in North American Windpower in January of 2006 (Marketplace, p. 28) entitled "Eminent Domain And Wind Development In New York", authored by Steven D. Wilson of the law firm of Read and Laniado. The article is no longer at the firm's website.

Among Mr. Wilson's conclusions in the article:

"To incorporate under the same provisions as have New York's investor-owned utilities, an entity need only satisfy the statutory definition and carry on the functions of a gas or electric corporation. The statute defines gas and electric corporations broadly, requiring only that the corporation is organized to generate and supply electricity for public use.

Accordingly, it appears that a private wind developer could satisfy the definition of an electric corporation and, thus, could incorporate as such. This grants the private developer the power of eminent domain."

Landowners with property adjacent to a wind farm are "concerned the power of eminent domain would allow developers to cross property with power lines, with trenches, with no public hearing."

{me} Is this something South Dakota wind farmers should be "what if-ing" as well?

A handful of South Dakota wind-

• Oldest 10 PM May 29, Calm
• 9 AM May 30, ESE at 5 mph mist
• [Now we're back to normal]
• 1 PM May 30, SSE at 22 mph
• 5 PM May 30, WSW at 20 mph
• 8 PM May 30, W at 21 mph.

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.

Energy Overlay Zones expedite renewable energy development

One post of Ed Morrison's EDPro Weblog has these headlines

• Rural opportunities to develop "energy islands"


• Wind power in Rhode Island


• Wind shifts in economic development


• An energy overlay zone**


• Wind energy cluster in West Texas


• Michigan's NextEnergy


• Texas moves ahead with renewables


• Incentive Watch


• Myrtle Beach is not quite sure


• A milestone in wind energy development

**That's a new phrase for me, so I Googled up the following about it

"Klickitat County in southern Washington, studied the potential impacts of future energy projects within its borders and came up with a plan to direct those projects to the most appropriate areas. The county's new "Energy Overlay Zone" is a zoning tool aimed at expediting renewable energy development. The Energy Overlay Zone covers more than 1,000 square miles, two-thirds of Klickitat County."

"Typically, each energy project would have to have a specific zoning application and approval process. Now, for example, siting wind turbines in the Energy Overlay Zone will be automatically approved at the county level without the need for further investigation or permitting. Energy projects must still meet the requirements of Washington's State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA)."

Final Energy Overlay Zone and Environmental Impact Statement Files - issued by Klickitat County, August 2004 and March 2005. Its Cover - Intro Letter - Fact Sheet is a seven-page PDF.

A report in the Ellensburg Daily Record; Saturday, April 30, 2005; was an article titled "How scenic Klickitat County handled wind farms." It concluded "Most people here have already spoken about what they want."

{me} Food for ACTION by South Dakota counties, yes?

A handful of South Dakota wind-

• Latest 6 PM May 29, W at 9 mph
• 4 PM May 29, SSW at 5 mph light rain; mist
• 2 PM May 29, SW at 16 mph light rain
• 11 AM May 29, S at 17 mph
• Oldest 7 PM May 28, S at 25 mph.

'Til next time. Best Wind.

Rural Learning Center can spur energy entrepreneurs

South Dakota Rural Enterprise serves South Dakota with financing programs ... and bringing new products and services into the rural economic development market.

Its web site is here.

Beth E. Davis is President of South Dakota Rural Enterprise.

Its "SD development organizations" tab has many links, including one to the Howard, SD Rural Learning Center.

"The Center is where rural leaders from across South Dakota and the nation will gather to address issues important to small towns and their surrounding countryside, and to learn from one another. Just as important, Miner County residents will use the Center's advanced telecommunications for medical services, business, and education."

{me}

With the current drought conditions in the upper Missouri River watershed reducing hydropower production at SD dams, the pending Keystone pipeline, and an annual potential of more than one thousand billion kW hours of wind power, the RLC can also be the center of farm energy production entrepreneurship.

Ethanol and wind power are at present the "heavy hitters" mentioned in USDA Farm Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency programs. Without doubt, biomass will come into its own as more developmental research is done at schools like SDSU, UofMinnesota/Morris, and North Dakota State U. Technology transfers such as this can be made available from the RLC through "podcasts," a dynamic website (supported by seed, implement, chemicals, and other companies), PDFs, and satellite radio broadcasts.

One source of content at RLC can be re-released to different receiving devices (computer, cell phone, iPod/MP3 player) using XML capabilities by way of companies like Mulberry Technologies, Inc. of Rockville, MD. Its presentation slides 12, 13, 14, and 15 highlight XML 's usefulness in "getting the word out" in a "one to many" manner.

In my mind, ag-based energy production has the same potential for changing life as oil production gleamed with potential in the early 20th century. Be on the look-out for the "new Getty" and the "new Rockefellar."

A Handful of South Dakota wind-

• 6 PM May 28, S at 25 mph
• 4 PM May 28, S at 28 mph
• 11 AM May 28, S at 20 mph
• 6 AM May 28, SSE at 14 mph
• 10 PM May 27, ESE at 3 mph.
  
  Do contact me if you would like to buy any of this blog's content or want other web content uncovered.

'Til next time, Best wind.

Wind power and wind energy definitions #1

This section of Ten Steps to Wind Farming has Definitions for individuals, groups, communities, businesses and other land owners.

Agriculture a.k.a. farming, ranching, and similar livelihoods- the occupation, business, or science of cultivating the land, producing crops and / or raising livestock; processing or finishing any ag production.

Agronomics- the economics of land use: the branch of economics that is concerned with the use and productivity of land.

---

Aericulture a.k.a. wind farming- the occupation, business, or science of harnessing wind energy flowing over agricultural, community, business, or residential land to generate electricity.

Aerinomics a.k.a. wind economics- the economics of wind use;: a branch of agronomics that is concerned with the use of wind in power generation and the productivity of wind turbines.

---

Anemometer- a 3- or 4-cup or ultrasonic device that measures wind speed from calm to gusts. A recording anemometer logs average wind speed every five minutes or other time period.

A hand-held anemometer is the Novalynx Model 200- 2520 Wind Meter.

A hand-held anemometer is the Kestrel 1000 Pocket Wind Meter.

---

Baseline- "always on" power that is maintained to meet the expected minimum demand by residential and commercial consumers.

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A handful of South Dakota wind-

3 PM May 27, SSW at 3 mph

5 AM May 27, WSW at 9 mph {wind farming doesn't make economic sense until the wind is faster than 14 mph}

8 PM May 26, WNW at 17 mph

7 PM May 26, WNW at 20 mph

6 PM May 26, WNW at 18 mph

Oldest 5 PM May 26, WNW at 21 mph.

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.

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.

p5
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

p6

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. "

p7

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

p8

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

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.

Harvest wind power; reap rural economic development, Part I

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.