Articles from August 2008
August 21, 2008
Wind is Now!
"Oklahoma- where the wind comes sweeping down the plain." The fourth word in our state song is "wind"; we can be the nation's highest wind power generation state and wind power manufacturing state. By focusing on small wind power generators, not just mega-watt, we can bring this industry to our backyards, schools, churches, parks, government buildings, new and existing housing developments, industrial parks, small and large businesses, etc... We can place these smaller turbines almost anywhere, even on buildings, because their footprint is so much smaller and lighter than the mega-watt class turbines. We can build these units in small shops with off-the-shelf supplies and tools without the need for huge factories and infrastructures.
We can start small scale farms in rural and suburban areas, small scale being 100kw or less per site. We can establish hundreds, even thousands, of these sites in Oklahoma alone; rendering mega-watt generators redundant. More is better when it comes to wind power generation. We can manufacture these units, small and large, here in Oklahoma and give people jobs by opening up the facilities that have been closing around the state. We can open new fields in the industry including site planning, wind assessment engineering, wind "cropping", localized maintenance jobs, installation techs. Not to mention the effects on related industries, such as, battery back-up and storage, steel fabricators, transportation and electrical services.
We can make a difference with small wind generators now. Large generators cost millions to place and years to build; small generators do not. Large corporations and electric companies have to plan the building of the large farms that home these generators years in advance, for the transmission lines alone. Small generators can use the existing lines that connect your house, business or farm now. Sites for large turbines take years of wind assessment readings and evaluations, whereas a small power generation site can be placed by reading the surrounding tree lines. This method is called "flagging" in the industry. You may have noticed trees that are leaning and growing toward one distinct direction. We can tell, without expensive and time consuming evaluation costs, that those trees have been battered by the wind for years.
By teaming up with local government agencies, we can keep the lights on at the civic centers, the police and fire departments, the local YMCA, the church, school or libraries, when the power grid goes down. We have the opportunity for our cities to paid by the electric company for the surplus energy our generators produce. We would receive carbon credits for the people of our hometown; imagine eventually being able to offset the carbon footprint of yourself, your company, town, city or state. That would be great!!
The people of Oklahoma need the state legislature to enact renewable energy incentive policies across the board. Oklahoma has one of the worst renewable energy incentive policies because we do not actually have a policy. Get in touch with your legislator before the next session and ask that they focus on wind energy this year; make the distinction between small wind generators and the large ones, and make it as easy as possible for an individual to place a small turbine. Our comfortable existence is contingent upon electricity. The future of electricity may depend on wind energy.
Wind Is Now!!!