January/February 2005 Living Now
I Wanna Be A Wind Farmer when I Grow Up:

by Conti Schulz

Farmers can plant crops right to the base of the turbines.
Photo: Warren Gretz, NREL

Farmers can plant crops right to the base of the turbines.
Photo: Warren Gretz, NREL

Wind energy is the kinetic energy associated with the movement of atmospheric air. Wind energy has been used for hundreds of years for sailing, grinding grain, and for irrigation. Wind energy systems convert this kinetic energy to other forms of power. Wind energy systems for irrigation and milling have been used since ancient times and since the beginning of last century they have been used to generate electric power.

Wind farms are defined as clusters of wind turbines that generate electricity. Naturally they are located in areas with reliably favorable wind speeds. Wind farm developers use their own land or lease land from farmers, ranchers, or in some cases from the government. These developers sell electricity from the wind farms to power marketers, electric utilities, and in some cases, directly to specific companies or government agencies. Individuals who use one or two wind turbines to "farm the wind" on their property belong to a new breed of non-GMO farmers know as wind farmers. According to website, <www.edugreen.teri.res.in> "wind energy continues to be the fastest growing renewable energy source with worldwide wind power installed capacity reaching 14,000 MW."

Considering how precariously balanced the global weather is nowadays due to global warming, this is good news. In her webpage, wvhc.drw.net/VoiceSept01/WindCheaper.VS.Sept01Voice.htm, Vivian Stockman states that wind power has become more affordable than generating electricity by burning coal: "Wind power is now cheaper than coal in the US, according to a study published in the journal "Science". The study's researchers, two Stanford engineers, priced wind power at 3 to 4 cents per kilowatt hour, already competitive with the market price for coal power. After factoring in health and environmental costs, they put the true price for coal power at 5.5 to 8.3 cents per kilowatt hour. According to the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CANWEA) 371 MW of electricity is supplied by wind-powered generators. Quebec and Alberta lead the way, generating 113 and 201 MW respectively. BC does not even get a mention. How do we get Gordon Campbell interested in this new and intelligent trend?

On the webpage, www.british-energy.com/media/press/items/item27.html, Jim Salmon, Past-President and Board Member of CANWEA points out that installations of utility-scale wind generation are gradually accelerating in Canada with sites in Quebec, Alberta, the Yukon, and Ontario. He estimates that there will be 10,000 MW of wind generation installed in Canada by 2010. Announced in the December 2001 budget, The Government of Canada's Wind Power Production Incentive (WPPI), is intended to encourage electric utilities, independent power producers and other stakeholders to gain experience in this emerging and promising energy source. WPPI will provide financial support for the installation of 1,000 megawatts of new capacity for five years, from 2001 to 2006. The incentive will cover approximately half of the current cost of the premium for wind energy in Canada compared to conventional sources. This incentive will be available to electricity producers for the first ten years of a project. And from the southern half of our globe comes some good new about the viability of wind farms:

On August 5th, 2004 Heather Staley, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority Chief Executive for NZ said this about the Te Apiti wind farm recently finished in NZ: "The speed with which Meridian Energy's Te Apiti Wind farm is being built shows wind energy is a quick solution for energy generation. Myths surrounding the viability of wind as a renewable energy source, suggest that one of the problems with building wind farms is the length of time this takes.Te Apiti is now generating energy and it's less than a year since the process got underway. Now people understand the speed with which wind farms can be built, I am confident other communities around New Zealand will recognise the potential of wind farms and consider this important source of renewable electricity. There is potential for wind to supply half a million homes in New Zealand [NZ has only roughly 4,000,000 people]." Ms Staley also said that research recently commissioned by EECA suggests 82% of New Zealanders approve of wind energy, more than any other source of generation. With all this encouraging news about wind farming, if any of you readers don't know yet what you wanna do when you grow up, you may want to consider getting involved in wind farming?

Conti Schulz [ theconti@gmail.com ]