An Emission-less Energy! WIND!

Wind is something that has been harnessed in the last 10-20 years to produce power for cities and/or individual businesses and residents. A wind farm can produce enough power to support a suburb or small town while businesses and residents can purchase smaller wind turbines to mount on their property or roof tops in an effort to reduce their energy costs.

In Lee County, IL, the Mendota Hills Wind Farm can supply enough power to supply approximately 15,000 homes with 125 million kilowatt hours produced annually. Mendota Hills Wind Farm It has 63 wind turbines that are each 213 feet tall with a rotor diameter of 171 feet.

Although wind is a free source of energy to harness, a huge investment must be undertaken to purchase, install and upkeep the turbines, land, infrastructure and staff.

A problem that developers have to overcome are NIMBY's (Not In My Back Yard). These are residents that support something (be it a wind farm, an airport, oil drilling, etc.) but do not want it anywhere that it could be seen, heard or have an impact on their surroundings. NIMBY's support the wind farms but oppose it being close to their city which brings added costs to a developer to create the infrastructure to transport the produced energy to the city it's trying to support. A benefit of these challenges is that land outside the city limits can be significantly cheaper and there exists the possibility of installing wind turbines on farmland without displacing a large portion of crops.

There are several initiatives created by the government to help support Wind farms and private wind turbines through the Production Tax Credit (PTC) Extension, Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) and Small Wind Systems Tax Credit. The PTC Extension allows an income tax credit of 2 cents/kilowatt-hour of electricity produced. The RPS is an initiative that 22 states and the District of Columbia have adopted which helps create economic activity, spurs jobs and helps reduce the reliance on conventional energy sources. The last one, the Small Wind Systems Tax Credit, is included bill S. 673 that would create credits for individuals who want to invest in wind energy for their residence. This Credit differs from the PTC as the PTC is only for large utility scale wind projects while this one is for individual properties. AWEA Legislation Overview

Anti-Wind Energy Section of H.R. 2337 introduced by Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) would make it illegal to place a wind turbine on private property unless an approval from the head of the US Fish & Wildlife Service and other bureaucrats. The punishment would include imprisonment and a $50,000 fine for a violation. This is a step to restrict private farms because it is thought to negatively harm the surrounding wildlife and protect larger developments who have the money and resources to jump through all the hoops the government imposes.

A major benefit to Wind Farms, other than that wind is free to capture (see above), is that it produces no emissions of CO2 (carbon dioxide), SO2 (sulfur oxide) or NO2 (nitrogen oxide). These elements are the precursors to green house gasses, acid rain and smog, respectively. American Wind Energy Association These are huge improvements over conventional energy methods of coal, natural gas and oil.

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