First Wind Powered City
Rock Port, Missouri is the first 100% wind powered city in the US. Loess Hill Wind Farm, with four 1.25 MW wind turbines is estimated to generate 16 gigawatt hours (16 million kilowatt hours) of electricity annually. 13 gigawatts hours of electricity have historically been consumed annually by the residents and businesses of this town of 1,400 people.
The local electric company, Missouri Public Utility Alliance, will purchase excess electricity when available. They will then supply power when there is not enough wind energy available. Excess wind energy will not be stored but rather fed into the city’s high voltage line, making it an intermittent source of power.
Several factors made this smaller scale project possible. The city has a bluff within the city limits with good resources, John Deere’s Wind Energy financing the project, and proximity to the power grid.
Related Posts on Renewable Energy:
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Solar Thermal Electricity: Can it Replace Coal, Gas, and Oil?
The Unlimited Potential of American Wind Power: AWEA
Planetthoughts: First Town in the US to be 100% Wind Powered
Offshore Wind: How Europe Plans to Meet Clean Energy Goals
I think the comment by “yo bro” was sarcastic. If it wasn’t sarcastic then that makes it downright funny.
There is a vocal minority who oppose wind power, but rarely are they so brazen as to come out and give their real selfish reasons for opposing wind- which virtually always comes down to the view.
I am pleased to hear so much positive commentary, usually those in favor of wind power take for granted that it is a universal positive, and see no need to stand up and say something in support.
Now that’s awesome, even though the government’s aren’t doing anything, the small communities, cities and states are at least stepping up to the plate!
Simply amazing. You know these methods should be especially introduced to countries from the developing world. I saw on this website that there are whole villages powered by hydrogen in Japan and Denmark. Apparently hydrogen can be used to run cars too, infact according to this website http://www..water4gas-scam.com Iceland’s buses already run on hydrogen and now we can convert our cars to run on hydrogen for a minimal cost. This would really help the world go green I guess
Not so fast — wind turbines kill birds:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-01-04-windmills-usat_x.htm
Please, I don’t want to hear the argument that cats kill more birds either.
The California wind farm that the article refers to has been a nightmare for birds. As one of the first large-scale wind farms, a lot has been learned from it and changed since then.
Two of the big problems with that installation were the speed of the tip of the turbines and the fact that it is a huge corridor for migratory birds.
Wind developers now have to prove that the farm won’t have this kind of effect on birds to obtain permits and turbine blades are much larger now, therefore moving slower.
The developers of the GSG Wind Farm in Illinois say that each turbine kills about 1 to 2 birds a year. How many birds does climate change kill?
I am very pleased to hear such a story. We need more of this. It is time for people to be rethinking the way they live, being more conservative, less wasteful and rethinking the whole ecomonic picture. I believe we don’t have a choice but pursue this direction. I am strongly encouraging our smaller school districts to think about utilizing these types of resources to help offset some costs especially when upgrading/remodeling their facilities.
I think wind power and solar power are our future. We will not be able to get rid of coal and crude oil altogether, but we can use green power to help it out. I built my own solar water heater panel. I live in southwest Louisiana. On sunny days I get all of my hot water from solar. It truely works.
There are many solutions to our global problem. Wind power is one, cow power is another. There are cars which run on electric batteries only and alternatives are all around us. With many people becoming desperate with the cost of fuel rising to ridiculous rates, they are now even signing a petition to drill for Oil in America, ANYWHERE. Please note this story as well and join in our discussion about creating a counter petition. It is located at http://www.care2.com/news/member/469277529/774632.
WE need to implement all energy solutions as quickly as possible or we will see continued pollution and destruction world wide for the pursuit of oil.
Peace, Love and Light,
Lyra
Co-founder of http://www.EarthCollege.org
[...] Originally Posted by jfuh As is the case with the Shandong city of Rizhao, where get this, 99% of all heating is from solar energy and overwhelming majority of street lights get their power from solar panels. Any such city in the US? Europe? Not that I know of. Rockport, Missouri produces more energy from wind power than it actually needs. Rural Missouri — A new wind blowing First Wind Powered City : CleanTechnica [...]