On the drive to the Cancun airport last week, we passed an enormous wind turbine standing almost literally on the side of the road. We had just been discussing alternative energy and specifically wind farms, debating whether we’d see states and people in the U.S. start to get comfortable with the idea of living near large scale wind farms. I realize that not everyone views wind farms as large scale art installations, as I’ve come to see them. I also realize there are real issues to address, like how to ensure we site them in places that don’t endanger migrant and other bird populations. So, when I got back to the States, I started to do some research.
I learned that Mexico installed the 1.5 MW wind turbine in 2010 in honor of the United Nations Climate Change Conference held just south of Cancun. Just this one wind turbine alone is capable of generating enough clean electricity to supply 2,300 homes in Mexico! Mexico, and other countries such as China, Denmark and Spain, are investing millions of dollars in wind power to address their concerns about carbon emissions.
Some states in the U.S., including California, Illinois, Iowa and Kansas, have made significant investments in new wind power sources. Ohio was the fastest growing state in 2011 for wind power, and new projects are currently underway or planned this year in Nevada, Connecticut and Puerto Rico.* It’s pretty exciting to see the investment being made to harness a natural energy source such as wind.
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Cheers!
Posted under Energy, Vertical Markets
This post was written by Nicole Evans on March 31, 2012
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HEY – you left our Oregon and Washington. We have significant wind power investments up in the the Pacific Northwest!
Gary, you sure do. I saw a map recently of all the currently active, under construction and planned wind farms in the Columbia River corridor, along the coastline and in some other areas. I hope you are seeing the benefits of this natural resource.