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Thursday, February 21, 2008

Guest View: Preserve Rural Life With Turbines

By Amy LeGere
Foresight Wind Energy for High Lonesome Wind Ranch
    Guest View
    The winds blow strong in the heart of New Mexico. With the county's first wind project finalizing plans for construction in 2008, Torrance County and the Estancia Basin communities stand to reap the benefits from wind energy.
    Harnessing the power of the wind is part of rural America's past and future. Small turbines dotted the landscape long before rural electrification. Today, wind projects across America help preserve rural communities with new jobs, spending injected into local economies and an increased tax base.
    Wind energy is homegrown energy that helps secure our energy future. Unlike other electricity sources, wind turbines don't use water or produce emissions to generate electricity. Wind is very compatible with ranching. Since only 2-3 percent of the land is utilized for the wind ranch infrastructure, livestock and wildlife can graze to the base of the turbines.
    New Mexico looks to the tremendous potential of wind and other clean renewable energy for economic development, energy resource diversity, and environmental protection. The state seeks to meet its aggressive renewable portfolio standard to help provide New Mexico citizens with clean, stable-priced electricity and to harness the wind as a commodity crop for export to states with a large demand for renewable energy.
    The wind industry contributes to the economies of 46 states, and communities across the nation are actively working to attract wind projects. Local spending to build and operate wind projects provides an important economic stimulus, and an increased tax base benefits counties, schools and states. Construction for a typical 100 megawatt wind project creates approximately 200 temporary jobs, with much of the work done by local contractors. Modern wind plants are designed to operate for a minimum of 30 years and require about 10 full-time employees to operate and maintain the facility. A 100-megawatt wind energy project will support the average annual electricity needs of 25,000 to 30,000 homes in the Southwest.
    Torrance County's first wind project is designed to essentially be self-sufficient, placing minimal or no demand on county services while bringing significant economic and social benefits. The project will boost the local construction and services economy during 2008. During the 30-year life of the project, the local and state economy will benefit from new high-tech jobs, an increased tax base, local expenditures, and project visitation and ecotourism revenues.
    Wind energy is the fastest growing renewable power source worldwide. It is credited with revitalizing rural communities, increasing the economic return from ranches and farms, conserving scarce water resources, boosting energy security, and offsetting pollution from electricity generation that would otherwise be produced from fossil fuels. Compared with fossil fuel generation, wind energy does not require water; there are no mercury, carbon dioxide or sulfur dioxide emissions; and only 2-3 percent of the land utilized by a wind park is impacted by the wind infrastructure. Modern wind turbines and appropriate wind park siting have significantly reduced wind energy's potential impacts on avian and bat species, and wind energy has recently been endorsed by the Audubon Society as a clean alternative energy source that doesn't contribute to global warming and impacts on birds and other wildlife from climate change.
    Wind energy is renewable, abundant energy that will be available for future generations. Harvesting the wind is boosting rural economies and helping preserve a rural way of life.
    For more information on wind energy, visit the American Wind Energy Association www.awea.org or the U.S. Department of Energy wind Web site at windpoweringamerica.gov.