05 September 2008
Advocate Pushes Minnesota Communities to Adopt Wind Energy
State is the third-largest wind energy producer in the United States
Red Wing, Minnesota — Outside Richard Huelskamp's domed hilltop house near the Mississippi River are a windmill and solar panel that generate electricity to power the home’s lights and operate its water pump and sewage system. In the winter, a large stove in an adjacent building burns wood scraps and pushes heat through ducts into the house.
Wind and other alternative energy sources have the potential to lower household costs for communities in Minnesota and thus make them less dependent on utility companies, Huelskamp told America.gov. A community of 10,000 people requires five to seven turbines to produce all the electricity it needs, Huelskamp said.
As regional rural energy development organizer for the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, Huelskamp helps local land owners, community leaders and farm bureau members to develop locally owned wind energy projects.
His work supports the statewide Rural Energy Development Initiative.
Huelskamp holds workshops that focus on where to put wind farms, how much energy would be provided, how to get a fair agreement with an energy company or developer and where to find financing.
HARNESSING THE WIND
Worldwide, wind energy capacity grew 45 percent in 2007. Germany continues to have the most wind energy capacity, but the United States is expected to overtake Germany by 2009, reports Windustry, a Minnesota nonprofit group. Other major producers are Spain, Denmark, China and India.
In the United States, wind is the fastest-growing source of new power. Between 2004 and 2007, installed wind turbines with energy-generating capacity increased by 150 percent, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports.
Among the 50 states, Texas is the dominant wind-producing state, followed by California, Minnesota, Iowa, Washington and Colorado. Wind farms are growing rapidly in those states and in Oregon, Illinois, and North and South Dakota.
But wind power currently meets just slightly more than 1 percent of U.S. electricity needs, according to the American Wind Energy Association.
The modern wind industry began in the early 1980s when the first utility-scale turbines were installed in California and Denmark, according to CRS.
Better technology, high and volatile fossil fuel prices, a federal wind production tax credit, state renewable energy standards, difficulty finding sites and financing for new coal-fired power plants and consumer preference for renewable energy have pushed growth. Today's wind turbines are typically 100 times more powerful than those in the 1980s, CRS says.
If wind is to supply 20 percent of U.S. power by 2030, as the U.S. Department of Energy has suggested, more federal policies will be needed to ensure the development of an efficient wind market. Current federal wind power policy has centered primarily on the production tax credit.
Future issues will include whether Congress will vote to extend this renewable energy production tax credit, which is set to expire in 2008, and whether Congress should pass new legislation to facilitate construction of new transmission facilities to serve remote wind farms.
Another issue is whether Congress should establish a national renewable energy standard. Many states have instituted programs that require power companies to meet minimum renewable energy goals. Minnesota's goal, set by its state government, is to produce 25 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2025.
