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Wind energy brings people together in Morris Tuesday, March 7, 2006
Agri News staff writer
MORRIS, Minn. -- Lawyers, farmers, bankers and developers gathered in Morris last week to discuss a common interest -- wind energy.
"Wind energy is drawing the greatest interest right now," said Mike Reese, coordinator of the U of M's Renewable Energy Research and Demonstration Center at Morris and one of the organizers of a two-day renewable energy workshop and conference. "Ethanol is an industry that is established and has taken care of itself. Wind is more complex."
The event, sponsored and hosted by WCROC and the University of Minnesota-Morris, started with a day-long workshop focusing on wind energy development, financing and legalities.
"This cross section of people for the workshop have had the wind energy 101 class, and they are looking for advanced knowledge," he said. "We really wanted to make the wind energy workshop more of a nuts-and-bolts type of seminar where people could ask questions."
Organizers wanted to limit attendance to 60, but people kept calling, Reese said. They increased the workshop numbers to 100 and had an additional 30 calls from people wanting to attend.
Interest was equally high for the second day's conference on "home grown" energy. The conference looked at community development of wind energy systems, biodiesel and other biofuels, biomass technologies and renewable energy technologies for farms, businesses, homes and public buildings.
"In the future, I could see us doing the programming where we can devote more time to each type of renewable energy project," he said. "We had a strong biomass program and, like the wind energy workshop, we could've done the same thing with biomass."
Wind energy development can be a boon for rural communities but developers and community leaders need to understand it, he said.
The minimum annual average wind speed must be around 11 to 13 miles per hour to be considered a possible wind energy site, according to the American Wind Energy Association. Wind farm development costs can be lowered if the sites are located near existing transmission lines. High-voltage lines can cost thousands of dollars per mile.
Land needs secured, capital found and a reliable power purchaser or market must be identified. Siting and project feasibility should be considered in the wind farm development. Those interested need to consider wind energy economics, get zoning and permitting expertise and establish dialogue with turbine manufacturers and project developers.
WCROC has a wind turbine that's producing power near the center's administration building. They want to make a planned expansion renewable-energy focused.
The U of M is requesting $2.5 million to complete a Renewable Energy addition to the building.
"We will make the same type of model (as the center did with the wind turbine) where we want to use renewable energy conservation technology for research and develop a model for rural communities," Reese said.
The addition would be built using reclaimed materials and use passive solar power and geothermal heat.
WCROC will work with the Center for Sustainable Building Design, located at the Twin Cities' U of M campus, in its building design and plans, Reese said. The project is part of the U of M's bonding bill. |
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