Wind Energy - New Texas Gold?
We've heard a lot about the environmental benefits of wind energy. In windy areas of the country, this untapped power source has the potential to produce a lot of electricity. But who else is benefiting? In Texas, a surprising number of oil companies are starting to get into wind. Here's a look at Texas's wind energy boom, and the increase in wind power that's happening in other states.
Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens has begun to support the use of wind power in the Lone Star state and wind power projects are cropping up across the nation: there are wind farms starting to appear in the Midwest and in the Pacific northwest, General Electric has just secured a ten year, $1.5 billion contract for turbines and maintenance for a wind farm in Oregon. The reason for all this interest in wind? There's a lot of money to be made.
Currently, US residents import a little under seventy percent of their oil. That worries a lot of people who don't want the country to be reliant on foreign companies. This energy problem is becoming just as big a boost to wind energy enterprises as environmental concerns. Natural gas plans are also being proposed, either instead of wind power, or alongside it.
In some areas of Texas, it's possible to drive for nearly 150 miles and see turbines all over the place. While not everyone loves how wind turbines look, there are just as many who look at these structures and see a future where the US can be energy independent. In Nolan County, Texas there are 1,500 wind generators in operation (which is approximately $5 billion worth of renewable energy technology). In this county alone, more energy is generated per year using wind power than is produced in the entire state of California.
This isn't the only area of Texas which is experiencing a boom in wind power. The Rolling Plains near Abilene has 2,000 turbines in use; the Permian Basin area close to Midland and Odessa is home to 3,000 turbines with a generation capacity of 6,000 megawatts. Turbines are being built all over the state, with as many as four per day going up in some parts of Texas.
Wind power offers a renewable, clean alternative to natural gas and other fossil fuels as a means of producing electrical power. It produces no pollutants and with even oilmen like Pickens lining up alongside environmentalists to help reduce the environmental impact of energy production and reduce US dependence on foreign energy suppliers, it's a technology with a bright future. Alongside solar energy systems, wind energy has the potential to meet a large portion of the country's energy needs.
So can wind be the solution to our energy conundrums? Not everyone agrees on this, but this much is certain; wind power is already here and it is becoming more common every day.
Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens has begun to support the use of wind power in the Lone Star state and wind power projects are cropping up across the nation: there are wind farms starting to appear in the Midwest and in the Pacific northwest, General Electric has just secured a ten year, $1.5 billion contract for turbines and maintenance for a wind farm in Oregon. The reason for all this interest in wind? There's a lot of money to be made.
Currently, US residents import a little under seventy percent of their oil. That worries a lot of people who don't want the country to be reliant on foreign companies. This energy problem is becoming just as big a boost to wind energy enterprises as environmental concerns. Natural gas plans are also being proposed, either instead of wind power, or alongside it.
In some areas of Texas, it's possible to drive for nearly 150 miles and see turbines all over the place. While not everyone loves how wind turbines look, there are just as many who look at these structures and see a future where the US can be energy independent. In Nolan County, Texas there are 1,500 wind generators in operation (which is approximately $5 billion worth of renewable energy technology). In this county alone, more energy is generated per year using wind power than is produced in the entire state of California.
This isn't the only area of Texas which is experiencing a boom in wind power. The Rolling Plains near Abilene has 2,000 turbines in use; the Permian Basin area close to Midland and Odessa is home to 3,000 turbines with a generation capacity of 6,000 megawatts. Turbines are being built all over the state, with as many as four per day going up in some parts of Texas.
Wind power offers a renewable, clean alternative to natural gas and other fossil fuels as a means of producing electrical power. It produces no pollutants and with even oilmen like Pickens lining up alongside environmentalists to help reduce the environmental impact of energy production and reduce US dependence on foreign energy suppliers, it's a technology with a bright future. Alongside solar energy systems, wind energy has the potential to meet a large portion of the country's energy needs.
So can wind be the solution to our energy conundrums? Not everyone agrees on this, but this much is certain; wind power is already here and it is becoming more common every day.
About the Author:
About the author: Jerry Dyess has been writing about the Texas Electricity market segment for many years and written articles on Texas Electric prices.
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