Wind energy

From Great Lakes Wiki

Graduate Students at Michigan State University recently collaborated on a new corner of the Great Lakes wiki that focuses on wind power throughout the region. Stop by and take a look and join the conversation at Great Lakes Wind

Contents 1 Wind Energy 1.1 Recent Great Lakes Wind Energy News 1.2 Basics of Wind Energy 2 Wind Energy Pages for each Great Lakes state and province 3 Wind Energy Education and Advocacy Organizations 4 Grants, Loans, Financial Incentives

Wind Energy

The Great Lakes offer vast tracts of open area unimpeded by terrain, vegetation or urban development. That creates certain shoreline regions that are excellent for the development of wind power such as shown on this wind atlas of the province of Ontario.

A great way to examine the average wind speeds blowing across the Great Lakes is via the Canadian Wind Atlas, which covers all but a small portion of southern Lake Michigan - http://www.windatlas.ca

And for a paper that examines the wind energy potential of each lake, and all the lakes, see "A Great Potential: The Great Lakes as a Regional Renewable Energy Source" at http://greengold.org/wind/documents/88.pdf. Given the huge potential (which may or may not be realized), so much electricity COULD be produced that uses such as renewable ammonia and fuels made by reduction of carbon dioxide could arranged, freeing the region from outmoded and now expensive (as of 2008) oil and natural gas dependency for such materials. Anyway, hopefully it will give the reader some new views on this topic, or at least get some thinking to occur. If nothing else, it is an example of thinking big with respect to renewable energy.

Recent Great Lakes Wind Energy News

• April 2008 -- Journalism students at Michigan State University's Knight School of Environmental Journalism put together a video about Michigan: Winds of Change. Click here.

• For more wind energy news, visit Michigan's Echo, and search for "Wind".
• For previous wind energy news, visit the Great Lakes Wind Energy News Archives.

Basics of Wind Energy

• Wikipedia Page on Wind Power
  
• KidWind project introduction to wind energy
  
• Wind Energy 101 from the American Wind Energy Association
  
• Economic Impacts
  
• Wind Energy Myths
  
• Wind Energy FAQ
  
• Wind Energy and Wildlife: Birds, Bats, and other Critters
  

Wind Energy Pages for each Great Lakes state and province

• Wind Energy in Illinois
  
• Wind Energy in Indiana
  
• Wind Energy in Michigan
  
• Wind Energy in Minnesota
  
• Wind Energy in New York
  
• Wind Energy in Ohio
  
• Wind Energy in Ontario
  
• Wind Energy in Pennsylvania
  
• Wind Energy in Wisconsin
  
  

Wind Energy Education and Advocacy Organizations

• American Wind Energy Association (AWEA)
  
• Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association (GLREA), headquartered in Dimondale, Michigan
  
• Green Energy Ohio (GEO), headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, with offices in Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Toledo, Ohio.
  
• Michigan Renewable Energy Program (MREP), part of Michigan state government.
  
• Michigan State Energy Office, part of Michigan state government.
  
• Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA), headquartered in Custer, Wisconsin
  
• RENEW Wisconsin, headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin
• Buffalo, New York, Wind Action Group (WAG)
  

Grants, Loans, Financial Incentives

• Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Outreach Grants -- Deadline: September 19, 2007. Sponsor: Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth. Description: These Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Outreach Grants will be available to one or more nonprofit or public organizations to conduct outreach projects in Michigan to promote and market: (1) Solar Energy, (2) Wind Energy. (3) ENERGY STAR Products, (4) ENERGY STAR Homes. It is expected that four projects will be selected; one in each project area, but the State of Michigan reserves the option of funding more than one project in a project area. For details
  

• Financial Assistance and Incentives -- web page from Michigan Renewable Energy Program: here