Windmills could make their way into Utah
Anyone who has been outside on a windy day knows firsthand the power of the wind.
Harnessing that power is becoming an alternative for electric-power generation.
“Wind power has a high potential for the future,” said Nykole Littleboy, a renewable energy specialist with the Utah Energy Office. “We’re hoping Utah can harness that resource.”
Utah, however, still generates 94 percent of its power by burning substances that pollute the environment with greenhouse gases.
“We will end up paying more for the emissions we’re putting out every day,” said Edwin R. Stafford, marketing professor at Utah State University. “Whether you believe in global warming or not, the politics in the world are going toward reducing the amount of CO2 in the air.”
Companies and organizations dedicated to addressing and solving such issues met April 6 to form the wind working group in Salt Lake City.
In response, the Utah Geological Survey pledged its support by offering federal money in all renewable energy source developments.
Decreasing the amount of Utah’s electrical power derived from burning fossil fuels is a top priority for Utah’s primary energy provider, Utah Power. The U.S. Department of Energys National Renewable Energy Laboratory ranked the company among the top renewable energy providers in the nation.
Greg Probst, a representative from the firm PacifiCorp, urged those present at the conference to get involved because wind energy takes time to develop.
“Pacificorp, Utah Power’s parent company is committed to develop 1,400 megawatts of renewable energy resources, primarily wind, in the coming decade,” Stafford and USU professor Cathy L. Hartmen wrote in a newsletter last summer.
According to the American Wind Energy Association, one wind turbine displaces 1,800 tons of carbon dioxide each year, the equivalent of planting a square mile of forest.
This clean energy will be available to the Utah power grid as we gradually gain access through the infrastructure already in place, Stafford said.
Most of the wind power generated in Utah comes from small-scale wind farms consisting of only a few turbines, Littleboy said. Typical of these small wind farms is a project called Turbine Camp Williams, which recently added another wind turbine to its site in Riverton.
Tim Parkinson, state energy manager and facility coordinator for the Utah National Guard in charge of the project, said more turbines were added to the facility recently to now produce 985 kilowatts of power.
“It supplies 38 percent of our power,” said Parkinson.
While Utah expects to increase its wind power over the next decades, the state ranks as the nation’s second lowest, generating 0.2 megawatts from the wind annually. While Utah Power expects this figure to gradually increase over the next few decades, it is paltry compared to the California’s 2,096 kilowatt production.
“Utah has pockets of wind viable for wind power,” said Sarah Wright of Utah Power, who added that those sites are being identified.
While Utah works to locate potential wind turbine sites, the impact on the natural landscape is being considered. Also some farmers and ranchers believe that windmills take up too much land, according to some conference participants. Other landowners spoke of investment opportunities in allowing windmills on their property.
-ambuccambuso@cc.usu.edu