| Wind-Generated Electricity: UMM Leads the Way | | | | people, especially school children, since its |
| for American Universities | | | | construction in 2005. |
| | | | |
| In March 2005, the University of | | | | The generator is a model of efficiency, and |
| Minnesota-Morris became the first public | | | | only takes a breeze of 7-9 mph to begin |
| American university to install a large-scale | | | | generating electricity. It takes a 26 mph |
| wind turbine to help meet the school's | | | | wind to generate the unit's full 1.65 |
| electrical needs. Since it was installed, the | | | | megawatts. There's a dedicated power line to |
| generator has supplied some 60 percent of the | | | | the UMM campus, and if the University needs |
| university's power. The rest of the school's | | | | more power, the local utility lines provide |
| power needs are purchased from Otter Tail | | | | it automatically, so no one on campus knows |
| Power Company's Tailwinds Program. | | | | if the power is coming from the generator or |
| | | | the grid at any given time. On the other side |
| Those figures mean that whether the | | | | of the coin, whenever UMM's power needs are |
| electricity is generated on site or purchased | | | | less than what the generator is producing, |
| off the grid, 100 percent of UMM's electrical | | | | the excess electric energy is directed back |
| power needs are supplied by wind power, but | | | | into the local utility grid. |
| the school's commitment to energy | | | | |
| independence doesn't stop there. The | | | | All this is impressive, but the university |
| university's students have helped the school | | | | has even more extensive plans for increasing |
| reach toward its energy goals by reducing | | | | its energy independence. There are plans for |
| electricity, water, and waste needs. The | | | | the construction of a biomass gasification |
| faculty has also gotten into the spirit, as | | | | plant at UMM in 2006, which will be capable |
| well, placing considerable emphasis on green | | | | of meeting 80 percent of the campus' heating |
| power and conservation in their classrooms. | | | | and cooling needs. The plant will use stover |
| | | | (stalk residue) from cornfields in the area, |
| The UMM 1.65 megawatt Vestas generator is an | | | | as well as waste wood, other crop residues |
| impressive sight, with 135-foot blades and a | | | | and various organic stocks as its fuel base. |
| 230-foot tower, making the massive machine | | | | |
| stand some 365 feet tall, but its impact on | | | | The United States as a whole is second only |
| the community and the state of Minnesota goes | | | | to Germany in total production of |
| far greater than that. The generator has | | | | wind-generated electricity, with California, |
| become a major tourist and field trip | | | | Texas, and Minnesota leading the way. |
| destination in central Minnesota, and has | | | | |
| helped raise the awareness of thousands of | | | | Copyright © Jeanette J. Fisher. |