Updated October 12, 2004

Wind power for your house

What has wind power got to do with your house? Well, two wind generators recently installed in Bowling Green (just a few miles west of our bioregion) are generating power sufficient to provide electricity for over 700 homes.

All over the country, wind generators are being installed. Farmers, struggling to maintain their farms, are benefiting from revenues from wind generators on their land. Scientists have been creating wind maps of the United States so we can know where the wind is most consistently reliable. As nonrenewable resources like gas, oil and coal become more scarce, it will be imperative that alternative energy sources be developed.

While we are not likely to directly benefit from this resource in the very near future, knowing about and advocating for its inclusion in power development for our state and region is a very present agenda.

From a conversation with Aaron Godwin of Renaissance Group who is a long time volunteer with Green Energy Ohio (GEO), we learned the following:

• The best location in our area for such wind generators would be out in Lake Erie, because it reduces the ground effect, but a frozen lake is a challenge. No generators have been deployed in fresh water before.
  
• Putting wind generators on buildings is risky to the building because the vibration of the generators could do damage to the structure.
  
• Currently the zoning issues with wind generators is covered by radio tower ordinances.
• Often the cost of the tower is more than the turbines.
  
• The taller the tower the more consistent the wind; there is a difference in wind speed as the elevation increases.
  
• The cost of this power is affected by many variables, but it is cheaper than solar.
  
• Currently almost all wind turbine manufacturing is in Europe (especially Denmark). As Ohio struggles to find its economic future, developing and manufacturing wind turbines right here to help us reduce our overall energy cost seems to make sense.

For more information on wind generation, contact Green Energy Ohio, (216) 861-4491.