Originally published March 22 2005
Wind power growing in popularity, providing economic options for rural landowners
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Rural landowners such as farmers are taking advantage of the opportunity to earn as much as $6,000 per year for installing a wind turbine on their land. Nationwide, wind power is growing in popularity, generating enough electricity last year to power more than 1.6 million households. Both private companies and government entities are pushing the development of the renewable energy source.
Tom Cooper sees more than sweet and sour cherry groves on his 240-acre farm in Ellsworth, a village of 471 people in northern Michigan's Antrim County.
Cooper is researching the possibility of installing three wind turbines on his farm, an increasingly popular source of energy widely used in other Great Lakes states.
At year's end, utility-scale wind installations in 30 states generated enough electricity to serve more than 1.6 million households, according to the American Wind Energy Association.
VanderVeen in December 2001 erected Michigan's first two privately funded wind turbines near Mackinaw City.
Exploring wind power as an alternative energy source is getting support from Michigan State University, which is providing Michigan farmers with legal and technological resources.
Michigan lags other states already using wind turbines because it has no an alternative energy policy, said Lynn Hamilton, an visiting associate professor with MSU.
Midland Energy LLC plans to build three 100-windmill wind farms in Huron County, which potentially could generate enough electricity to power 180,000 homes, said John Sarver, a supervisor in Michigan's energy office in the Department of Labor and Economic Growth.
Michigan currently generates 2 percent of its power from renewable energy, although some state officials and environmental groups are pushing to increase that figure to 15 percent by 2020.
Depending on the model -- which costs between $10,000 for a used one and $50,000 for new -- it can produce 1.5 megawatts or more of electricity.
Cooper hopes wind turbines eventually become an alternative to farmers selling their land for development.
"I'm not anti-development, but there's a common sense issue here where if it's scrub land, it's not worth saving," Cooper said.
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