Originally published June 29 2005
Cape Tech wind turbine educates residents on alternative energy
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
After a 6-week course on alternative energy, Cape Cod residents erected a turbine next to a school which will supply some of its power.
Participants in a wind turbine workshop at Cape Cod Regional Technical High School in Harwich place the blades on a turbine that was later erected on the school grounds.
One goal of the project is to show Cape residents the viability of building wind turbines of their own.
That didn't stop the 17-year-old from wanting to become an integral member of a team that is helping facilitate alternative energy on the Cape.
The installation of this small wind energy system is somewhat of a novelty on the Cape, which has only one other turbine.
Cape Tech's wind turbine should produce about 250 kilowatt hours of electricity each month for the school.
Experts hope it will serve as an example for future projects so the public can get a real-life sense about how viable alternative energy technology is, said Richard Lawrence, education coordinator for Cape & Islands Self Reliance, the nonprofit group sponsoring the workshop.
A portion of the costs will be repaid through a rebate incentive program managed by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, which is available to anyone who installs a small renewable energy system in Massachusetts.
The amount of the rebate depends on the energy output of the windmill but could cover as much as half of the cost of buying and erecting one, Lawrence said.
''We're all going down the same road here, so instead of tripping over each other we're collaborating,'' said Mary Jane Curran, environmental technology coordinator for Cape Cod Community College.
For Don Bein, a former Cape Tech instructor who is acts as a liaison between the school and these Cape groups, infusing alternative energy technologies into education is paramount.
Masonry students dug the hole and poured the foundation at the turbine's site near the track and field area.
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