Originally published September 24 2005
The wind energy solution
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Many farmers use irrigation wells with natural gas engines. Wind energy projects create thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in royalty income for farming and ranching states.
The words "energy crisis" may conjure images from the 1970s of gasoline rationing and long lines of cars at the pumps.
For farmers and ranchers in 2003, the "energy crisis" is less obvious but is adding new burdens to an already long list of problems confronting our rural communities.
America is facing a shortage of natural gas, and farmers and ranchers have been hit with a double-whammy: When natural gas prices increase, they're forced to pay higher utility bills AND higher production costs.
Natural gas was until recently thought to be so abundant and cheap that power plants chose to burn it to produce electricity.
Farmers also use propane for space heating and grain drying, and propane prices are tied to natural gas prices.
Natural gas also accounts for 80 to 90 percent of the cost of producing anhydrous ammonia for nitrogen fertilizers.
Dan McGuire, Wealth from the Wind Program Director for the American Corn Growers Foundation (ACGF), knows that wind energy can counter the double-whammy facing rural America.
Landowners in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa who lease their land to wind developers receive annual payments from $2,000 to more than $4,000 per turbine.
In addition, wind projects benefit rural economies by providing local jobs, from temporary construction jobs during the initial phases of a project to permanent wind smith jobs.
First, domestic natural gas wells are being " played out," and even new, improved technologies can't significantly increase production levels.
New natural gas pipelines through Alaska and Canada have been proposed, but these projects are years away from completion, and some question whether Canada, also faced with dwindling reserves and rising natural gas prices, will continue to export increasing quantities to meet the demand of its neighbor to the south.
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