The Wind is My Friend

Today's post has more to do with the "Green" aspect of this blog than it does the "Kindle" aspect, but I thought it was worth writing about anyway.

I finally got to take a little mini vacation this past week. While it was only a few days, it was fun, relaxing, and much needed. While driving to and from our destination, I started thinking about energy. Not personally exerted energy, but energy as in "how to get me from here to there and back again." I started thinking about how many miles we were getting per gallon, how much it was going to cost to fill up in the next town, alternative fuel options, solar energy, but most of all, I was thinking about the wind.

Our trip took us through West Texas, the mecca of flat land and lots and lots of wind, so it was a little hard not to think about energy produced by wind if all you are looking at is these.


What the heck are they? you might ask. They are wind turbines that produce electricity. This one picture shows about 75 wind turbines alone, and this was only a tiny portion of what was out there on Interstate 20 between Lubbock and Dallas, TX.

A few questions came to mind while we drove past miles and miles of this scenery.

1. Why has it taken so long for us to realize that we needed to do this?
2. How much energy does just one of these wind turbines produce?
3. How much does a wind turbine cost?
4. Can I get a residential size wind turbine put up in my backyard so I won't have to pay for electricity anymore?

Here is what I found out according to the Pickens Plan:

It has probably taken us so long to realize this resource because everyone in the United States may assume that they will have access to enough oil and be willing to pay for it forever. We can be very arrogant sometimes. The statistics indicate that American's import 70% of their oil from foreign countries, and it doesn't look like it is going to stop anytime soon. It is reported that in one year's time, a 3-megawatt wind turbine produces as much energy as 12,000 barrels of imported oil. Building wind facilities that could produce 20% of the electricity for the United States potentially costs $1 trillion. And, it would take another $200 billion to build the capacity to transmit that energy to cities and towns. You are probably thinking that there is no way this is possible, but remember this is a one-time cost. Compared to the amount of money spent on foreign oil EVERY YEAR, $700 billion and rising, it is hard to argue this might be a bad idea. Unfortunately, I was unable to find any information about a residential size wind turbine, but I am still looking!

So what did I learn on my little vacation? I learned that some good things can come from the wind. While I absolutely despise the dust storms in West Texas (with good reason in my opinion -- my house is there somewhere around the corner),


the potential the wind has for producing energy and helping out the economy for everyone is very exciting. You might think about reading up on some of this information using your Kindle when you get a chance.