Day 9 Glacier Wind Farm

This morning Cody woke up sick.... Not a good way to start the day. We were all a little bit nervous, but we tried to just move on with our day and keep him comfortable. We watched a movie about NREL and the SAAA Superfund Ammendment Authorization Act along with EPCRA, the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-know Act. We talked about a recent Texas fertilizer explosion and how EPCRA helped save hundreds of lives through safety procedures and evacuation plans set up through EPCRA. We also talked about how the ARRA, the American Recovery and Restoration Act of 2009 helped the Superfund because cleanups were "shovel-ready" jobs.
After our talk, we went to Glacier Windfarm in Etheridge, Montana that creates 210 MW of electricity. Before we went out there, we learned a bit about wind energy. I was amazed to learn that in 1960, they had 50 KW systems, and today you can get up to 7 MW. Power is generally proportional to the length of the blades, as well as density. I learned that there are some drawbacks to wind energy. For example, it is windiest at night and in the winter. This is when you can produce the most power, but it is off peak hours. Right now the cost of wind energy is going down and incentives are going up. You can even have small turbines at residences through Small Wind Advisory Group (SWAG).
During our tour of the wind farm, I learned that the turbines were actually on a farm! The farmer rents out small pieces of land for the wind turbines, and he can still farm right up next to them. I was fascinated by this. We also talked about how some people complain about the "swoosh" noise. Pilots also complain about the glare of the turbine. Newer turbines are not as shiny and emit less light glare. Birds and bats can be especially problematic. The biggest problem, however, is that they have a high capacity and they are not generating as much power as they could be. Also, the wind isn't always blowing!
I was shocked to see how large the turbines are up close in real life! I was also amazed at how many there are in one area. It is interesting to me that the farmers can rent out the land and still farm; it's very efficient. Some of the turbines weren't on, and Tait said  that's because they are out of service/need repair, and that was surprising to me because there were quite a few. It was also surprising to listen to the turbines- I always thought they were silent, but now I can see why people would complain if they were next to their house. However, there are flaws with every energy source, and I think a little noise is better than pollution. I'm excited to see the advancements made in wind energy in the future, especially in terms of energy storage and efficiency.