Rock Port, Missouri Proves that Wind Power Really Works
April 30, 2008 · Print This Article
Wind turbines haven’t just provided Rock Port, Missouri with 100% of their power. They’ve provided an extra 23% on top of that – enough to sell some to other cities.
Rock Port, Missouri, is a small city of 1,300 people, and they just made history by being the first city in the US to be 100% powered by the wind, also making them #1 in the US for percentage of renewable energy. The Loess Hills Wind Farm, built by the Wind Capital Group, employing 500 workers from 20 states for about a year, is expected to produce about 16 million kilowatt hours annually, while Rock Port only uses 13 million. The excess wind power will be sold to other communities in the area.
They’ve provided a great example for the rest of the nation. It’s time to start doing this in more cities. Of course, there are always those people that will complain that wind turbines are ‘ugly’ – the whole Not in My Backyard thing. Personally, I think they’re beautiful because of what they stand for: renewable energy. Doesn’t that mean more than having ‘eyesores’ in your city?
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Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
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I don’t get the whole eyesore thing. I think they look a hell of a lot better than a sky full of coal smoke, smog, and other pollutants. Plus there’s nothing inherently unattractive about them. I think people just aren’t used to seeing them and somehow subconsciously link different and ugly.
On another note while wind turbines are certainly a clean source of renewable energy they aren’t always a great solution, especially if they are erected in the path of migratory birds…. But thats a whole other subject.