| In March 2005, the University of Minnesota-Morris | | | | The generator is a model of efficiency, and only |
| became the first public American university to | | | | takes a breeze of 7-9 mph to begin generating |
| install a large-scale wind turbine to help meet the | | | | electricity. It takes a 26 mph wind to generate |
| school's electrical needs. Since it was installed, the | | | | the unit's full 1.65 megawatts. There's a dedicated |
| generator has supplied some 60 percent of the | | | | power line to the UMM campus, and if the |
| university's power. The rest of the school's power | | | | University needs more power, the local utility lines |
| needs are purchased from Otter Tail Power | | | | provide it automatically, so no one on campus |
| Company's Tailwinds Program. | | | | knows if the power is coming from the generator |
| Those figures mean that whether the electricity is | | | | or the grid at any given time. On the other side |
| generated on site or purchased off the grid, 100 | | | | of the coin, whenever UMM's power needs are |
| percent of UMM's electrical power needs are | | | | less than what the generator is producing, the |
| supplied by wind power, but the school's | | | | excess electric energy is directed back into the |
| commitment to energy independence doesn't stop | | | | local utility grid. |
| there. The university's students have helped the | | | | All this is impressive, but the university has even |
| school reach toward its energy goals by reducing | | | | more extensive plans for increasing its energy |
| electricity, water, and waste needs. The faculty | | | | independence. There are plans for the |
| has also gotten into the spirit, as well, placing | | | | construction of a biomass gasification plant at |
| considerable emphasis on green power and | | | | UMM in 2006, which will be capable of meeting 80 |
| conservation in their classrooms. | | | | percent of the campus' heating and cooling needs. |
| The UMM 1.65 megawatt Vestas generator is an | | | | The plant will use stover (stalk residue) from |
| impressive sight, with 135-foot blades and a | | | | cornfields in the area, as well as waste wood, |
| 230-foot tower, making the massive machine | | | | other crop residues and various organic stocks as |
| stand some 365 feet tall, but its impact on the | | | | its fuel base. |
| community and the state of Minnesota goes far | | | | The United States as a whole is second only to |
| greater than that. The generator has become a | | | | Germany in total production of wind-generated |
| major tourist and field trip destination in central | | | | electricity, with California, Texas, and Minnesota |
| Minnesota, and has helped raise the awareness of | | | | leading the way. |
| thousands of people, especially school children, | | | | Copyright © Jeanette J. Fisher. Publish with |
| since its construction in 2005. | | | | live links only. |