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Farmer interest in ‘small wind’ is growing
Investment in the wind energy industry in the U.S. has slowed in 2010 after seeing strong growth in ’08 and ’09.
The American Wind Energy Association reports year-to-date installations of wind systems are down 72 percent versus 2009—the lowest level since 2006. Officials say the lack of long-term U.S. energy policies, such as a Renewable Electricity Standard, is discouraging utilities from moving forward with wind expansion plans.
However, the co-chair of the Nebraska Wind Working Group, Nebraska Farmers Union president John Hansen, says there is good interest from farmers, ranchers and other small business owners in what is called “small wind”.
“There’s been a pretty good push on the smaller wind side because of the stimulus package, which went up to 100 KW,” Hansen says. “So there’s a lot of folks calling our office wanting help on planning and zoning and siting and other kinds of things—because they’re taking advantage of a little bit bigger on-site wind development systems.”
Hansen says “small wind” will be one of the featured topics at next week’s Nebraska Wind Power 2010 Conference in Kearney.
“We have brought in some national experts on small wind and also all of the different kinds of investment options and community-based energy development options,” he says, “and so we have lots of different kinds of more in-depth sessions to offer.”
The wind conference takes place November 9th and 10th at the new Younes Conference Centre in Kearney.
AUDIO: John Hansen (5 min MP3)
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