Alternative Fuel Choice

You’ve no doubt been hearing plenty about wind energy as of late. Unless you happen to live there though, what you might not know is that wind power is already being used to meet a sizeable portion of energy needs in some parts of the country. In Texas, there are even oil tycoons and energy industry players not normally associated with renewable energy who are beginning to get into wind power. To learn more about the wind boom going in Texas and throughout the nation, read on.

T. Boone Pickens made his fortune in oil, but this Texas oilman is now throwing his backing to using wind power in Texas. There are also wind farms showing up in Midwestern states and in Oregon, General Electric has just signed a $1.5 billion, ten year contract to supply a wind farm with turbines and maintenance services. When wind gets this kind of attention from the likes of GE and Pickens, it means there’s money to be made in wind.

Currently, US residents import a little under seventy percent of their oil. That worries a lot of people who don’t want the country to be reliant on foreign companies. This energy problem is becoming just as big a boost to wind energy enterprises as environmental concerns. Natural gas plans are also being proposed, either instead of wind power, or alongside it.

In some areas in Texas, you can drive a hundred and fifty miles and see a wind turbine wherever you go. Some people think of these huge turbines as eyesores, while others see them as the means to free the US from foreign oil dependency. In Nolan County, Texas, for instance, there are five billion dollars worth of turbines – fifteen hundred individual wind generators. Right now, that area produces more wind power in a year than the entire state of California.

Other areas in the state of Texas are having similar wind booms. The Rolling Plains region has two thousand turbines in operation, and Midland and Odessa’s Permian Basin region produces about six thousand megawatts of electricity from three thousand turbines. New towers in some areas are going up at the rate of three to four a day.

Clean, renewable and non-polluting, wind power has great promise for producing electrical energy. With energy industry giants like GE and T. Boone Pickens getting onboard, it seems that wind energy is something that Americans can count on becoming a more important part of how the nation’s energy needs are met along with solar power and other renewable energy technologies.

Is wind a viable alternative for all our energy needs? It depends on who you talk to. However, one thing is sure. Wind is booming all over the country, and producing a lot of energy. It’s definitely worth a look!

Author: Jerry Dyess has specialized in Texas Electricity for the past 7 years. Get more information on Texas Electric rates.

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