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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 22, 1977)
Wind generation pushed as energy source Editor's Note: This is part of a series of articles about alternative forms of energy. By E G WHITE-SWIFT Of the Emerald Windmill experts are not waiting for the 100-mile-per-hour winds of another Columbus Day Storm be fore considering building large windmills in Oregon Sites where winds average only 18 miles per hour are under con sideration by the U S. Energy Re search and Development Ad ministration (ERDA) for construc tion of the world's largest windmill — 12 stories high with 200-foot propellers. Oregon is considered a leading contender for the windmill, be cause of the strong and persistent winds on the coast and down the Columbia Gorge. The site will be chosen later this year by ERDA officials, after re viewing 17 potential sites throughout the nation. The space division of the General Electric Company has been contracted to build two 12 story windmills, at a Rage of the East Coast has hit Poitra’s FRESH FROZEN YOGURT 875 E. 13th 6 flavors Also serving Arabic food, soup & sandwiches General Electric blows into Oregon windmill act cost of S10 million Construction of the two 1,500kilowatt wind turbine systems is expected to be com pleted in 1978. Each wind turbine Is expected to produce enough energy to sup ply more than 500 homes. The ERDA test program was estab lished to see if wind turbines con nected to electric power grids could provide economical energy Other types and smaller windmills are under construction throughout the country as part of the same program The goal is to use the wind to generate about one per cent of the nation s power needs by the end of the century, says ERDA wind generation specialist Louis Di vone "While seemingly a tiny amount, this would translate to as much as 100 billion kilowatt hours of electricity a year, thus saving large quantities of oil and natural gas Although windmills have been in use for at least 800 years and f GENTLEWOMAN Accents on color in ^ C^^cotton chiffon from Bird In Hand of ^ California. * Dresses and separates. i Gentlewoman | Gallery Where clothes are more than a Itxjk . . . They're a feeling. I 1639 East 19th Street I Eugene, 343-9555 I Open. M.W.I' 10-H, Tu J Th, Sar 10-6; Sun I have been widely employed throughout the Great Plains tor a century, there has been virtually no attempt to apply modern tech nology to the development ot bet ter windmills "Cheap oil and natural gas, plus the Rural Electrification Ad ministration s program of bring ing electricity to even the most remote parts of the country, had stopped development of newer and better windmills until the re cent energy crisis,' says Divone About lOnnllionofthe35million acres of irrigated land in the Un ited States are being watered by pumps driven by natural gas which is rapidly being depleted About 150 000 very small windmills are still in use nationally according to ERDA estimates, either pumping water or charging batteries. An estimated one mil lion were used for the same pur poses only 40 years ago General Electric Co engineers estimate that about 55,000 square miles in the United States have the constant winds to make wind turbine generators practical Research information from the ERDA wind generation test pro grams will be turned over to pn vate industry, with the hope that corporations will fund mass pro duction of high-quality low priced wind devices Windmills in use today are about four times as expensive as oil and coal powered generators In Oregon, interest in the pos sibilities ol wind power as a poten tial energy source has centered at Oregon State University In 1971 an interdepartmental research group was established to study the wind potential Much of the funds for the re search was provided by the Public Utility Districts (PUD s) ol Central Lincoln, Tillamook Clatskame and North Wasco The research included recording wind data along the Oregon coast and in the Columbia Gorge Scientists at Oregon State Uni versity (OSU) discovered that it takes a thousand times as much air flow lo produce one kilowatt hour of electricity as it takes water To produce power on a significant scale, they say. would involve not one, but perhaps hundreds of large generating machines The best potential sites on the coast are geographically promi nent points like Cape Foulweather and Yaquma Head says an Oregon legislative report on the OSU wind studios "Clusters ot windmills, it they were erected on theso silos, would detract Irom their natural beauty The availabil ity ot adequate land without creat ing a community eyesore is an ai gument In tavor ot locating sites in trio Columbia Gorge tor most lu tore development After several years ot researcti mg potential windmill sites, OSU scientists have begun to look at windmill design possibilities Mechanical engineering proles sor Robert Wilson received a S50.000 ERDA grant last year 10 study the aerodynamics ot wind power machines The wind is tree, but the machinery to conved it to electric ity is not Wilson says Tho sue cess ot wind power as an alternate and supplemental source ot elec local energy dopends on the economics ot the windmills Two Oregon utiktios have boon seriously considering windmills tor generating part ot their electri cal neods The Podland General Electric Co has applied tor lederal funds to develop a demonstration wind generation project at the Boardman test site along the Col umbia River And the Eugene Water and Electric Board has boen measur ing the wind velocities in the Eugene Springfield area and on ridgetops above the McKen/ie River Today’s Earthweek events continue If it felt like Monday when you woke up blame Earthweek Today is Recycling Day For more mfor mation on any of the events listed below contact the Survival Center at 686-4356 12 30pm Speaker and slides TomBowerman. "Visions of the Future Living Alternatives A pre sentation on low-impact living alternatives in Lane County 3:30 p m Film — Lovejoys Nuclear War EMU Forum, free admission A true film on one individual s eiion to hall the construction of nuclear plants in western Massachusetts 7 30 pm Speaker — Ernest Callenbach, t67 EMU free The noted auttior ol the environmental work Ecolopia will present a talk on the Ecotopian environment and its applications tor Oregonians All day Recycling displays and information, EMU terrace Local and regional recycling groups display mg their dilleront areas ol recycling BRING will boon campus in three dillerent areas to collect reusable waste Mad Dog T-Shirts ★ Over 60 Full Color and Glitter Designs. ★ Lettering and Numbers . . . We Print Anything! ★ No Set-Up or Other Hidden Charges. ★ Shirts Made in Si conds . . . Twenty to be Exact ANY T-SHIRT WITH ANY DESIGN $3.00-$5.00 It Your Dog Could Talk. He'd Demand "Mad Dog." 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