Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Wind Turbines in the Wetlands

In Iowa we are finding more and more ways to incorporate some valuable resources provided by the natural geography of the land. The area pictured above runs along the famous Lincoln Highway. An optical illusion has the the wind turbines looking as though they are apart of the Don Mangels Wildlife Area,a public hunting spot developed by Story County and the local Pheasants Forever Chapter . Actually, the turbines are just beyond the perimeter. As time passes we are finding ourselves becoming host to fields full of several sources for energy production of one source or another. Beginning in Northern Iowa , the first to be groomed by the now defunct Enron Corporation years ago, miles of the alternative wind turbines were erected. In recent years those first turbines have seemed to sprout co-workers to assist in the growing demands of our electrical needs. Whether it be from the winds that blow reliably, or the corn in the field that could be directed to the ethanol plant within 15 miles from this location . We are one State of many working to gain alternative sources of energy, so lack will not cause us to wish we had planned ahead.
Can you see 'em now? ;) Hubby volunteered to do a fly over of the turbines straight north of our homestead eight miles, to give us a bird's eye view of the Fall landscape. ;)

11 comments:

SimplyOutdoors said...

Some very cool shots, especially the bird's eye view one.

CDGardens said...

Thanks Marian. I guess we will be seeing more of these filling the landscape in the area. Not something you can cover up to take out of your view. ;)

CDGardens said...

Simply Outdoors - The bird's eye view has some good color contrasts.

Anonymous said...

We are getting more and more of these in Idaho too. It'll be interesting to see how it progresses.

CDGardens said...

Cory Glauner - It will be a test of time to see how well miles and miles of these turbines will convert into efficient alternative energy producers.

Tom Sorenson said...

Wow - I love the aerial view! Very cool!

CDGardens said...

Tom Sorenson - It was a bit of a challenge the other day when Hubby got that image on his digital.

He was having a time keeping the steering under control because it was bumpy at the altitude he was at to take the picture.

Anonymous said...

I agree that more and more of these will soon be on the horizon. In eastern Idaho, where I live, we have some almost right out our back door. Thanks for the photo's.

CDGardens said...

Mel - With all the turbines being erected we hope our energy needs will be met. The committment of land,and finances are huge at the start up. Not to mention the ever present towers.

Looking forward to seeing how effective these efforts will be as widespread as the Wind Farms are becoming...

Windyridge said...

we have a few wind turbin "parks" here too. This is the stuff we need. NOT oil.

CDGardens said...

Windyridge - I will not disagree with lessening the need for oil use.

Wind is a relatively clean source of energy. I am sure with every system we look at there are the pros and cons to consider.

I would like to think it would decrease the cost of per KWH...How likely is that with business infrastructure?