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Wednesday, 01 November 2006

This is a really great documentary on wind power in New York State.  The video contains a great introduction on the history of our electrical grid starting with Thomas Edison’s invention of the incandescent light bulb and Nikola Tesla’s invention of the alternating current system.  The documentary continues on to explain how the rising demand on electricity will test the grid's limits.  There are a few case stories from farmers in Madison County, New York, who harvest the wind for electricity along with their traditional crop.  According to the documentary wind has become a cash crop for farmers.  Farmers can add wind turbines to their land and continue to farm normally as the wind turbines continue to generate additional income.   

This documentary can be a great teaching tool.  Not only does it give some historical insight on the origins of our electrical grid, it also addresses various renewable energy issues such as Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) that is implemented in various states.  It also addresses the public's concerns on wind power, such as visual and audio disturbances.   

So pop some popcorn and sit back and enjoy “Winds of Change.”  Once you are done watching it share this documentary with your friends, students, or co-workers.  
 
 

Comments (1)add
consultant
written by John Fitzpatrick , November 03, 2006
"Winds of Change" hits the mark for its purpose. Thankfully they resisted the tediously too common tendency in "wind videos" to explain HOW wind turbines work. That's fascinating to engineers, but of only secondary interest to most of the rest of us.
This is an effective intro. to rural utility scale wind farm development for the local people who, like the folks in your doc., initially favored sustainable energy, but had predictable concerns about birds, noise, viewshed, etc., plus a vague but undeniable NIMBY impulse.
The sheer scale of 300-400 ft. tall wind turbines can be understndably intimidating to people. The NY farm wife's testamonial endorsement of the wind farm in her own "backyard," plus her husband's endearing reading of his own pro-wind poem, conclude the program on a compellingly personal, human scale.
Well done!
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