An absolutely excellent article stating exactly my main premise and giving additional detail to it: Harvey Wasserman - Wind Power As An Alternative To Slant Drilling (For gas and oil underneath the Great Lakes. Read carefully - these lakes contain ONE FIFTH OF THE ENTIRE GLOBAL FRESH WATER RESOURCE. Poison them and watch your bottled water prices... )

ELPC just came out with an editorial statement supporting a Renewable Energy Standard (RPS) proposal before the Illinois legislature. What this is, is a requirement of Illinois utilities by law to produce a specified percentage of their generated electricity from renewable sources within a specified time frame. In this case, 5% by 2010, and 15% by 2020.

Two important links; The Chicago Tribune's May 28th 2003 Story on the RPS proposal, and the ELPC's page where you can e-mail your state legislators in support of the Illinois RPS proposal. I strongly urge you to support this proposal for the good of our state, region, nation, and world.

As reported by the ELPC, Wisconsin's Governor, James Doyle, proposed a Wisconsin RPS of 13% by 2013. They've also reported that the Ames Tribune in Iowa has endorsed the idea of Iowa producing 10% of it's power from renewables as an idea that makes sense. Additionally reported, The Denver Post urged the Colorado legislature to require 900 MW of renewable energy production by 2010 in February, and that the number of states with an in-place RPS has gone from seven to thirteen in the past three years.

This clearly is an idea whose time is emerging, and none too soon. The United States should be in a position of leadership in wind energy, as it has the world's best resource and greatest energy per capita consumption. Clean power and less oil dependence enhance national security and global climate stability. Not to mention that global wind energy growth is averaging 25% annually, and this is a very large un-tapped market.

This one looks very good - the Environmental Law & Policy Center of Chicago has a Midwest Repowering plan they are advocating that goes along to a great extent with the purpose of this journal. Details can be found at: ELPC Midwest Repowering Plan

Net access is down for SBC DSL in the Chicago area and I'm borrowing a few minutes on another PC. I'll pick up either late tonight or tomorrow...

An Interesting article in Sunday's Chicago Tribune, how various states in the U.S. are stepping up to the environmental plate trying to combat global warming in light of a perceived lack of direction on the issue by the Fed. Including the all-important presidential primary state of New Hampshire, and including some coverage of the efforts in the Great Lakes states: Global Climate, Local Action And such is how we will win against unsustainable prctices.

Also, in one of the CFRE's earlier newsletters, there is a story titled "The Answer, My Friend, Is Blowing In The Wind." This story gives one an excellent portrayal of what it's like to be near large scale wind turbines. You might find yourself quite surprised.

Both of these Canadian organizations are doing good things with wind power in the great Lakes region.

I've also found a couple of good Canadian neighbors:
Ontario Sustainable Energy Association and Windshare - Toronto Renewable Energy Co-op.

It looks like the Canadian province of Ontario is making some early legislative moves to support renewable energy installation on a small scale for homeowners, with tax breaks and net metering regulations that support grid intertie for small residential point sources. Read all about it on the Citizens For Renewable Energy's newletter page March 2003 newsletter: CFRE March Newsletter

I had an interesting conversation with my brother yesterday. He loves politics, so I posed him some politial questions about higher learning institutions geared toward renewable energy. I have an idea in mind, but not ready to trot it out just yet. I'll bring that along sooner or later, though.

Interesting. The Chippewa, or Anishnabe tribe in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is doing studies on feasibility and siting for wind power plants on reservation land owned by the tribe. Their stated goals are to increase self-reliance for energy, increase tribal employment, and increase renewable energy sources available in the region as an example of their cultural teachings about respecting the Earth. I wish them great success! You can read about their efforts at:The DOE Tribal Energy information page These people are helping lead the way to saving us all, and I applaud them for working to help technology operate in harmony with nature. I strongly believe we can achieve that goal without sacrificing the good things technology does for us - when we consider nature and work in concert with her in our plans.

Check out this site - real utility scale developement in Michigan of wind power - not on the lakes, but in the region. Bay Windpower I've signed up for their newsletter, I'll post update briefs as appropriate.

I may also post ads in some of the small local newspapers in the region at times, that would also help get the word out.

It's my intent to contact at least one new business or organization daily to request story referrals. It's my belief that persistence pays off. We shall see.

Off the subject, but very good reading: ENN's article on the largest park systems in the country and their quality, as well as how the best became the best in summary. I found it one of the more encouraging stories I've read lately.

Just did a few minor updates.

I did promise an account of the trip to Sheboygan...

I got up at five a.m. and left around six. It took me three full hours to drive to Madison and pick up Art Paul. I gave him one of my t-shirts and we both wore my design on wind energy to the benefit. We had a fairly quick breakfast at the Green Forest Cafe, which is located on Broadway in Madison. It's a good place, reasonably priced, and they were swamped, being a Sunday. On the way out of town, we stopped at Kinko's and made copies of the show flyer I had designed the previous week. The weather was kind of rough, windy and rainy. The winds were pretty strong at times, too. We loaded Art Paul's paintings in the truck and bagged them to keep them dry. The drive to Sheboygan from Madison is about an hour and a half when you're getting blown all over the highway through multiple construction zones designed to confuse you. (Would've made a lot of power that day with a good mill...)

We got to the benefit just before two p.m. and Cathy told us Art was on the schedule right away. We got him set up hurriedly and he started playing while I brought everything in. Craig set us up with a spot between two vendors and in front of the huge limestone fireplace. We didn't have a table, so I started getting creative with display technology. I was hanging t-shirts, paintings, and CD's all over the fireplace wherever the flags were sticking out! *L*

Art's show went great, and he performed some of his classics, including the Pollution Blues, I Like My Mother, (In honor of Mother Earth) and wound the show up with Purple Banannas On The Moon.

Art managed to trade a t-shirt and CD for a hand-made banjo from a guy that made banjo's out of tins and recycled materials and wood. It was pretty cool, I thought.

I went up during Art's performance at his request and did Cities On The Edge - a piece about cities on the shores of the Great Lakes and the opportunity they have waiting for them. (You can view my poems on wind at www.whizzyrds.com on the Wind Poetry page)

After a few other acts, it was my turn. The sound man helped out with the background CD, and I launched into USA Wind. I was still just a bit unused to the mike, but I got through it OK and folk took notice. I then gave an excerpted version of my speech on Great Lakes wind energy potential. (Posted earlier in this journal) Afterwards I did one of the most playful and gentle of my wind poems, Zephyr. Everyone really liked that. The soundman (I can't remember his name, shame on me) was kind enough to get up and second my speech. You see, he and his brother are fresh water surfers, and they know a bit about wind on these lakes. It turns out that Sheboygan is the best place in the world for fresh water surfing. The wo of them will be in a documentary film coming out this summer on fresh water surfing, and you can bet I am going to watch the credits so I can correct my faux pau. (Splg?)

I did give the soundman a CD in thanks for all his help, and I traded another one to a friend for some pin on buttons of a political nature. I didn't have a stock of t-shirts with to sell, but people inquired and I directed them online to the website, so we shall see. I gave out several of the post cards that the American Wind Energy Association was kind enough to send. We still have a fair amount left of the flyers and postcards left for Earthfest this August. I didn't sell any CD's either, but that's OK, as long as the message was heard, that's the main point. The whole thing was great fun in my book! Here's hoping we have great weather for the fest in August!

Anway, the food was good, and the people were kind. We made new friends there, and Cathy asked me to come back and do more at Earthfest this August. Art Paul and I will both be there. Hopefully I'll be a bit more practised with this material!

A very interesting article about using microorganisms to produce hydrogen in various environments, including from municipal sewage. One of the researchers is in Michigan. From Wired News: Microbes Pass Valuable Gas

I think when I get home in the morning I am going to write a more detailed account of the trip Art Paul Schlosser & I made to Sheboygan the weekend before last. I'm running out of time right now, however, e-mail was a bit heavy with real content today so I did a lot of replying for a change - it was nice.

I also just contacted the Great Lakes Pollution Prevention Roundtable to advise them of our existence and request they forward any stories or experiences they aren't printing themselves over our way. I want this to be Everyman's renewable energy story for the great Lakes region, so even the time Grampa got stuck on the windmill tower in Indiana back in nineteen hundred aught eight qualifies for a post. (Grampa's often have the BEST stories if you take the time to listen...)

Dan

An interesting resource I found with an excellent general description of terrain and wind resources in the Great Lakes region: http://rredc.nrel.gov/wind/pubs/atlas/chp3.html#lake

I will try to spend some time today contacting environmental groups and farm cooperatives in the Great Lakes region to let them know we exist. Perhaps some of them will know people with stories to share.

Nicely enough we were at my wife's friends house today, whom I hope become my friends. They're a nice couple. Their next door neighbor has an old farm mill, a water pumper out in the back yard. It's now surrounded by tall trees, and has a couple of bent vanes. The pumper shaft is gone, and I think the wellhead may be capped off. I asked if they might know of any stories about it, but the neighbors apparently bought the house with the mill in that condition. The husband did tell me that the thing sometimes turns in heavy winds and ticks against the tree branches brushing against it. A shame it's let go, but so many are now. It used to be used to fill a small man-made pond next to it.

I read in the Chicago Tribune about a gal going over to the Netherlands to study windmills in an urban setting and their impact on the people close by. She said in the article that she wonders if windmills on the Great Lakes might work. I'm kind of hoping I can contact her and ask her to journal her experiences during the internship. That would be SO cool!

Alright, that's quite a few tweaks and I think a pretty good basic site in just a day or so. Break time.

I will probably be inputting a good bit about other things I myself am doing, thoughts, theories, etc. Be forewarned, my opinion will be rampant! However, I will make room for others....*LOL* At least a little.

I just added several new links and a sitemeter. Now to find interviews and stories!! (Wouldn't that be fun!)

I almost forgot - I talked to my Grandfather the other day, and mentioned I was getting involved in promoting wind energy. He's been the elder in a family line of tinkerers for years. He was telling me how he'd created his own farm mill in the thirties crafted from a Dodge starter-generator and wooden props with a kit bought from a mail order catalog. That was the only electricity they had at the time, it was used to charge batteries and for limited lighting. Radios were still pretty scarce with little programming at the time according to him. The first thing I'd asked him was if he'd used it to power radio. It seems wind has a family tradition for the Staffords. Good night, all.

And I think that should be enough to get us started. Besides, I need some sleep. Maybe I'll dream of windmills...

OK, here's the Department of Energy (DOE) wind resource potential map for the United States:





Notice those dark blue areas out on the Great Lakes...our "Gold mine" of wind energy potential.

By the way, Batavia, Illinois was once home to three windmill manufacturers. The city hall there is in one of the converted old factories, made of limestone. It sits next to a park on the Fox river. At the park is a trail of antique windmills on display, called "Windmill Court." Interestingly enough, one of the oldest and largest, a wooden Model E windmill, was designed by a priest from my hometown, Beloit, Wisconsin. I believe Fairbanks Morse was involved also. My grandfather worked for Fairbanks for forty four years before retiring. Just a bit of synchronicity. Here's a picture of the Model E:

This is the text of the speech I gave this past Sunday at the benefit for Earthfest:

Hello, and thank you for being here today.

When I began this endeavor just three weeks ago, I had some idea of what I wanted to bring to the table and how to present it, but not a lot. I've decided in the time I have at the moment to go over the general potential that we have rather than specifics.

Wind energy has huge potential in the United States. It's estimated that the USA has the greatest on-shore potential of any country, to the best of my knowledge. There are those that call the USA The Saudi Arabia of Wind. There is estimated by the DOE to be enough potential to provide more electricity with wind power, if it were fully developed from on-shore wind projects, than the US currently uses in it's entirety. And that is just on-shore potential.

Along the coastlines of the US, the potential is vast. Wind is very strong within fifty miles or so of the land-ocean boundaries because of the combination of extreme flatness of the ocean and the near constant temperature differential between the land and the sea.

It's pretty clear and obvious to most folks that wind energy is pollution free. What's not widely known, is that current utility scale technology is capable of producing power at costs directly competitive with other "dirty" forms of generation technology. The great issues facing wind today are mostly political, conceptual, and transmission system access. The greatest potential exists out in the far Midwestern plains such as the Dakotas, Montana, and Western Minnesota. These areas are generally far from large cities, so consequentially transmission capacity lines between these areas and places like Chicago, Detroit, etc, are still needing to be constructed. It is happening folks, albeit slowly.

Now, one thing that many people do not realize is that states like Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan are sitting on a gold mine of wind energy potential. Or, more properly, next to the mine. The Great Lakes are probably the area in the USA with the third largest inland wind energy potential. Think of just the nickname for Chicago. "The Windy City". Milwaukee is even windier, I can tell you. Why? Because they sit on the edge of a great flat area where there is both a land-water temperature differential, and a large flat expanse of water that is comparably shallow. Oilrigs certainly operate in deeper waters. And you won't have to construct transmission lines all the way from the plains of Montana to put it to use.

The Great Lakes area has an opportunity to get the jump on wind energy's future, if that fact is recognized and exploited. Wind energy means jobs for construction and maintenance workers, thousands of them. Wind energy means leasing rights and extra money for family farmers struggling to make it on agriculture alone. In most cases farmers can grow crops right up to the base of a windmill. The land footprint has a small impact on total farm acreage. Wind energy also means freedom from fluctuating fuel prices. Wind is free. The cost of a barrel of polluting oil can be raised or lowered drastically based on fears or political whims. The only costs for wind power are engineering, generating equipment, transmission lines, and maintenance. All of these costs apply to other forms of generation, plus fuel costs.

Even not considering the Great Lakes at all, the land areas of Wisconsin and Illinois are considered 18th and 16th in wind energy potential respectively.

We need our political leaders taking strong action to be sure wind energy has fair and effective access to transmission networks. We need a comprehensive policy of Great Lakes wind energy development and resource sharing. We need strong commitment now from local colleges and universities to training wind energy professionals and maintenance workers. We need aggressive pursuit of wind energy equipment manufacturers locating here in the Great Lakes area. And we need aggressive pursuit of wind energy projects and venture capital.

The potential gains are enormous. We?ve all seen the flow of good manufacturing jobs out of the area. Well, they can't tell the wind to blow in another country so it's more "convenient" or cheaper to produce. The wind is perfectly happy to whip up opportunities for us right around here.

Please, visit the American Wind Energy Association's website at www.awea.org for facts, education, and networking information. They are the leading trade organization for wind energy in the Untied States.

And please, write your political leaders and continuing education administrators at every level, especially local, asking them to help secure our economic future AND clean up the environment at the same time.

Thank you.

The following is the text of a letter I just faxed to both of my congressional (Fed) district Representatives, and to my Senator through the AWEA's political action website at http://www.windenergyaction.com Please, please, please, go to this site and spend a few minutes clicking on the links there! Every bit of support helps!

Dear Sirs and Maam,

It is my firm belief that developing wind energy in the Great Lakes region has enormous potential to benefit the local economy and the evironment at the same time.

The wind resources on the Great Lakes (offshore) is probably the third greatest in potential within the boundaries of the continental United States. Illinois is ranked 16th in on-shore potential, Wisconsin is 18th. We have a vast untapped resource here that could mean literally thousands of jobs, rental income for area farmers, and eventually an energy exporting local economy.

When you combine the potential of the hydrogen economy of the future and wind energy, the Great Lakes is in a unique position for inland sites in that we have both the raw material to produce hydrogen and a vast, clean energy source in the same place.

I support legislation that promotes wind, because with the right moves by regulators, educators, and manufacturers in our local area, we have the potential to drastically alter the economic and environmental landscape of this region in the coming decades. This will require great vision from our political leaders to do exactly that, lead the charge into an enriched future for The Great Lakes - starting with Illinois.

Regulatory policy supporting renewable energy sources and wind energy in particular will be beneficial for our region. Also, establishment of a center of higher learning and continuing education dedicated to these technologies and located within your own districts would lead to a huge advantage in skilled personnel, and an extensive knowledge base of local wind hot spots and area-specific data.

Your support and initiatives have the potential to reverse the decline in the local economy due to the migration of manufacturing jobs. Possibly, with the right moves, manufacturers of wind equipment might be persuaded to locate in this area. Almost certainly, energy producers will.

Please, give your full support to this critical technology. You may all become heroes to posterity in this region.

Sincerely,

Daniel Stafford


The letter above is no exaggeration. I will offer every scrap of evidence I can find to show you reasons why. Next will be the speech I gave at the Benefit for Earthfest, and will be delivering again at Earthfest itself.

Just this past Sunday I was at the benefit to fund Earthfest, and I performed several of my wind energy poems including "USA Wind", "Cities On The Edge", and "Zephyr", and gave a speech on wind energy potential in the Great Lakes area. Later on this morning I'll post the text of the speech here. You can view text of all my wind energy poems and listen to mp3 versions of "USA Wind" and "Zephyr" at the Wind Poems page on my site, www.whizzyrds.com.

Earthfest is a small annual environmental festival held in August in Sheboygan, WI. Both I and my comic / street musician / Madison underground icon friend Art Paul Schlosser were there performing in t-shirts I designed to promote wind energy. THe festival is held in Sheboygan, WI on August 9th, and I will be back there doing even more, and with more practice beforehand, too!

The speech was well received, and seconded by one of the organizers, but unfortunately none of my CD's sold. I have data format CD's with my wind poems in word doc format and mp3's, and complimentary fact sheets from the American Wind Energy Association (www.awea.org) available for $8.00. They are entitled "Windy CD 2003" as I currently hail from the Chicago metro area. The CD's are really not what it's all about, though. You can get t-shirts promoting wind, too, at whizzyrds.com! *LOL* A guy's gotta fund his promo work and websites somehow...

Anyway, I'll be back in this space in an hour or two posting a great deal more. Hope you're up for reading!

Just this past Sunday I was at the benefit to fund earthfest, and I performed several of my wind energy poems including "USA Wind", "Cities On The Edge", and "Zephyr", and gave a speech on wind energy potential in the Great Lakes area. Later on this morning I'll post the text of the speech here. You can view text of all my wind energy poems and listen to mp3 versions of "USA Wind" and "Zephyr" at the Wind Poems page on my site, www.whizzyrds.com.

The speech was well received, and seconded by one of the organizers, but unfortunately none of my CD's sold. I have data format CD's with my wind poems in word doc format and mp3's, and complimentary fact sheets from the American Wind Energy Association (www.awea.org) available for $8.00. They are entitled "Windy CD 2003" as I currently hail from the Chicago metro area. The CD's are really not what it's all about, though. You can get t-shirts promoting wind, too, at whizzyrds.com! *LOL* A guy's gotta fund his promo work and websites somehow...

Anyway, I'll be back in this space in an hour or two posting a great deal more. Hope you're up for reading!

Just this past Sunday I was at the benefit to fund earthfest, and I performed several of my wind energy poems including "USA Wind", "Cities On The Edge", and "Zephyr", and gave a speech on wind energy potential in the Great Lakes area. Later on this morning I'll post the text of the speech here. You can view text of all my wind energy poems and listen to mp3 versions of "USA Wind" and "Zephyr" at the Wind Poems page on my site, www.whizzyrds.com.

The speech was well received, and seconded by one of the organizers, but unfortunately none of my CD's sold. I have data format CD's with my wind poems in word doc format and mp3's, and complimentary fact sheets from the American Wind Energy Association (www.awea.org) available for $8.00. They are entitled "Windy CD 2003" as I currently hail from the Chicago metro area. The CD's are really not what it's all about, though. You can get t-shirts promoting wind, too, at whizzyrds.com! *LOL* A guy's gotta fund his promo work and websites somehow...

Anyway, I'll be bacvk in this space in an hour or two posting a great deal more. Hope you're up for reading!

That worked. Now to get on with the business of blabbing about wind, or better yet, making hydrogen and eletricity with it!

I'm attempting to dress the place up just a bit and add an "e-mail me" link, the new Blogger version is biting me with java errors. Let's see if it corrects when I publish a new post...

Well, there's a lot of ground to cover. I've been working over the last couple of months and learning over the last couple of years on this subject. I have close friends who are calling me "Dan Quixote'" because I won't let up on the windmill stuff. The thing is, windmills are so good for us I can't. I intend to devote a goodly portion of the rest of my life to promoting wind energy in the Great Lakes region, my home turf. I'll be publishing thoughts, facts, links, and ideas over the indefinite future. I hope you all enjoy my ramblings.

And of course, feel free to pipe up. I will include any reasonably intelligent comentary, and possibly debate or endorse it. Always provide me with either a name or nickname to identify the person commenting. I will take comments by e-mail only. Please do not bother if your comments are not postable. You are welcome to hide your identity behind a nickname here, but never your opinion!