Monday
March 27, 2006
news@micbigandaily.com

SCIENCE

5A

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Blowin'

in the wind

Wind turbines could make Michigan a leader in renewable energy

By A. J. Hogg
Daily Science Writer
TRAVERSE CITY - Fossil fuels pro-
vide the vast majority of Michigan's elec-
trical power. While people may complain
about rising energy costs, it's the environ-
ment that is paying the highest price. After
all, your electricity bill doesn't account for
pollutants like carbon dioxide affecting
climate change, or for particle soot, toxic
mercury, nitrous dioxide and sulfur diox-
ide, which contribute to acid rain and over-
all air pollution.
But there's a lot Michigan can do to
reduce its dependence on these fossil
fuels.
In a promising step forward, by
the end of this year, Michigan's
wind-power generation capacity will
increase to 20 times its current capac-
ity of 2.4 megawatts. At that point, 48
megawatts of power will be available,
capable of producing enough energy
for about 16,000 homes.
Noble Environmental Power is build-
ing 32 wind turbines in the first phase
of its Ubly wind farm, located in Bing-
ham Township. Each turbine is capable
of generating 1.5 megawatts of electric-
ity. The company plans to have all 32
completed by the end of the year.
Currently only three large-scale wind
turbines operate in Michigan. Traverse
City Light and Power, a community-
owned electric utility, runs a 0.6 mega-
watt wind turbine, and Mackinaw City
runs two rated at 0.9 megawatts.
NEP has already begun work on the
next phase of its Ubly wind farm, with
seven more leases signed, bringing the
total cost of the project to about $9 mil-
lion. The second phase will include 39
wind turbibes. The company's ultimate
goal is to have approximately 250 wind
turbines scattered along 40-miles of gla-
cial ridge in Michigan's Thumb. This
* would add more than 300 megawatts of
capacity, propelling Michigan to the fore-
front of wind power.
NEP spokeswoman Julie Harker-Leigh
said the wind turbines will be very spread
out: with only one turbine per 150 acres.
"We feel this allows the farmer to farm
the land as he always has," she said.
Farmers lease square plots of land to
NEP, and the company builds a wind tur-
bine and a transformer on it. The wind
tubine in Traverse City is built on a 100-
foot square.
"(The farmer) makes more on this
100-foot square than he does on the rest
of the field,' said Jim Cooper, marketing
manager at TCLP.
Wind up north
Michigan has had wind power since
1996, when Traverse City Light and
Power built a wind turbine at the base of
the Leelanau Peninsula. Over the past 10
years, it has generated enough electric-
ity each year to power 160 homes in the
Traverse City area. That equals 1 million
kilowatt-hours.
The company's wind turbine is
built on a ridge west of downtown
Traverse City.
"This is a small one - now' said

Cooper, of the 0.6-megawatt wind tur-
bine. Today's state-of-the-art turbines
exceed 3.5 megawatts. "It was the biggest
in the U.S. when it went up."
It still doesn't look small. The equip-
ment sits on top of a tower a half a football
field high. It's difficult to tilt your neck far
enough back, standing at the base of the
turbine, to watch it rotate. The rotor, 144
feet in diameter, looks elegant and grace-
ful, each of the three blades swooping
through the air, making about as much
noise as a quiet dishwasher. It is easy to
carry on a conversation without raising
your voice. You wouldn't guess the tips
of the blades above move faster than 100
miles per hour.
Generating electricity with a tur-
bine is based on simple physics. By
rotating a magnet inside a coil of
wire, the magnet can move electrons
along the wire, generating an electri-
cal current. The process is reversible,
so it is possible to make a magnet
spin by running a current through a
wire. This is exactly how a fan or any
other electric motor works.
How you make the magnet spin
doesn't matter. You can spin it with
steam generated by nuclear fission,
burning oil, gas or biomass. You can
use water falling over a dam. Or you
can let the wind do the work for you.
In wind turbines, the generator is locat-
ed inside the pod, or nacelle, at the top of
the tower. The rotors are connected to a
drive shaft that turns the generator.
Thick black cables channel the electri-
cal power down the inside of the hollow
tower. Just inside its access door a small
panel sitting at ground level indicates how
much power is being generated, as well as
current wind speed and direction.
A computer monitors the amount of
electricity the wind turbine is feeding the
electrical grid. A transformer sits next to
the tower, converting the generated 480
volts into a voltage better suited for trans-
mission along power lines.
The Traverse City Light and Power
wind turbine can generate electricity
when the wind speed is between 10 and
32 miles per hour. The rotor blades rotate
along their central axes, so they can
adjust the angle they present to the wind
to maximize efficiency, in the same way
a sailor trims sails to use the wind most
effectively.
The entire nacelle and rotor con-
struct tracks wind direction, keep-
ing the wind turbine facing the wind,
which maximizes efficiency.
In 2000, Mackinaw City erected
two 0.9-megawatt turbines south of
the city, near its water treatment plant.
If you drive north on I-75, the blades
of the wind turbines are visible to the
left of the highway, while crossing the
Mackinac Bridge. Just over the trees,
they are the same monumental white
as the bridge and just as magnificent
and useful.
The Mackinaw City turbines are no
louder than the Traverse City Light
and Power wind turbine. That is,
when they are not drowned out over
the sound of snowmobiles hurtling
down the trail, the baying of dogs at a

kennel near the road, or the hum of the
nearby freeway.
Funding Michigan's windy future
The U.S. Department of Energy's
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
estimates that Michigan has the poten-
tial for more than 16,500 megawatts of
onshore wind energy generation, and
nearly 45,000 megawatts offshore. Being
a peninsula, Michigan has a huge advan-
tage over other states - the flat lakes let
the wind build up to strong, consistent
speeds. Inland, ridges and hills close to
flatter areas give similar advantages.
The cost of constructing the equipment
has deterred the state from moving any-
where near its potential.
"To finance a wind project, you need a
lot of backing right away," said Steve Sch-
nell, Mackinaw City's community devel-
opment director.
Traverse City solved this problem
with a "green rate." "The whole idea
started at Traverse City Light and
Power," Cooper said. "You figure cost
of a turbine with installation, then how
much to operate it, then take off cost of
power. The difference is how much the
customer pays as premium."
Last year, Traverse City Light and
Power customers paid a 2-cent per kilo-
watt-hour premium for their green rate.
Renewable, 'green' energy sources
include wind, biomass, geothermal and
solar energy.
The company requires that interested

customers buy all of their power at the
green rate, but Cooper said that might
change so that customers can opt to buy
100 or 200 kilowatt-hour blocks at green
rate - similar to the method used by
other suppliers. Consumers Energy, a util-
ity provider that serves much of the Lower
peninsula, has a program called "Green
Generation." It allows customers to buy
renewably-generated energy for a premi-
um in blocks of 150 kilowatt-hours. They
can commit to renewable energy for their
entire energy bill and also for a premium.
The Mackinaw City wind turbines sell
their power to Consumers Energy. So will
Noble Power once they are on line.
DTE Energy, which serves Southeast-
ern Michigan, does not generate electric-
ity with wind energy, but instead offers
green rates through biomass fuel.
Another way to encourage renewable
energy generation is for states to pass
a renewable portfolio standard. This
requires electric utilities to generate a
certain percentage of their power from
renewable sources.
Currently, 21 states and Washington
D.C. have enacted these standards. Michi-
gan has two bills in the state House Com-
mittee on Energy and Technology. One is
co-sponsored by Rep. Chris Kolb (D-Ann
Arbor). The bill requires 7 percent renew-
able in the first year and steps that up to 15
percent in the following 10 years. The sec-
ond introduces steps starting at 4 percent
and ending at 7 percent 10 years later.
See SCIENCE, Page 7A

A.J.nHOGG/FrItheuDily
The Mackinaw City wind turbines, constructed in 2000, are located
south of the city. Michigan currently has three wind turbines.


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CAREER OPTIONS
FOR DOCTOR OF PHARMACY
GRADUATES


Wednesday, March 29, 2006; 6-8 p.M.
*'Room1544, CC.Little Building
(On North University between Church and
Fletcher Streets, across from the
Exhibit Museum of Natural History)
Format:
Current students discuss their choice of
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Michigan College of Pharmacy alumni,
representing a variety of practice paths,
discuss their work and the diversity of
rewarding career paths open to U-M
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Pizz and soda wIl be served
S""'For more information, contact:
Assistant Dean Valener L. Perry
Telephone: 734-764-5550
Esmai: vlperry@umicl.edu
Also be sure to visit the College of Pharmacy
Web site at: www.mich.edu/pharmacy.

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