Wind Energy Research Center at UW? (Cheyenne, Laramie: house, buy, tax)

[Coolhand]

Howdy folks, first post. Love the great responses I've seen on the Wyoming forum.

The wife and I are in Austin, TX with a new kid and hankering to get out of the city and back close to family in Wyoming and Colorado. So I'm surfing Wyoming sites tonight and find this one regarding a big grant that UW got from BP with matching state funds for building a Wind Energy Research Center. Yeah I know... what better place for wind research than southern Wyoming....

UW Establishes Center Dedicated to Wind Energy Research

Does anyone have any insight on this? Are they going to compete with NREL down in Golden? Are we talking a bunch of hiring for researchy types? Inquiring minds want to know...

Thanks again,
J

[ElkHunter]

They've hit in Northern Colorado, but not in Wyoming. We don't need those big wind farms up here.

[MRVphotog]

I think UW would be the perfect place for a wind energy research center as the the wind does blow and blow and blow......

When I was a grad student at UW in the mid-70's PP&G tried to build two huge wind turbines in Medicine Bow but they kept getting blown down so they finally gave up.

Between Laramie and Centennial is a basin know as the Big Hollow which is the largest wind inversion basin in the country. It was made completely by wind, no water coming in or going out.

[ElkHunter]

We call that area the "Wind Tunnel" Hanna, Medicine Bow, big city of Elmo. the whole area is called the Wind Tunnel. Been there, done that.

[Coolhand]

Hey ElkHunter, love your posts on the other threads. People like you are one of the things that most city people will never experience (ie: helping without asking).

Mind if I ask why you've got a bad taste in your mouth for wind energy? Wyoming has such an energy industry that it seems like wind would be a natural fit. Might as well position to be an energy exporter in the coming years with oil over $100/bbl. I know those big muleys probably wouldn't like it, as I don't think they like all the gas activity, but the antelope could probably care less and the elk probably aren't down on those flats anyway .

Incidentally, it was in the mid 70's here yesterday and 60 degrees when I got up this morning. I have grown soft, no doubt about it .

BTW, my brother took up bow hunting this year after being a rifle hunter for many years.... in his first year out he killed a big elk on the last day of bow season near our house in Ten Sleep. Strangest bull you've ever seen, had a large third antler growing out of the center of his forehead, like a big brown unicorn.

Thanks in advance,
J

[ElkHunter]

Well, I have mixed emotions about wind farms. I'm an old cowboy and I've road for some big ranches throughout my life. When you put up a windmill to draw water, the cattle are skittish for a couple years. The sound or something. So when you set up a farm of windmills, you ain't using it for cattle anymore. Least, not for a while. The cattle will get used to it over a couple years, but you get new cattle every couple years so they really never get used to it.

I guess I really don't have heartburn with the wind farm. We just don't have any yet. Down in Medicine Bow area, they tried to set up some, but the wind kept knocking them down, so they gave up.

I've never bow hunted. However, this year, I bought a 180 lb cross bow. So far, I've shot a hole through the shed. hahaha I bought a hay target. Figured I was going to do it right. Leaned the target against the shed and shot it. Arrow went through the target, through the first wall, out the second wall and buried itself in the dirt. Guess I need a better target. haha

I plan on getting my elk next year with the crossbow. Just for grins. I just need to practice. haha

Originally Posted by Coolhand

Hey ElkHunter, love your posts on the other threads. People like you are one of the things that most city people will never experience (ie: helping without asking).

Mind if I ask why you've got a bad taste in your mouth for wind energy? Wyoming has such an energy industry that it seems like wind would be a natural fit. Might as well position to be an energy exporter in the coming years with oil over $100/bbl. I know those big muleys probably wouldn't like it, as I don't think they like all the gas activity, but the antelope could probably care less and the elk probably aren't down on those flats anyway .

Incidentally, it was in the mid 70's here yesterday and 60 degrees when I got up this morning. I have grown soft, no doubt about it .

BTW, my brother took up bow hunting this year after being a rifle hunter for many years.... in his first year out he killed a big elk on the last day of bow season near our house in Ten Sleep. Strangest bull you've ever seen, had a large third antler growing out of the center of his forehead, like a big brown unicorn.

Thanks in advance,
J

[sunsprit]

I must be mistaken when I fly over so much of SE Wyoming and see structures that look like "wind farms", right ElkH?

Due South of Cheyenne, along Hwy 85, then several farms that stretch along I-80 by Medicine Bow, even a couple towers on the Western edge of FE Warren AFB. Along with many many others that I spot as landmarks enroute between Cheyenne and Salt Lake City. Or are these an illusion?

And, while technically not in Wyoming, there's a huge wind farm ... one of the biggest in the country ... just South of Pine Bluffs that stretches for many miles on the Bluffs there East of Hereford, CO. It's so big that I can use it as a landmark when I fly VFR out of Greeley or Fort Morgan as the "beacon" to head back to Pine Bluffs when the typical storm fronts settle in on the line between Greeley and Cheyenne.

I think wind energy development is here to stay and there's big bucks to be had from the political side of the energy equation ... the feds are pushing tax breaks and producer breaks, and mandating a percentage of new power plant production be "green" energy. Wind technology is here and proven right now, and Wyoming's got the wind energy density to make it profitable.

Laramie County is just now convening a "wind energy" committee to determine zoning and license/tax issues for wind farms. They are at a point of proposing three different categories, one for large commercial production, one for a large point supplier that might sell energy back to the grid, and one for on-site small production. They're seeking citizen input now about the proposed zoning and regulation. My bet is that they know of a bunch of commercial "wind farms" being proposed for development in the area and they (the county) wants a piece of the cash flow action .... in the name of "good neighbor" regulation for the future inhabitants of the county when the developers hit some of the now more remote ranches and farms. Plus, I think they're trying to be the "model" for other counties out here for this source of revenue.

[ElkHunter]

Oh no dought. Wind energy is something Wyoming should be famous for. I mean, we have the wind. haha Cheyenne has some just south of town, but it's in Colorado. They've tried up by Medicine Bow and failed. Kept getting blown down.

I firmly believe we could host a very large windfarm and make it profitable. But what are we going to do with the cattle? I like to eat. Like to broil a steak from time to time. We're going to trade off one thing for the other. Which would you prefer? A good steak? Or the low hum of the propellars?

[Cloudfish]

I remember those two wind generators in Medicine Bow---I could see them in the distance from our ranch at the base of Elk Mountain. They were supposedly the biggest wind generators built to that date in the world (I think--it was almost 30 years ago....) And I remember when they "blew" down. Actually, if I remember correctly, the generators actually burned out (and damaged the propellers) because it was TOO windy and the technology of the time didn't allow for braking, changing the pitch of the propellers, or electronic regulation to deal with it. They stood there for years, alone and desolate, until being demolished, to be replaced with the two wind farms now in existence there outside of Medicine Bow and on the Foote Creek Rim nearby.

What gets my goat is that the energy produced by those farms is NOT a real benefit to the citizens of Wyoming. That energy is allocated to Colorado, Washington, and Oregon. Yes, once the power goes into the grid it's all the same---but it's still allocated to those places. You can buy "green" energy from the power company--but at a higher cost. Just doesn't seem right....

Sunsprit---I gather from your post you're a pilot too?

[Coolhand]

Gents -

Thanks a bunch for the replies. That will be an interesting trade study.... cattle vs wind energy. In many areas it's wind energy vs migrating birds, and I think that argument is BS. In Mass. it's wind energy vs cluttering up Ted Kennedy's view of Martha's Vineyard, and that's BS too . As far as "renewable" energy technologies go, I think wind (and probably PV) is about as mature as they go. The technology exists, the infrastructure exists... Now if we could just find a better way to store all that energy to level out the supply profile a bit....

Yes it is interesting that the energy would probably be piped to the big markets. Is the problem that they're installed by large corporations on (most likely) public land? Private property rights seem to cure a lot of these issues... but I don't expect the millions (?) of acres of public land in Wyoming to be going private any time soon

My family in Wyoming builds airplane hangers. If any of you pilots need hangers in the northern Colorado area, drop me a PM

ElkHunter - my bro is what I would consider a real hunter. He worked his butt off to get a shot on that bull.... that archery stuff is really tough. And you're right about the penetration. He shot the bull three times (good shots all, the first was probably sufficient but he was inexperienced in bow hunting) and found all three arrows, completely undamaged. One even went through both shoulders.

J