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Just a Hue of Green
Getting on Board to Help Protect the Earth
By Charlene Torkelson
Tiny Denmark is the world's leader in the use of wind power, beginning their research into this source of power back in the 1970s. Along with the United Kingdom, Denmark uses a wind energy provided by large windmill-like structures on landed wind farms as well as offshore farms that not only are able to provide about 20 percent of the electricity used by the Danish people, but actually pay them back with dividends from energy sold to other countries. Energy is no longer a payout utility but an income source for those countries and private individuals who have invested in this method of renewable energy. Wind energy pays back about three billion Euros into the Danish economy and employs about 20,000 Danish workers. Denmark is also the leading builder of wind turbines used by other countries in the world – sure to be a viable industry in the future.
Many communities in the United States are discovering the use of these wind farms as well. My interest was piqued when a news broadcast spoke of a wind farm installed by my own alma mater, St. Olaf College. Researching this energy source, I discovered many college towns encouraged by educator and student groups have begun to build windmill structures as an environmentally friendly, less costly source of energy. Surely this not only provides our earth with a better energy solution, but will prove to cut down the future cost of higher education bylowering utility costs in college operating budgets – a parent's dream.
