The energy source answer, my friend, is
Blowin' in the Wind...

The use of wind energy has grown steadily over the last ten years in the United States, with Pennsylvania leading the east coast in wind energy production. Wind farms in the Commonwealth produce 35 megawatts of electricity – enough to power approximately 10,000 homes – with another 110 megawatts coming on line in the near future.

Wind-generated electricity is a clean, fuel-free, renewable resource. Wind turbine rotor blades turn in the moving air and power an electric generator that supplies an electric current. Turbines grouped together form a wind farm that can generate bulk electrical power. Local wind farms generate new income for local landowners, attract tourists and offset the emission of millions of pounds of carbon dioxide and other pollutants that otherwise would have been produced. Somerset County, one of the counties in which WPC is conducting a County Natural Heritage Inventory, has 4 wind farms.

A major challenge to using wind energy is that the source of power is intermittent. There are also concerns over noise produced by rotor blades, aesthetic impacts, avian mortality due to birds flying into rotating blades, and fragmentation of landscapes from the clearing required for the mill facilities themselves and the roads required to access the facilities. Some of these concerns can be reduced through technology and proper siting of wind farms. However, local and county planning regulations and codes often lag behind the development of these wind farms. If you would like to learn more about wind energy use in Pennsylvania, visit the Department of Environmental Protection's Website at: www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/pollprev/energy/wind/default.htm.

Today's photo was taken at Mill Run, near Fallingwater, and is courtesy of Curtis B. Magnuson and Conservation Consultants, Inc.

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