Energy in the 21st century

An auspicious wind is blowing across Colorado and the West as rural communities begin seizing the opportunities of emerging 21st century economies and technologies. Much of the land that produces the food that feeds America is ideally situated to help meet the nation’s appetite for electricity. Colorado’s eastern plains are ripe with potential for wind and biofuels development, and all of Colorado is a veritable breadbasket of solar energy.

In fact, according to an in-depth study by the National Renewable Energy Lab, the development of new wind energy in Colorado would return far higher dividends back to the community than either coal-fired power or natural gas. The 2006 study found that new wind facilities would have twice the direct economic impact of a similarly sized natural gas plant and more than three times coal, ultimately giving the state, local governments and private landowners hundreds of millions of dollars more than the fossil fuel plants.

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