Wind power’s gusty forecast

The U.S. is seeing a big rise in this cleaner energy

Propelled by the twin pressures of global warming and high energy costs, wind energy’s growth is picking up speed. In the U.S., wind farms were the second-largest source of new power generation last year, after natural gas, according to the Energy Information Administration.

But as companies and individuals chart out wind projects along coastlines, prairies, and lakeshores, local residents in communities from England’s Lake District to the shores of Cape Cod are pushing back. Their objections run the gamut, from concerns that massive turbines will endanger migrating birds and ruin local tourism to good old-fashioned NIMBYism (Not In My BackYard).

For advocates of wind energy, learning how to navigate these residents’ concerns is as important as measuring wind speed and lining up financing. By addressing these concerns rather than ignoring them, innovative wind developments are popping up that communities actually welcome.

Moving forward

In the U.S., one of the most novel projects is a nine-month-old wind farm smack-dab in the middle of Atlantic City, N.J., built by Community Energy Inc. The five 380-ft.-tall turbines are impossible for the city’s 35 million visitors to miss. The project is the first coastal wind farm in the U.S., built even as controversy over such farms is stalling projects around the world. It was five years in the making, and much of the effort was devoted to talking to civic associations, environmental groups, and the local chamber of commerce.

Business Week