Originally published in The Forum, Fargo,on November 9, 2008
In northern Germany, “moin moin” is the short way of saying hello. Turn around and say goodbye, and “tschüss” is the word.
I learned the words while working for the world’s largest and longest-running wind energy industry trade show last month. While there, I couldn’t help wondering why we in The States have been so willing to forego moin for tschüss when it comes to wind.
HUSUM WindEnergy is held every two years in Husum, Germany, a town of about 20,000 on The North Sea in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein. It more than doubles the town’s population with 23,000 visitors and hundreds of exhibitors, including the biggest global names in wind.
As I flew into Hamburg, I noticed how much Schleswig-Holstein is like our home here on the North Dakota-Minnesota border. It is mostly flat with rows of trees and shrubs, fields of corn and cabbage and pastures full of cattle and sheep. And, like home, the wind blows there, a lot.
There was one striking difference, however. In Schleswig-Holstein, wind turbines are everywhere.
Whether Schleswig-Holstein is truly “The Birthplace of Modern Wind Energy,” as folks there like to say, one thing is certain – the German state is a leader in wind energy development and generation.
There are thousands of turbines in Schleswig-Holstein. According to Prime Minister Peter Harry Carsten, 40 percent of the state’s electricity comes from wind, and that is expected to triple by 2020. Speaking at “The New Energy Economy,” a forum hosted by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) during HUSUM, Carsten said wind has created about 7,000 jobs and annually generates €6 million in tax revenue.
The GWEC forum also featured regional case studies from China, Denmark and France. In each, wind development has created a substantial number of jobs, propped up local and regional economies and generated substantial revenues.
The same is beginning to happen here. In Sweetwater, Texas, a town of 12,000, more than 1,124 people are employed in wind. Mayor Greg Wortham says that represents 20 percent of jobs created since 2003, and the regional economic impact is more than $400 million. That’s big money for any rural community.
I thought about that potential during my return to one of our country’s most rural areas. What I didn’t see out the airplane window highlighted the stark difference between Germany and the USA. Flying into Minneapolis, then Fargo, I saw one turbine. One.
Wind generation in North Dakota, estimated by AWEA using capacity totals from the end 2007, was 1.8 percent of state generation as reported by the U.S. Energy Information Agency. This, despite the fact that North Dakota has the greatest potential in the nation, has way more potential than Schleswig-Holstein and is often called the “Saudi Arabia of Wind.”
Schleswig-Holstein, 40 percent; North Dakota, 1.8. Apples to apples, oranges to oranges, turbines to turbines – any way you wield the comparative knife, 20 times more makes for one heck of a big slice.
Other Great North American Wind Corridor states don’t stack up much better. Consider the others in the top five for wind potential: Texas, 2 percent; Kansas, 2.3; South Dakota, 2.6; and Montana, 1.7.
There are reasons for these deficiencies. In our state, the transmission infrastructure is not sufficient for moving wind-generated electricity, and the cost of building more is huge. Other national challenges include a limited supply of towers, turbines and other equipment; the uncertainty of the federal wind production tax credit (PTC); and opposition to what some consider unattractive turbines.
As we grapple with those challenges, the wind keeps blowing, its benefits still more or less invisible.
The good news is more states are adopting Renewable Portfolio Standards, many are working to address challenges that hinder development, Congress just renewed the PTC, people are listening as T. Boone Pickens promotes wind around the country, and President-elect Barack Obama has promised that wind will play a significant role in his energy policy.
The answer to our national energy crisis is not entirely blowin’ in the wind, but it can certainly be a bigger part of the solution. We can and should be more like Schleswig-Holstein. Whatever it takes, let’s say “moin” to more wind.
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