Ohio Could Capture Faster Wind for Power

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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4733917.html

COLUMBUS, Ohio — New technology is allowing energy producers to capture speedier wind that environmental activists say has the potential to provide 20 percent of the state's electricity within 10 years.

What's new are taller windmills that can catch gusts that are faster than those closer to the ground. The tallest windmills have been about 250 feet, but now proponents envision windmills whose bases are about 330 feet tall.

Four windmills in northwest Ohio provide part of Bowling Green's energy supply, the only municipality in the state to use electricity from wind. Only eight states that use wind power make less than Ohio's seven-megawatt capacity produced at Bowling Green, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Texas' windmills produce 2,768 megawatts to lead the nation.

Ohio lags, in part, because the state is one of only 12 that have no standards that are established or under consideration for the use of renewable energy sources. However, new Gov. Ted Strickland has said development of those sources is a priority and House Speaker Jon Husted has created the House Alternative Energy Committee to study the issue.

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