School District in Illinois purchasing wind turbines?
Friday, July 4th, 2008
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This Illinois School District is considering the purchase wind turbines. In Popular Grove Illinois, The North Boone Community Unit School District is seriously considering wind turbines for rural campus. The district has been studying wind energy as a way to reduce its energy costs.
Ward says turbines would serve an educational purpose and save the district tens of thousands on energy costs. Students could study wind power and learn about renewable energy. Wind turbines and alternative sources of energy are very relevant to students today.
Don Ward, the school board president has found that one to three wind turbines can generate electricity to power the district’s four buildings. Many school districts in Illinois have already installed wind turbines, North Boone is hoping to follow suit as well as many other Illinois schools. Ward says the installation of wind turbines can cut the districts energy costs and utilize renewable energy.
In a rural area just north of Poplar Grove, the schools lie in a good location for wind turbines. Since the campus isn’t in a suburban area or city, Ward said wind turbines would be able to work well because they would be placed in a setting capable of producing viable wind power.
The strongest winds blow from September to June aligning with the school year calendar. Though wind turbines are expensive — a large one costs anywhere from $1.5 to $2 million while smaller ones cost upwards of $250,000 — Ward said they have a seven-year payback on the district’s investment and would save the district thousands of dollars each year in energy costs. The district currently spends $150,000 a year on electricity. Wind turbines generally have a 20-30 year life span making them a quick payback and good investment financially.
At an annual conference of school board members in Chicago the shool district heard about others investing in wind energy. At this conference, many schools in Illinois gave presentations on their wind turbines, this started the school board thinking turbines would be a good investment for the district.
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