TEACH YOUR CHILDREN WIND

In the hands of one of the energy beat's best reporters, a profile of education programs becomes a quick peak in the kids' bedroom window at the house of wind energy. (“You gotta get ‘em when they’re young…” Babe Ruth)

Wind In Schools
Kristyn Ecochard, June 22, 2007 (UPI)

WHO
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE),
U.S. schools, student movements (Energy Action Coalition, Campus Climate Challenge),
Merzhad Tabatabaian, project leader, Renewable Energy Research Technology Center at British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative Green Schools program, Vermont Small-Scale Wind Energy Demonstration Program, Wind for Schools pilot program with DOE and National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), Tom Wind of Wind Utility Consulting, Integrity Wind Power
contact the American Wind Energy Association (clickablwe link further down in right column) for more info

WHAT
Schools are educating students and developing local, renewable energy by installing their own wind energy systems.

WHEN
- Programs are mostly recent but Wind for schools goes back to 1993.
- Strong growth is predicted for the wind industry through 2015.

WHERE
- 24 US states, Canada and England, 200 colleges and universities have wind projects of one kind or another.
- Massachusetts, Vermont, Iowa, Minnesota and Texas have programs to develop small wind for projects schools.
one of the many programs, this one in Utah

WHY
- BCIT is one of the few schools to offer hands-on training in wind energy. About a dozen offer degrees in wind energy.
- Many programs partner with private business, interest groups or DOE.
- Often the small demonstration projects don’t pay off economically because the school lacks good wind, high-end electricity rates and net-metering (allowing the meter to turn backwards when the wind is blowing).

QUOTES
- Tabatabaian: "We are looking at the areas where research and development are still needed, like ways to enhance output…"
- Wind: "In a majority of the schools the economics just don't work out…"