Alternative Energy - Wind Turbines and Corn Burning Systems

Alternative energy is a big thing in my area (north west Iowa) partly because of the extreme cold in the winter and the constantly blowing wind and partly because of the abundance of corn and high fuel prices. Wind turbines (wind farms) are very prominent in this area, in fact we live on the Buffalo Ridge. This ridge has the highest maintained wind speed in all of Iowa, so it is a no brainer to put wind turbines here. Check out the pictures of the turbines, they are located in corn and soybean fields.

The emergence of corn burning heat systems is interesting due to the competition for the corn between the new ethanol industry, livestock feeding and the heating systems. Many people who own corn heating systems have an agreement with a farmer they know (we are the number 1 producer of corn) to supply them with corn. This works out well, and a unique approach to storage of this corn I recently saw was an old freezer kept in the garage. It keeps the corn dry and keeps the mice away. Some of the acreages have their own smaller versions of wind turbines to supplement their energy. If you are interested in finding out more about corn burning heat systems check out this post do a web search there is a large body of info.

http://www.altaiowa.com/wind%20turbines.htm for more info on the wind power on the Buffalo ridge in Iowa