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January 7, 2012

ACTC students are seeing alternative energy in action

Anonymous The Independent The Daily Independent Sat Jan 07, 2012, 06:00 AM EST

ASHLAND — Ashland Community and Technical College students are getting some hands-on experience with an alternative source of energy and at the same time producing electricity to help light the campus and power its computers.

While the single wind turbine at ACTC’s Technology Drive campus in EastPark will never be a major source of electricity for the college, it is teaching students and faculty alike a great deal about how much wind there is on the college’s newest campus in the large industrial park that includes portions of Boyd, Greenup and Carter counties and helping them learn about a growing alternative energy source. Wind farms throughout the United States have enough turbines to produce enough electricity to serve large areas.

The turbine at ACTC was installed Dec. 8. In the first month, winds have averaged 18.8 mph, said Doug Keaton, an instructor in ACTC’s Sustainable Systems Program. At times, the winds have been much stronger than that. Keaton’s instruments show there have been sustained gusts — at least 30 seconds — of 108 mph and at least one instantaneous gust of 148 mph.

The turbine copes with extreme winds with an automatic furling system, which turns the rotor away from the wind. On one recent windy day, Keaton observed the tail turn several times, “exactly as it is supposed to,” he said.

The flat plateau — a former surface mining site — that the college is built on, lacking tree lines and other obstructions, is ideal for sustained steady wind, Keaton said.

“For energy production it’s perfect for a small to intermediate turbine,” Keaton said of the Technology Drive campus. “It’s exactly where you want it to be.”

Currently the energy generated by the turbine is being stored. Soon, the college will use the electricity to augment the outside lighting grid and to power computer charging stations. Keaton hopes that will happen by spring.

Keaton believes the turbine, mounted on an 80-foot mast in front of the college, should serve as a signpost to both researchers and entrepreneurs. Acres of available land in and around EastPark are suitable for small wind farms. In addition to generating electricity, wind farms could be research and testing grounds for wind technology and materials, he said.

Wind power is not about to replace coal as the major power source of generating electricity in this country, but it is one of a number of types of alternative energy that is proving successful and even profitable. Even in a state where there is enough coal to light our homes for years to come, it is important that young people learn about those alternative energy sources. It would be foolish for this state to not utilize all types of energy just because it has plenty of coal.

One turbine does not a wind farm make, but its successful operation could result in small wind farms being created in the heart of coal country. That would be a development that should be cheered by all, even those who make their living from coal.

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