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Boise State University Gets Wind Power Grant

Posted on: Monday, 5 December 2005, 21:00 CST

By Melissa McGrath, The Idaho Statesman, Boise

Dec. 3--Engineering faculty and students at Boise State University were awarded a $500,000 federal grant to study new technologies to harness wind power.

"I think we'd all agree that research in the energy and energy systems is essential and is going to be increasingly essential as the need for energy grows and supplies change," said John Gardner, chair of BSU's mechanical engineering department.

The research is especially important in Idaho, where wind development companies are trying to capture low-speed winds to generate energy, Gardner said. Wind is an alternative energy source that many consider environmentally friendly because it does not pollute the air to generate power. Idaho was ranked 13th in the nation for its wind energy potential, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

But it is difficult to build wind farms in the state because most turbines are designed to capture only high-speed winds, Gardner said. In Idaho, those fast winds mostly blow in the mountains and other parts of the state where people usually can't build turbines. With this grant from the Department of Energy, BSU wants to start designing turbine technology that will harness the low-speed winds, Gardner said. The engineering faculty and students will work with environmental policy faculty at BSU and wind development companies during the research.

Gardner also hopes the research will spur economic development in the Treasure Valley one day.

"I would like to see Boise State and Southwest Idaho become a real focal point for wind energy research," he said. If that happens, BSU's research could attract companies that manufacture wind turbines to relocate to the Treasure Valley from other parts of the country, he said.

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Idaho Statesman, Boise

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Source: The Idaho Statesman, Boise

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