This is the VOA Special
English Agriculture Report.
For centuries, farmers have used windmills to pump water, crush grain and perform other tasks. Today,
farmers can earn money with high-powered wind turbines that produce electricity.
Wind power has become big business, especially in Europe.
In the United States, less than one percent of electricity is produced from
wind energy. But production increased 160 percent between 2000 and 2005. So
says Keith Collins, the chief economist at the Department of Agriculture, in a
statement he prepared for a Senate committee last month.
An even greater increase is expected between 2005 and 2010. Farmers and
ranchers are providing land to turbine owners or, in some cases, owning the
equipment themselves.
Mr. Collins says one reason for the increase is high prices for natural gas.
Another is a federal tax credit for wind production. The credit is almost two
cents per kilowatt hour for the first ten years of production for a project.
The production tax credit for renewable forms of energy was supposed to end
this December. But Congress has extended it through 2008.
Other reasons for the expansion include improved turbine technology and lower
production costs. They also include policies that make it easier for wind power
producers to sell their electricity. And they include the growth of markets for
"green power" -- energy that does not create pollution.
California is the leading state for wind power. But Mr. Collins says
production is also growing in Minnesota and other Midwestern states, all the way
down to Texas. And he says many states in the West and Midwest have the wind
resources to produce much more wind power.
Wind power offers farmers a way to earn money for use of their land or, if
they want, to operate their own turbines. Wind is free, of course. Not only
that, the land under the turbines can usually be farmed. And farmers may be able
to earn extra money by charging visitors to see their wind farm.
But wind farms are not perfect. Keep in mind that there has to be enough wind
to earn a profit. Also, the turbines can kill birds. And people sometimes object
to the development of wind farms. They consider them ugly and noisy.
And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn
Watson. I'm
Faith Lapidus.
windmill
:風(fēng)車
crush grain :碾谷物
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