Guest Post by Debi

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Nelda and Wind Turbines

Back in January of this year, Nelda and I took a photo trip to Big Spring and back. She told me how the size of the new wind turbines popping up everywhere here in West Texas fascinated her. When we saw a new field of wind turbines going up near Stanton, we jumped at the chance to get a closer look before they went into operation. The cute little purple figure is Nelda. How's that for giving you a feel for the size of these things?

She convinced me. Wind turbines' size is endlessly fascinating. I found a couple of videos on Youtube you might enjoy.

Here's a less than 4 minute video inside a wind turbine -- the first 30 seconds is of a traditional water windmill in Europe for comparison.

And here's a 10 minute video of installing a wind turbine on the St. Olaf College in Minnesota. Another awe inspiring take.

And lastly, here's some quick facts about the size of wind turbines found on the US Department of Energy web site:

The largest machine has blades that span more than the length of a football field, stands 20 building stories high, and produces enough electricity to power 1,400 homes.

I'm glad Nelda introduced me to the awe and respect of these non-polluting giants.