By year's end, 28,000 acres of wheat fields along the Oregon-Washington border will be converted into the largest wind farm in the world. PacifiCorp and FPL Energy are planting 450 giant steel windmills to supply juice to 11 states. The Stateline Wind Project (www.statelinewind.com) will deliver as much as 262 megawatts of electricity - not enough to solve the West's power problems, but enough to run 70,000 blackout-weary homes. The 242-foot-tall turbines with wingspans of 154 feet are three times larger than older versions, allowing them to handle stronger winds. They have 360-degree rotating heads and smart monitoring systems that continuously evaluate conditions and adjust the pitch of the flexible blades - that means they turn about 40 percent of the time, up 20 percent from their predecessors. What's more, the towers lack anything resembling a perch, and engineers are testing the use of ultrasonic waves to repel hawks and bats, says David Stewart-Smith, an Oregon energy resources administrator. "We've learned a lot since the days when turbines were Mixmasters for anything that flew."
ELECTRIC WORD
Spring Bake
In The Out Door
Wind Instruments
Photosynthesis
Mockroach
Inside Track
