A Whirl-Wind of Energy

By: Kristin Brooks, Brittany Bumstead, Daniel Gardner, Andrew W. Hoyt, Chesare Barnes, Caitlin Bradford, Ashley Fisher, and Kaylee Cundiff

UNT Geography students in Our Energy Futures (GEOG 4885 class) took a trip to Sweetwater, Texas in Nolan County to explore the wind energy landscape (Photo 1).

Led by Professor Fry, students left on Thursday, October 22, to travel the three and a half hour drive to Nolan County. Over the course of two days, the students toured Texas State Technical College where they learned the inner (Photo 2) and outer workings of wind turbines, met with key speakers from the area who discussed how the wind energy field has impacted the area (Photo 3), and took a tour of the Infigen Energy Sweetwater wind farm where the students got to go inside a wind turbine. They also sat down with the site manager from Infigen and discussed safety and the day-to-day at Infigen Energy operations facility.

The development of the wind industry in this rural west Texas town has produced benefits and disadvantages. Many jobs have been created in Texas in the wind energy industry, ranging from construction, manufacturing, jobs in operations and maintenance, management, and other support sectors. But the costs of installation and maintenance labor (Photo 4) make producing wind turbines costly, with a slow return on investment, though according to some landowners and investors it is well worth the expenditure. Although wind is a renewable resource, it may still be having negative effects on the citizens of these areas. Investigating the industry's impacts is important in determining how "clean" of a resource wind really is.

One of the student participants was interested in the lack of women in the TSTC Wind Energy Technology program. According to the student, "I really enjoyed being able to speak with so many people in different areas of this industry to try to find the causes of this gender disparity."

Overall, according to another student, "this was a great opportunity to tour a wind farm and the community that it impacts. In interviewing the locals and asking the panel questions you start to get a better understanding of how the industry works and how it affects those involved."

The two and a half day trip opened eyes (Photo 5) to the growing opportunities in the wind energy field and allowed UNT students a unique opportunity to get an inside look into how wind energy can impact our future (Photo X).

To learn more, you'll need to register for the Fall 2016 Our Energy Futures class!

Photo 1: Windmills and clouds in Nolan County, Texas.

Photo 2: Students approach a wind turbine.

Photo 3: Students meet with key actors in the wind energy field to learn about the industry.

Photo 4: Climbing wind turbines for general maintenance is difficulty and requires substantial safety training and technical knowledge.

Photo 5: UNT student mesmerized in the face of a wind turbine.

Photo 6: Group photo in Nolan County, Texas, at the site of the wind turbine.