Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Some work gets out there

Today I noticed on the Prana home page they have one of my wind turbine photos being used for their wind power initiative. I think it's great when companies commit both their marketing hype and a chunk of their profits to exploring sustainable alternatives. I genuinely love driving across Wyoming and seeing all the new wind turbines being installed across the high plateaus of the state.
There are still a lot of hurdles to cross before our electricity can come entirely from sustainable sources. One of the biggest issues is transportation (lots of power is lost as electricity travels across the lines) and reliable supply during all weather conditions and times of day.
Early-adopters are crucial for getting change going as they pay a premium and end up offsetting a large part of the initial cost of the infrastructure for change. With coal-fired electricity so imbedded in the west (think railroads, coal mines, and power plants... and the public tax subsidies that sustain them and keep them wildly profitable) it will take lots of companies like Prana and lots of effort on the part of the individual to get some change going, but I think it's coming...

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