Buffalo Ridge - Lake Benton
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Buffalo Ridge is a large expanse of rolling hills in the southwestern part of Minnesota. It is 60 miles long and is located near the small towns of Hendricks and Lake Benton.
Buffalo Ridge is the second-highest point in Minnesota, only Eagle Mountain is higher at 2301 feet above sea level. Buffalo Ridge's rolling hills and the relatively flat land surrounding Buffalo Ridge make it ideal for the development of an alternative energy source, wind power.
There is an area on Buffalo Ridge that is called “the Saudi Arabia of wind energy.” The wind there blows in all directions, at most times of the day and night, at an average speed of fifteen miles per hour. With no obstacles to impede the wind, the area is perfect for the placement of wind turbines.
Even though the winds are better—more forceful and consistent—in North and South Dakota than in Minnesota, Minnesota is the leading wind power producer in the region. The Dakotas don’t have the wiring and other infrastructure necessary to send power anywhere. The lines that do exist are decades old and were designed to bring small amounts of energy in. New power lines are expensive, about a million dollars per mile.
There are presently more than 200 wind turbines in the Buffalo Ridge area.
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form, such as electricity, using wind turbines. At the end of 2007, worldwide capacity of wind-powered generators was 94.1 gigawatts. Although wind produces about 1% of world-wide electricity use, it accounts for approximately 19% of electricity production in Denmark, 9% in Spain and Portugal, and 6% in Germany and the Republic of Ireland (2007 data). Globally, wind power generation increased more than fivefold between 2000 and 2007.
The principle application of wind power is to generate electricity. Large scale wind farms are connected to electrical grids. Individual turbines can provide electricity to isolated locations. In the case of windmills, wind energy is used directly as mechanical energy for pumping water or grinding grain.
Wind energy is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions when it displaces fossil-fuel-derived electricity. Therefore, it is considered by experts to be more environmentally friendly than many other energy sources. The intermittency of wind seldom creates problems when using wind power to supply a low proportion of total demand. Where wind is to be used for a moderate fraction of demand, additional costs for compensation of intermittency are considered to be modest.
Wind power in the United States is a growing industry. In 2007, the United States was the fastest growing wind power market in the world for the third year in a row.
At the end of August 2008 the United States wind power installed nameplate capacity was 20,152 MW, which is enough to serve 5 million average households. $9 billion was invested in 5,329 megawatts of new U.S. wind power capacity in 2007, causing the total U.S. wind power capacity to increase by 46%. Wind power accounted for 35% of all new U.S. electric generating capacity in 2007. American wind farms will generate an estimated 48 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of wind energy in 2008, just over 1.5% of U.S. electricity supply. In addition, new transmission facilities under development throughout the country should allow the future development of at least another 200,000 megawatts of wind power.
"Buffalo Ridge" -- has enough wind to produce electricity well in excess of a full year's net electrical consumption in Minnesota. The Buffalo Ridge provides more high-grade wind resources than the entire state of California.
People have harnessed the wind throughout history to convert wind energy into useable energy. Today, a new form of wind machine is appearing on the landscape as windy rural areas have a unique opportunity to benefit from a return to wind power. The Upper Midwest, like no other region of the country, is blessed with a wind resource capable of producing vast amounts of clean, cost-effective energy.
Wind development is being fueled by the declining costs of wind generated electricity, the increasing concern and restrictions on pollution from fossil fuels, the desire for the environmental benefits associated with a cleaner alternative, favorable state energy policies, and the economic development that wind energy can bring to the region. To achieve these goals, a diverse coalition of interested parties are joining efforts. Land owners, rural communities [such as Lake Benton!], conservationists, and policy makers are working to accelerate the development of wind energy. In doing to, we chart a cleaner, renewable energy path that fosters economic opportunities for the region.
Buffalo Ridge is commonly considered the elevated land extending through Lincoln, Lyon, Pipestone, Murray, Rock, and Nobles counties. It is a drainage divide separating the watersheds of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.
Buffalo Ridge is part of the inner coteau and is the highest point of the Coteau des Prairies in Minnesota.[1] Its bedrock is formed of Cretaceous shale, sandstone and clay that lie above the pinkish-red Upper Precambrian Sioux Quartzite.[2] These units are covered in most areas by thick deposits of glacial drift, which consist of up to 800 feet (244 m) of pre-Wisconsin age glacial till (generally considered Kansas drift) left after the glaciers receded. The inner coteau is made up of extremely stream-eroded glacial deposits of pre-Wisconsin glacial drift, which is then covered by a 6 to 15 foot (1.8 to 4.6 m) thick deposit of a wind-blown silt called loess[1]. This covering results in the creation of an area with long, gently sloping hills. Loess is an easily eroded material, and because of this there are few lakes and wetlands in the inner coteau area. Loess however promotes well established dendritic drainage networks, the majority of which flow into the Missouri River and Minnesota River systems. Loamy, well-drained soils like Mollisols-Aquolls and Udolls containing Borolls and Ustolls dominate the soils of the inner coteau[1]. On the areas of eroded glacial deposits, dry prairie and moist prairie soils like Cummins and Grigal are present.
To claim this earthcache, you must email the following to me:
1)the wind speed when you are at the cache site
2)the number of wind turbines you see from Ground Zero
3)identify the color of the blades of the turbines and give a possible reason for the color choice
4)estimate the height of the wind turbines
5)estimate the difference in altitude between your present location and the lower terrain
6)which direction would the water flow from Ground Zero, toward the Minnesota River or the Missouri River
7)what evidence is there of the glacial drift deposits
8)take a picture of your group and post it with your log
Please do NOT put the answers to the questions in your log.
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