Power Drive

If, like myself and 30% of the rest of America, you found yourself taking to the roads this holiday season, there's good chance you were cruising along some of the 46,876 miles of interstate spread across the country. I found myself taking an afternoon jaunt on I-39 between Chicago and St. Louis, and just as the last daylight was fading, came across the Mendota Hills Wind Farm. At just under 52 MW of total generating power its not the most powerful wind farm, but its proximity to the interstate and the sweeping vistas offered by glacial-flat farmland is enough to satisfy the infrastructure geek in me.

[image: Jennifer Zimmerman]

It amazes me that people still oppose these things. Seeing them spread across the fields like quiet sentinels, their power appreciated when comparing their size to the speed of the blades. Considering how little space they take up (compared to, say, solar) they really work well in agricultural settings. I can see how they may be considered an eyesore, but to me they are the true model of progress; free fuel from the earth, with no emissions, no sending our money to other countries... this is national security, plain and simple.

And it was that thought that piqued my interest. Here I was, gliding along a 240-mile stretch of highway that unarguably has had a major impact on the shaping of cities, a nation, and even an economy, and it was all justified as a national security measure. When Eisenhower proposed the Interstate System he billed it as necessary for the country to be able to mobilize the military and evacuate cities, and even for landing aircaft; the network mandates a certain proportion of straight, flat, clear stretches of highway to be used as emergency airstrips.

60 years later we are faced with a similar need for national security, only this time its energy security. President Obama's Stimulus spending provides funds (and not enough, in my opinion) for creating renewable power generation. Given the partisan fight that raged in DC during the creation of the bill, I do not believe that the need for renewable energy was framed enough as a national security measure; instead it continued to be framed as a global climate change issue, something that can (unfortunately) be made a political issue. Had the Obama Administration simply come out and say "Global climate change or not, this is good for the energy independence of America", it might have been passed with much broader support. But enough of my soapbox.

 [image: 63 Turbines of the Mendota Hills Wind Farm]

I'm more interested in the application. I've always been intrigued by the highway median: the long, narrow strip of no-mans land which finds its way from major city to major city, a permanent easement whose use would hinder no privately held land. I'd like to put a high-speed rail there. Or local trains. I'd like to cover it with solar panels or line it with fiber-optics, or even fill it with our trash, at once creating a natural barrier between oncoming traffic and taking us to task for our wasteful habits. Now add one more ingredient to my median-infrastructure soup: Wind Power.

Not only an amusing way to combat Highway Hypnosis (watching turbines rotate is much like watching a campfire, or ocean waves, its quite mesmerizing), the turbines would also provide critical locally-generated power where it is needed most. Even placing turbines only at overpasses would minimize power generation, as one can assume whenever overpasses are near, homes and towns cannot be too far beyond. And locally-produced power would more than make up the deficit caused by line loss when transmitting to the few and far-between agricultural consumers. Placing only at overpasses would also keep intact the lengths of highway/airstrip that helped generate support of the initial projects.

The only thing that could make it better is if enough turbines could be placed to power a high-speed mag-lev train in the median, and thus scratching one thing off my infrastructural Christmas list.