Windustry

About

Mission

Windustry's mission is to promote sustainable energy solutions and empower communities to develop and own clean energy assets. As an independent voice acting in support of communities, we work, through education, outreach and advocacy, to advance broad community ownership of renewable energy. Windustry is an Equal Opportunity Provider.

Motivation

The sector of the economy responsible for the most greenhouse gas emissions is the power sector, and the source that produces the largest share of our electricity and the bulk of greenhouse gases is coal. Community renewables are the most rapidly deployable form of green energy, because they require minimal upgrades to the transmission grid. Community renewables also provide the most economic benefit to their communities, since more of the dollars saved and made stay in the local community.

History

Windustry has provided high quality wind energy information to varied audiences of farmers, rural landowners, elected officials, utility representatives, community planners, farm management educators, and bankers since the mid-1990s. Windustry was originally developed as a project of the nonprofit Sustainable Resources Center based in Minneapolis, funded by the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources for two bienniums. In 1999 Windustry began a transition to broaden its scope and expand its target audience beyond the state of Minnesota. Windustry is now a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization partnered with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), another nonprofit organization that promotes resilient family farms, rural communities and ecosystems around the world through research and education, science and technology, and advocacy.

Areas of Work

Community Wind

Windustry encourages community wind projects by developing practical tools, information, and expertise to help communities and landowners evaluate and implement community wind projects.

Small Wind

Windustry provides resources for small wind developments, including a project calculator, links to turbine manufacturers, training guides, and more.

Information Resources

Windustry collects and distributes information resources related to all wind energy sectors. This includes reports, guides, graphics, presentations, videos, and more.

Advocacy

To help rural communities harness the economic potential of wind energy, Windustry works to develop information and tools for evaluating wind energy easement contracts, landowner options, and economic development impacts of wind energy. Windustry also customizes outreach efforts for landowners, farm and agricultural organizations, local elected officials, economic development organizations, and rural utilities.

Current Projects

Midwest Wind Energy Center (MWEC)

MWEC works to increase support for wind energy by connecting people with accurate information about economics, environment, and policy. It is a regional center for the midwestern United States. The MWEC area encompasses Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and the eastern portion of Montana. MWEC is one of six Regional Resource Centers that were established in 2014 under a grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) and administered by the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL).

Community Wind Toolbox

The Community Wind Handbook offers high-quality practical information for those interested in developing commercial-scale wind projects. The core content of this Toolbox comes from The Community Wind Handbook, developed by Windustry on behalf of the Rural Minnesota Energy Board and published December 15, 2006 by a partnership of the Agriculture Utilization Research Institute, the Southwest Initiative Foundation, The Minnesota Project, Clean Energy Resource Teams, and the Minnesota Corn Research and Promotion Council.

Wind Library

This is an online resource library about wind energy. It is operated by Windustry and the Midwest Wind Energy Center. It holds articles, photographs, maps, research studies, case studies, and more about wind energy dating from the 1990s through the present.