There are many reasons why people choose to live in Arizona. The lack of cold weather for much of the year is a perk for many moving from regions hard-hit by winter. However, with the good comes the bad. While Arizona’s weather during nine months of the year may be relatively sunny and mild, in the summer, it can quickly turn deadly with temps topping out in the 120s. Air conditioning is crucial to everyone living in the state, especially the desert region. With the high temps comes an even higher demand and pull on an already strained electrical system. What can Arizona do to help improve its access to electricity? One answer has come in the form of wind energy, which is why so many support the Chevelon Butte wind farm. See how installing windmills may be the answer to Arizona’s energy woes.
Turbine Engines Help Generate Electricity
The desert region of Arizona takes up about 42% of the state’s land area. In the desert, winds are a fairly common occurrence. They form as air near the surface of the ground is heated and rises in the atmosphere, colliding with cooler air. It is this mixing of varying temperatures that creates winds. Harnassing these desert winds utilizing giant windmills may be the fix Arizonanians need to help not only save precious water but also to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, all while helping to create the energy currently lacking.
Solve Energy Shortfalls
Energy resources in Arizona are at a premium. While there are power plants that utilize coal and nuclear energy, these are still insufficient to power such a well-populated state, especially since the climate demands a significant draw on cooling homes in the summer and heating them in the winter. Many powerplants rely on natural gas piped in from other states to power the grid. With solar energy requiring the use of large amounts of water, which is in shorter supply in the state, wind energy is the only logical, natural resource the state should focus its efforts on utilizing more often.
The population in Arizona continues to climb year after year with no sign of slowing down, and the demand for energy is increasing right along with it. If Arizona can start to rely more heavily on wind farms like the Chevelon Butte wind farm project, then it may be wind up being a literal and figurative energy windfall for the state, powering it for hundreds of years into the future.
