Jan 24, 2008 11:19 pm US/Eastern
Ski Resort Commits To Environment With Wind Mill
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
When people go skiing at Jiminy Peak in the Berkshires, there's more than just trees on the horizon. The wind turbine actually stands taller than the Statue of Liberty.
In fact, the 378-foot high wind mill is the only one of its kind on a ski resort in North America.
During the winter months, when the wind is strongest, the wind turbine can produce about half the electricity needed to run Jiminy Peak.
That means about 7 million pounds of carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas, isn't ending up in the atmosphere.
But how about the wind speed?
It was amazing how quietly the blades spin, considering that each one weighs 100 tons. And they're sophisticated -- automatically adjusting their angle to best capture the wind's power.
"Can you tell how much power its generating right now?" WBZ's Mish Michaels asked.
"Right now we are generating 1524 kilowatts," said Jiminy Peak president Brian Fairbanks.
"Our banker looked at us and said, 'You want to borrow what for what?'" Fairbanks said.
Fairbanks hopes the $4 million dollar project will pay for itself in about six years, although he wasn't sure it was ever going to get done.
"When it was going up the mountain, I had no plan b, if those four bulldozers didn't work, I didn't know what I was going to do," Fairbanks said. "But it's there."
"What fascinates me the most is that the wind is creating enough power to send the wire down the mountain with enough juice to be able to make the snow that is right up behind us," Fairbanks said.
That's proof to him that running a successful business and protecting the environment can be a common goal.
"You can make a difference if you look at the long term, you can invest in alternative energy that will be good for future generations," he added.
Guests have been surveyed since the turbine went up last summer, and 28 percent say they visited Jiminy Peak because of the resort's commitment to the environment.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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