Nov. 5, 2009
Live Green: Wind factor
by Erin Rosacker
No matter what the forecast is for Iowa State's Nov. 7 home football game against Oklahoma State, the wind will be getting a lot of attention. Cyclone Sports Properties, the media rights holder for ISU athletics, is partnering with area businesses and agencies to raise awareness of wind energy.
Live Green!
More information about Iowa State's "Live Green!" initiative is online.
Cyclone Sports Properties will obtain renewable energy certificates (REC) on behalf of Iowa State as part of the awareness campaign. Purchasing RECs essentially underwrites renewable electricity sources that offset the demand created by staging a home football game. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's guidelines, each REC equals one megawatt-hour of electricity produced by renewable-based generators, such as wind turbines.
David Miller, director of facilities planning and management operations, said a late-season home football game uses roughly 24 megawatt-hours (mwh) to power things such as lights, heaters, concessions and water pumps in and around Jack Trice Stadium and the Jacobson Athletic Building. In comparison, the average daily mwh use of other campus buildings include:
- Memorial Union, 13 mwh
- Howe Hall, 8.8 mwh
- Parks Library, 8.5 mwh
- Gerdin Building, 3.4 mwh
- Beardshear Hall, 1.3 mwh
- The Knoll, 0.2 mwh
Wind energy awareness messages will be integrated into radio interviews, videoboard clips and an on-field presentation.
In the latest American Wind Energy Association annual rankings, Iowa moved up to second nationally in wind power generating capacity with 2,791 megawatts -- more than 7 percent of the state's electricity. Texas and California rank first (7,118 mw) and third (2,517 mw), respectively.
