<yone is probably aware by now, Carleton has recently installed a new wind turbine which has been running since Oct. 18. Although the turbine has been online for only several days, it has already been making a huge difference. The wind turbine is an important step for the college to get closer to achieving its commitment to becoming carbon neutral by 2050 as outlined in the Climate Action Plan. Here are some interesting facts about the turbine and its progress so far:
In the first 16 hours of being online, the turbine produced 8,295 kWHh or 8.3 MWh of power to the campus. This is equivalent to 0.7% of the electricity that the campus consumes in a month. This may small, but it is equivalent to the amount of electricity that 10 average Minnesotan homes would use in a month.
For several minutes on Sunday morning around 7:00 a.m. on Oct. 23, the new wind turbine was generating all of the electricity being consumed on campus.
In one year, the new wind turbine should produce approximately 4,000-5,000 MW of power per year. This translates to about the yearly electrical consumption of about 6426 – 8032 average Minnesotan homes in a year.
The new turbine is expected to decrease Carleton’s carbon footprint by 10%.
-Amber Kim ‘14
Sustainability Assistant
Questions? Contact the STAs at [email protected]