Helping Lincoln Go Green

High Plains Regional Climate Center Assesses the Potential for “Green” Energy Source

NeighborWorks, a non-profit, community-based housing organization of Lincoln, NE is assessing the potential for a helix-type wind power generator at 23rd and ‘P’.  Wind energy is one of the renewable resources that can replace carbon based fuels in the High Plains.  The NOAA High Plains Regional Climate Center (HPRCC) located in the School of Natural Resources is cooperating with NeighborWorks to install a wind monitoring system atop a 3 story building at 2338 ‘Q’.  Glen Roebke, with Todd Schimelfinig, and David Schoenmaker (a volunteer for NeighborWorks) recently installed wind sensors.  The data set will be used to assess the potential for wind power generation at the site using the wind magnitudes at 2338 ‘Q’.  The data will be collected for a few months and then comparisons can be made to other automated weather stations located in and around Lincoln that are monitored as part of the Automated Weather Data Network managed by Ken Hubbard in the School of Natural Resources.  These data are available for other years and can help establish whether the wind data collected in 2009 represents a period of high, medium, or low wind compared to other years.  The planned helix wind power generator will set atop a new 3 story building in the area.