North Dakota Athletes Snowkite Across State to Promote Wind Energy
Environmental Activism Meets Extreme Athleticism on the Windy Great Plains
GRAND FORKS,
Updated October 31, 2006
By Sam Salwei
To promote renewable wind energy in North Dakota, two local athletes have announced the To-Cross-The-Moon Expedition, a snowkiting journey across the state of North Dakota. The two-week-long expedition in January 2007 will include a complete traverse of the state of North Dakota via the non-motorized, wind-powered sport of snowkiting.
Snowkiting is a fast-growing sport where skiers/snowboarders are pulled by giant paraglider-like canopies. North Dakota — with its flat, treeless landscapes and legendarily windy and snowy winters — is a perfect venue for the sport.
"North Dakota needs to develop its tremendous wind energy potential," said Roger Johnson, Agriculture Commissioner, North Dakota Department of Agriculture. "To-Cross-The-Moon Expedition will help get that message out."
Johnson, who is a vocal proponent of wind power, said our state has the potential to be a leader in renewable energy. Johnson said long-term wind energy plans include exporting surplus power to neighboring states.
To-Cross-The-Moon's goal is to raise awareness for the potential of wind power in North Dakota. Salwei and Magness also hope to bring positive national attention to North Dakota’s assets, including its wide open spaces, its opportunities for recreation, and — most importantly — the state's endless and unrelenting Great Plains wind.
"We want to help exemplify the vast amount of wind that North Dakota has in a tangible way," said Salwei, the expedition leader. "North Dakota can be a leader in the renewable and clean energy source of wind power."
To-Cross-The-Moon snowkites will serve as moving billboards, with the expedition's logos and messages aloft 70 feet in the air on giant nylon sails.
The expedition will be a self-supported expedition: The athletes — Sam Salwei and Jason Magness, both from Grand Forks, N.D. — will travel self-sufficiently, hauling equipment in backpacks and sleeping out in temperatures that may drop below zero degrees.
North Dakota has been called the "Saudi Arabia of Wind." The Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., concluded that North Dakota has the greatest wind resource of any of the lower 48 states.
North Dakota is ranked No. 1 in wind energy potential in the United States, according to the American Wind Energy Association. The association says North Dakota could produce as much as 34 percent of the nation’s electricity needs from wind power alone if the right infrastructure was built.
But despite the state's wind resource, the North Dakota fell from 13th place in wind energy production for 2004 to 16th place in 2005. To-Cross-The-Moon hopes to turn this trend around.
The environmental benefits of wind-generated electricity are increasingly recognized by those who favor "green" sources of energy. There are no harmful emissions or combustion byproducts from wind energy.
"In addition to the environmental advantages, the development of large-scale wind generation farms in North Dakota would create new industry and new jobs in our home state," Salwei added.
Landowners benefit through leasing of wind rights and property for development.
"It's a win-win all around," said Salwei. "We need to show that to the world."
For updated information, check http://www.snowkiting.com/ToCrossTheMoon/ .
Contact Sam Salwei via email ( kitend@gmail.com ) for additional information. |
