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1. Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) — the utility way (the average cost over the lifespan of the project, initial investments plus operation and maintenance costs, not including externalities).
2. “All In” — taking into account externalities — health/environmental costs (these are real costs that we pay that vary according to the energy source).

The first study to use detailed econometric methods to measure the economic development impacts of wind power installations in a 12-state region between 2000 and 2008 shows a positive net annual increase on county-level personal income and jobs. “For every megawatt of additional wind in County A, one would expect an $11,150 increase in income,” said Ryan Wiser, Staff Scientist and Deputy Group Leader in the Electricity Markets and Policy Group at LBL. Along with the increase in income, there was also an average 0.48 increase in net jobs, and Wiser added that the net job measure is meaningful only when most wind farms are bigger than 1 MW. “There is no doubt that local communities, especially rural communities, are impacted by these projects,” said Wiser. “We are not prepared to say whether [the numbers] are significant or insignificant, but some counties are being substantially positively impacted by wind development.”

The study, conducted by the USDA Economic Research Service, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBL) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, focused on 1,009 counties in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Kansas, Nebraska, Montana, North and South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota.

The $11,150-per-MW increase in total county-level personal income and the 0.48-per-MW net employment increase translate to an average 0.22% increase in personal income and 0.4% employment gains from 2000 to 2008.

Wiser said the numbers are “a bit misleadingly low, because we take into account only wind development in the past, and there has already been a lot of development since 2008.” Furthermore, he said, the study team did not count people switching into a wind sector job as a net positive gain in employment, only as an increase in income, if it included one. The study team chose to use personal income instead of labor income to account for things like royalties paid to a landowner for wind turbine installation, Wiser said.

Such a study was not possible until now, Wiser said. “It requires enough wind development in the past to identify impacts that exist. If [USDA] had come to me 4 years ago, I would have said there’s not enough development to determine econometric impact.”

The study, “The Impact of Wind Development on County-Level Income and Employment: A Review of Methods and an Empirical Analysis,” can be purchased through the website of journal Energy Economics. The study is also summarized in a fact sheet from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

By Marsha W. Johnston

A Culver group warns of near apocalyptic consequences should the proposed NextEra Wind Farm be approved.  Humans may suffer headaches, blurred vision, dizziness, depression, etc.  Farm animals may become sick, die, suffer birth defects, decreased dairy and egg production, etc.  Birds, bats, butterflies, fish, etc. may be killed or abandon the area.  Yes, even fish.  Wildlife habitat may be lost.  Lifeline helicopters and crop-dusters may not serve the area.  Wind turbines may catch fire and endanger firefighters and EMS crews.  And, the horrid wind turbines will pervert the community’s natural beauty and depress property values.

That was just a sampling and it’s frightening.  Could this be the end of Culver?  To answer this question I looked at an even more ominous threat that Culver has thus far withstood- BOATING.  Boating threatens people, animals, the environment and our aesthetic sensibilities.  The Coast Guard reported that in 2009 boating accidents resulted in 736 deaths and 3,358 injuries.  Rescuers put their lives on the line every day responding to these accidents.  The noise, turbulence and emissions of boats adversely affects the feeding, breeding and nesting of fish, birds and other aquatic life; and it affects water clarity and quality.  This results in increased algae and the introduction of metals, hydrocarbons and other carcinogenic pollutants.  And don’t forget that boats introduced zebra mussels.  As for aesthetics, does anything pervert the lake’s natural beauty more than the hundreds of piers, lift stations and boats that line our shores half the year and our roads the other half?  And the noise- it carries for miles while disturbing a peaceful weekend afternoon.  Perhaps the Culver group’s next crusade should be to ban all boats on Lake Maxinkuckee.  As silly as that sounds my point is that scare tactics can be used to instill fear and undermine anything.

Alfred Nyby

http://am1050.com/2011/the-end-of-culver/

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Despite the prevalence of creatine use as an ergogenic supplement, it is still a largely misunderstood molecule.  Let's clear up some of the myths and spell out exactly what creatine supplementation can and cannot do for you and to you.

The Role of Phosphocreatine in Energy Production
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP, 3 phosphates), that energy molecule you probably learned about in high school, is responsible for fueling ALL muscle contractions in the body.  Unfortunately, we do not hold enough ATP to power high intensity exercise for more than a few seconds of protracted work.  Rather than having a large storage site of this rather heavy molecule, it's much more efficient to simply make new ATP as needed.  Your body is doing so as you read this; you may store in the ballpark of 100-200g of ATP at any one time, (depending on body size, muscle fiber distribution, etc.) but can recycle upwards of your entire body weight's worth of ATP in one day.

As activity demands, the chemical bond between the second and third phosphate molecule is split to release energy.  This leaves us with adenosine diphosphate (ADP, 2 phosphates).  In order to create new ATP molecules from ADP, a third phosphate is needed.


That's where creatine comes in.

Phosphocreatine (PCr) is part of the phosphogen (ATP-PC) energy system. It's found naturally in red meat and fish, and is also produced normally in the liver and kidneys through a combination of essential and non-essential amino acids. As ATP is depleted, intramuscular phosphocreatine stores act as a phosphate reservoir from which the body pulls the third phosphate needed to synthesize adenosine triphosphate from adenosine diphosphate. Oral supplementation of creatine directly increases the intramuscular availability of phosphocreatine.

This occurs in real time.  The body is able to rapidly re-synthesize new ATP from ADP using creatine kinase to liberate the necessary phosphate.  Simply put, the larger the phosphocreatine pool, the more ATP can be made. In this regard, phosphocreatine acts as a rate limiting precursor to ATP production, which ultimately makes it a limiter on short duration, maximal intensity activity endurance.


Benefits of Creatine Supplementation
So, what can creatine supplementation offer the hard training population?

Consider that ATP stores last no longer than 10 seconds at most during very high intensity exercise.  Once that ATP is gone, you're forced to switch into the lactic acid/glycolytic energy system, which necessitates a sizeable decrease in force production. This is easily observable; perform any all-out exercise which requires 90-100% work output, and in less than 10 seconds you will begin to fatigue and power output will diminish.

The more phosphocreatine available, the more ATP can be re-synthesized, the longer you stay within the ATP-PCr energy system, the longer you can sustain a maximal work output. This is particularly valuable for movements such as 1-3RM lifts, 100m sprints, a wrestling scramble, that breakaway sprint from your 10 yard line to the other team's end zone, or any other movement requiring all-out explosiveness or maximal work output.

What's more, having a larger creatine pool speeds re-synthesis time between intense activity, thus improving recovery. Picture a boxer being able to more rapidly recover between all-out 10 punch flurries, a soccer player recovering faster from consecutive sprints, a lifter with less recovery time between sets, or any other sport that involves stop-go bursts of intense activity.

Sounds great, right? Well, let's put it into perspective. Creatine is not going to shave seconds off your 100 yard anymore than it will put 50 lbs onto your squat. It may let you throw one last punch in a combo or get that extra rep you might otherwise miss, but it isn't a miracle supplement. Creatine supplementation offers a reasonable performance increase for anaerobic activity, but it certainly isn't make or break. It also offers no direct benefit on activities utilizing aerobic or lactic acid/glycolytic systems (anything past 10 seconds of max output). Note that this doesn't include short term bursts of maximal work interspersed within less intense activities. For example, a boxer utilizing primarily the lactic acid/glycolytic and aerobic systems would still benefit from creatine when called on to do an all out storm of punches.

Lastly, creatine also readily absorbs water. This may or may not be a benefit, depending on the individual. It has the aesthetic perk of making muscles appear bigger and fuller (they aren't stronger, only filled with a bit more intramuscular water), which would obviously be desirable for a bodybuilder. However, it can also make other tissues appear bloated, depending on how efficiently a person can uptake creatine into muscle cells, which varies. For a weight class restricted athlete, water retention could be problematic. If this is you, I would advise experimenting in the off season with how much benefit creatine supplementation gives performance-wise versus how much weight is gained, or utilizing creatine to train hard, then cycling off a few weeks before your season starts.

Those are the concrete facts.

Creatine also has a litany of "probably does", "could possibly", and "might even" secondary effects.

Studies by Santos et al, 2004, and Cooke and Barnes, 1997, suggest that creatine may improve post exercise recovery and speed recovery time. This is likely from reducing cellular inflammation and damage that comes with the territory of intense activity.

A study by Wyss and Schulze, 2002, have indicated that it may be beneficial in treating certain neurodegenerative brain disorders such as Parkinson's, and may even offer short term memory and problem solving benefits to normal populations.

Studies by Cribb et al, 2007, Burke et al, 1996, and quite a few others have suggested that creatine supplementation improves muscular hypertrophy. Compared to the placebo group, the treatment group showed higher levels of IGF-1 and lean body mass increase. It is unclear whether or not the creatine itself caused these effects, or if creatine's anaerobic performance boost allowed for more intense training, thus leading to increased hypertrophy. Interestingly, these effects were more pronounced amongst vegetarians.

...and so on. There's a lot more unsubstantiated claims on the benefits of creatine supplementation. As in the above cases, there's some compelling science and suggestion being made, but a dearth of a strong body of research still renders these supposed benefits as conjecture.

Contraindications and side effects
Despite conclusive evidence on the safety of creatine, there's still a lingering belief that it will turn your kidneys into jelly or suck the water out of your body faster sprinting in the Sahara.

By and large, creatine supplementation is quite safe. It has practically no known significant, lasting side effects and only minor side effects.

Creatine supplementation doesn't require additional water intake per se; if you aren't adequately hydrated and throw in creatine, then the effects of dehydration will be exacerbated due to the water grabbing nature of the molecule. An athlete who consumes enough water (a topic which will be covered in the future) should experience no symptoms of dehydration.

In the same vein, overdosing creatine can cause a large amount of water to be absorbed in the intestinal tract. This can cause gas, cramping, and discomfort. These side effects are easily prevented or mitigated by avoiding a load-up and following a normal dosing schedule and drinking enough water.

Caffeine and creatine can be taken together, but there is an increased risk of compounding any issues of dehydration due to the diuretic nature of caffeine. If creatine and caffeine are taken together, even more focus must be placed on adequate hydration.

Outside of the realm of predictable effects, there will always be a rare few who have odd reactions. This is true of any supplement or medication, and is unspecific to creatine.

NSAID's may compound any stress excess creatine can place on your kidneys. I wouldn't go chasing 5 Ibuprofen with 20g of creatine, but again this is not likely to be a concern if normal dosage of both the NSAID and creatine are used.

The take home point is that if you do it right, creatine supplementation is safe. If It has no inherent kidney damaging properties. Because creatine is filtered through and puts extra stress on the kidneys, those with nephrological problems should probably consult a doctor before use. Don't be the guy who thinks "one scoop creatine good, 10 scoops better!" and there's a 99% chance you'll have no problems.

For some, a major concern will be the likelihood that creatine supplementation down regulates natural creatine production over a period of months to years. While this has never been conclusively proven, it's probably true. Practically anything produced in the body will be down regulated if it is supplied exogenously. If I started injected myself with insulin, testosterone, antioxidants, or anything else naturally produced in the body, you'd better believe that my own natural production would drop off in response. Your body hates being wasteful and won't expend resources to make something it's getting more than enough of. This is, again, nonspecific to creatine.

The real question is, does supplementation have any lasting effects on natural production? No one really knows. I highly doubt supplementation would or could have any permanent effect on natural creatine production, or any other naturally occurring substance for that matter. You might experience a brief lag time if supplementation stops, following by a quick return to normal synthesis.

Lastly, about ~10% of creatine users will be non-responders, meaning that for whatever reason, they will see no benefit. This is likely due to uptake inefficiency, meaning that not much of the creatine you take actually arrives intramuscularly. If this describes you, fancier forms of creatine with better absorption may be worth a shot.

Types of Creatine

Creatine Monohydrate
This is the basic stuff. Luckily, it's effective, cheap, and generally works just fine. The only real drawback is that it's gritty and not all that soluble, meaning you have to constantly mix or choke down what tastes very much like a big gulp of sand. It can also cause intestinal discomfort, bloating, and so on. Apart from that, There's not a whole lot of reason to stray too far from monohydrate.

Micronized Creatine
Basically the same as monohydrate, just ground to a much finer particle. This increases surface area, supposedly reducing any intestinal side effects. Really, the main reason to buy this over monohydrate is that it mixes easier and tends to be easier to drink. If the taste and texture of monohydrate bothers you, consider spending a little extra on this form.

Creatine Ethyl Esther (CEE)
Touted as being much more bio-available, this form is supposed to elicit far better absorption. It's also supposed to negate any intestinal issues as well as "creatine bloat", which may be helpful for weight class restricted athletes. Lastly, it's claimed to work on monohydrate non-responders. I've never tried it, but it's said to have a truly awful taste in powder form, though capsules are available. CEE is quite a bit more expensive than monohydrate.

Pre Workout Supplement
Usually creatine mixed with caffeine, arginine, beta-alanine, and whatever other proprietary mix used for the intention of causing a whole slew of, if you believe the adds, beneficial effects. Jack3d, NO Xplode, Superpump Max, Nuclear T-Rex Ripped Anabolercised Xtreme Musclez Xploder (just kidding) and other ridiculously name products all fall under this category. Discussion of of these is beyond the scope of this article; just know that most of them contain creatine, sometimes in undisclosed amounts. Extra supplementation may or may not be redundant.

All the Rest
Either prohibitively expensive, unstudied, proven ineffective, or all of the above. Don't waste your time or money.

Creatine type is largely a matter of opinion and taste. If you respond well to monohydrate, I'd stick with that. If you can't stand the texture, turn out to be a non-responder, or get significant bloating/cramping/gas, you might want to give micronized or CEE a shot.

How to Supplement With Creatine
Avoid a loading phase, plain and simple. There's no reason to do it. An excess of ~5g for most people at a time will simply be excreted through the urine, and increases the likelihood of nasty gastrointestinal side effects.

Start with 2-5g of creatine a day. For reference, one teaspoon is about ~5g. You'll probably want to mix it with some kind of juice or sugary drink, probably with your post workout carbs. Studies have suggested that uptake is enhanced with an insulin spike, but more importantly the stuff is usually pretty gritty and I personally can't stomach it with water, milk or shakes. If you can, then there's no problem. Avoid taking it with orange juice or other acidic juices as the acid has been shown to degrade creatine.

Don't pre-mix a creatine solution. It degrades fairly quickly in liquid and should be drank as soon as it's mixed.

Since creatine has to be built up and stored in the system, when you take it isn't very important. Just get in 2-5g a day and within two or three weeks you'll be saturated and enjoying the benefits. To maintain, you really only need to take ~2-3g, but most continue to take 5g because it's easy to just toss a teaspoon in. Either way is fine as a little excess will likely just be excreted.

You can either stay on it indefinitely, or cycle if you have concerns of down regulation of natural production. There's no real evidence that creatine supplementation down regulates natural production, but there's also no evidence that suggests that it doesn't either. This is a personal call. That being said, I would be rather surprised if a normal body wasn't easily capable of resuming normal creatine synthesis once supplementation has ceased, with a lag time of probably no more than a few days in which natural liver and kidney synthesis is depressed.

Lastly, you may not benefit from creatine supplementation if you eat a lot of game animals, red meat, or fish regularly.

References
Santos, R. V. et al. (2004) The effect of creatine supplementation upon inflammatory and muscle soreness markers after a 30km race. Life Sciences, Volume 75(16), pages 1917-1924

Cooke, W., Barnes. W. (1997). The influence of recovery duration on high-intensity exercise performance after oral creatine supplementation. Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology, 22, 454-467.

Wyss M, Schulze A. Health implications of creatine: can oral creatine supplementation protect against neurological and atherosclerotic disease? Neuroscience. 2002;112(2):243-60.

Cribb, P.J., Williams, A.D., Strathis, C.G., Carey, M.F. & Hayes, A. (2007). Effects of wheyisolate, creatine, and resistance training on muscle hypertrophy. Medicine & Science inSports & Exercise,
39 (2), 298-30.

Burke, L.M., Pyne, D.B. and Telford, R.D. (1996) Effect of oral creatine supplementation on single-effort
sprint performance in elite swimmers. International Journal of Sports Nutrition 6, 222-233.

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• Wind is the only source of energy that does not present population-level risks to birds, according to a study of coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, hydroelectric, and wind power.
• Wind turbines are estimated to cause less than three out of every 100,000 human-related bird deaths in the U.S., and will never cause more than a very small fraction no matter how extensively wind power is used in the future, the National Academy of Sciences found.
• Wind power causes far fewer losses of birds (approximately 108,000 a year) than buildings (550 million), power lines (130 million), cars (80 million), poisoning by pesticides (67 million), domestic cats (at least 10 million), and radio and cell towers (4.5 million).
• Non-renewable energy sources "pose higher risks to wildlife" than renewable sources. Coal - which wind directly replaces - "is by far the largest contributor" to wildlife risks.

Find current wind farm projects, wind turbine parts manufacturers, as well as congressional voting information on this map.

As fossil fuel prices continue to rise resulting in escalating home heating and cooling costs for most local residents, the cost of fuel will hold steady for wind power: zero. In 2012 utilities will continue to embrace the price-locking benefit of wind power by signing long-term power contracts for the affordable energy source. That’s because unlike the volatile prices of fossil fuels, wind power’s fuel cost is fixed: zero. The fuel cost was zero last year, and it’s guaranteed to stay at zero in 2012 as well. And wind power chalks up big zeros in other key areas: zero water use, zero air emissions, and zero water pollution.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is the statistical and analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. EIA is the nation's premier source of energy information and, by law, its data, analyses, and forecasts are independent of approval by any other officer or employee of the U.S. Government.

The EIA publishes state specific information about electric generation, cost of electricity, and power plant emissions.[1] When it comes to emissions of pollutants like Sulfur Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxide, Indiana ranks 4th (that’s 4th most polluting). The EIA reports the emissions of 7.2 pounds of Sulfur Dioxide and 2.1 pounds of Nitrogen Oxide for every MWh of electricity produced by power plants in Indiana.

The proposed Marshall / Fulton County wind farm would generate approximately 306,600 MWh of electricity annually, while generating no waste and emitting zero pollution. That translates to an annual offset of approximately 2,207,520 pounds of Sulfur Dioxide and 643,860 pounds of Nitrogen Oxide. Not to mention the elimination of other greenhouse gases and other pollutants such as mercury.

Are you wondering if that’s a good thing? Short-term exposures to SO2 are linked to an array of adverse respiratory effects, particularly in at-risk populations including children, the elderly, and asthmatics. Emissions that lead to high concentrations of SO2 generally also lead to the formation of other SOx. Control measures that reduce SO2 can generally be expected to reduce people’s exposures to all gaseous SOx. SOx can react with other compounds in the atmosphere to form small particles, which pose significant public health threats. These particles penetrate deeply into sensitive parts of the lungs and can cause or worsen respiratory disease, such as emphysema and bronchitis, and can aggravate existing heart disease, leading to increased hospital admissions and premature death.[2]

[1] http://www.eia.gov/cneaf/electricity/st_profiles/indiana.html
[2] http://www.epa.gov/air/sulfurdioxide/health.html

Opposition has arisen to the proposed wind farm because people think it will change their view shed. A wind farm can be a significant change. However, while some people express concern over this  change, others see wind farms as elegant and beautiful, a sign of progress, or symbols of a better, less polluted future. The visual effect of a wind farm is a subjective issue, but most of the other criticisms made about wind energy are exaggerated or untrue, and simply reflect attempts by a particular group to discredit the technology, worry our local community, and turn other residents against the proposed project. In comparison to wind turbines, there are smokestacks at coal plants in Indiana that tower well over 1,000 feet in the air.

Some have speculated that the wind energy produced will not be used locally. In reality, electrons flow to the path of least resistance, which means the power produced will feed local homes, schools, and businesses. Electricity is a regional commodity, companies like NextEra look for transmission infrastructure to increase the value of the commodity. Our area does have good access to a broad transmission market, but that doesn't mean it is less likely for the local utilities to purchase the electricity.

Marshall County’s zoning ordinance requires a 1,000 foot setback between a home and a wind turbine. NextEra’s own setback limit is no less than 1,400 feet. Shadow flicker is predictable and is based on the sun’s angle, turbine location, and the distance to an observer; it can be mitigated. Shadow flicker from moving wind blades typically lasts just a few minutes near sunrise and sunset and can be addressed through proper siting of turbines and through use of proven mitigation techniques such as screening plantings. NextEra limits shadow flicker to no more than 30 hours per year cumulatively (if more than one turbine has the potential to cast a shadow on a home). An expert panel for the National Academy of Sciences found shadow flicker to be “harmless to humans.”

Today's large wind turbines make less noise than the background noise you hear in your own home. According to the American Wind Energy Association, an operating wind farm at a distance of about 750 to 1,000 feet is no noisier than a kitchen refrigerator or a moderately quiet room. Marshall County's wind energy ordinance has a sound requirement in place that prevents a developer from siting wind turbines in a location that would produce sound over 55 dba offsite. 55 dba is less than a vehicle driving down the road. Sound attenuates with distance. A voice may "carry 1.5 miles" but that doesn't mean it can be heard.


Independent studies conducted around the world have consistently found that wind farms have no direct impact on physical health. Neither the American Medical Association, the Canadian Medical Association, the World Health Organization, the Center for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, nor any leading medical journals or institutions recognize "wind turbine syndrome". In fact, as an energy source that emits no air or water pollution emissions and creates no hazardous waste, wind energy is essential to reducing public health impacts from the energy sector.

Still not convinced? Search online for other local wind farms; get in your car and drive. Pick a random farmhouse in the area and politely ask the owner how they feel about the wind turbines. We believe you’ll find the vast majority of landowners are very thankful to have them. In fact, when asking if they have any regrets, don’t be surprised if you hear “Yes, I regret not having more of them!”