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1 September 2016 Kansas Windscape - 2016 Status
James S. Aber, Susan W. Aber
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Abstract

Kansas has played a significant role for the growth of wind energy in the United States. Kansas ranks sixth among states for wind-energy capacity, and is third in the nation for per-capita production of electricity from the wind. Wind farms are sited in topographically high positions on uplands, drainage divides, escarpments, and other rural sites in which there are few or no obstacles to interrupt near-surface wind flow. The best regions of the state include the High Plains, especially in southwestern Kansas, the Blue Hills and Flint Hills, and on the Missouri-Arkansas drainage divide in the Osage Cuestas. Rapid development of wind energy has taken place in these regions during the past few years, except for the Flint Hills, which is an exclusion zone for new wind farms. Bird and bat mortality remains an issue, but with appropriate wildlife mitigation much more wind energy could be developed in Kansas. Aesthetic issues include visibility and noise. Developing safe and renewable energy resources that have minimal environmental impacts is a priority in the twenty-first century. Wind energy from Kansas is part of the solution.

James S. Aber and Susan W. Aber "Kansas Windscape - 2016 Status," Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 119(3-4), 395-405, (1 September 2016). https://doi.org/10.1660/062.119.0403
Published: 1 September 2016
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