Brighter Planet

Farmer-owned distributed wind turbines

Podcast about this project

Right-click to download the podcast.

How are the carbon offsets generated?

For every kWh of renewable electricity generated, one kWh less is generated by fossil fuel plants.

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What’s the social or community value?

By purchasing offsets from distributed farmer-owned turbines Brighter Planet’s customers are helping to ensure these farms will be around for generations to come. Distributed renewable energy projects also help to stabilize the electric grid making it more robust and reliable.

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What technology is used in the turbines?

The farms use German-designed 40 kW Aeroman wind turbines that are remanufactured and customized for Midwest conditions.

Where are these turbines located?

• Marty Espenson’s farm (Bingham Lake, MN)
• Dean Tofteland’s farm (Luverne, MN)
• The Overgaard family farm (Magnolia, MN)
• Neil and Tammy Bartel’s farm (Mountain Lake, MN)
• Barry and Tami Bork’s farm (Valley Springs, SD)
• The Peterson family farm (Comfrey, MN)
• Charles & Louise Worm’s farm (Lakefield, MN)
• Roddy Hanson’s farm (Butterfield, MN)
• Mark Hanson’s farm (Mountain Lake, MN)
• The Fredin farm (Comfrey, MN)
• Todd Burkhalter’s farm (Mountain Lake, MN)
• Jason and Amber Schroepfer’s farm (Comfrey, MN)
• Gary Bailey’s farm (Williams, MN)
• Mark Boen’s farm (Fergus Falls, MN)
• Riestenberg farm (Perham, MN)

How is this project additional?

The sale of offsets helps bring the upfront cost of these turbines down to a level that works for most farms, substantially increasing the adoption rate for this distributed wind technology.

Read more about ‘additional’ carbon offsets

Photo credit: NativeEnergy