Construction of a wind turbine on a “gob nob” mining-waste hill near Farmersville, Ill., has been finished and will begin producing power this week, reports the Springfield Journal-Register.
Art’s Motel & Restaurant owner Barry Lambachia, who also can see the gob knob from his office, said he his hopeful the novelty of a wind turbine might draw additional traffic at the Route 66 landmark on the edge of Farmersville.
“It was a slow year (2008), but hopefully it will pick up. I think that’s a good idea (wind power). I would like to do that. I’m on Ameren, and it’s too expensive,” Lambachia said.
The single turbine was built by the Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative of Auburn and will power about 300 homes.
The hill in Farmersville, created by a pile of slag from a long-gone coal-mining operation, allows the turbine to take advantage of stronger, upper air currents. The cooperative has photos of the turbine’s construction process here.
Mining slag piles are sprinkled throughout the state. So dozens of towns could take advantage of these otherwise-marginal hills. In fact, I’ve heard that my hometown is doing just that.
A huge windfarm adjacent to Route 66 exists in Weatherford, Okla., and a park in town is dedicated to the alternative power. There also are windfarms just off the Mother Road in Wilderado, Texas, and San Jon, N.M.