Community Vision Quest:

Wind Energy and Community Building in Northfield

This project examines the community building process in Northfield by focusing on a community-based wind energy project. The project examined is a joint venture in wind energy organized by RENew Northfield, the Northfield School District (NSD) and Carleton College.
The purpose of the project is threefold:
  • Use scholarship to benefit the Northfield Community.
  • Organize observations of community environmental activism into a testable hypothesis.
  • Make the findings accessible to the community.
windmill
source: NEG Micon Annual Report 2000

    The RENew/NSD/Carleton project will install two utility-scale wind turbines, of the sort shown above, on a ridge approximately three miles east of downtown Northfield. The turbines are expected to operate by September, 2003.
    This web site is structured to reflect how research was conducted. Research began with generalized observations used to develop a hypothesis. Data was collected according to specific methods for an analysis. The conclusion uses this analysis to address the viability of the tested hypothesis.

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