Turbulent Times
Thomas Buchanan
President, University of Wyoming
August 28, 2008

Anyone who has driven on Interstate 80 through Wyoming understands the power of wind. To say that much of Wyoming is windy is simply an understatement. “Wind center of the United States” seems more apt. Because of our world-class wind fairways, wide open spaces, and natural terrain, there is great excitement and opportunity in Wyoming to explore our wind energy future.

But the capture of wind and its conversion into useful forms of energy will not be successful without continued research and engineering and the conversion of that knowledge into a well-trained workforce. Amidst the mounting energy crisis in the nation and the world, higher education is increasingly called upon to develop the science and technology needed to cultivate our wind energy future.

The University of Wyoming (UW) in particular will play a key role in the development of our nation’s wind energy resources. UW’s College of Engineering and Applied Science and School of Energy Resources, in collaboration with industry giant BP America and other partners, are currently developing the UW Wind Energy Research Center. Through this center, UW will connect with constituencies throughout the state of Wyoming and the nation, from the lone rancher to the large multi-national corporation. What’s more, because of inherent complexities surrounding the development of wind energy, faculty and students will have the chance to be involved in a range of subject matter, such as improving the design of wind turbines, creating control and electrical systems to operate wind farms, designing towers and foundation loads, exploring the impacts of heavy equipment on local roads, and researching the storage of wind-generated energy.

As demand for fossil fuels continues to outstrip supply, higher education will by necessity play an increasingly important role in the study of alternative energy sources, renewable resources, and the environment. On the UW campus, several “green initiatives” are taking place. Faculty research focuses on alternative development of hydrocarbon resources and the minimization of environmental impacts associated with extraction of coal and uranium ore. Photovoltaics (the conversion of sunlight into energy), geothermal energy, and the conversion of biomass to energy are also growing research initiatives.

Of course, our ultimate goal is to pass this knowledge on to our students. In fact, a group of UW senior engineering students recently won the national Disappearing Roads contest for developing a completely recyclable roll-out road system that disappears without a trace. The competition is part of an environmentally friendly drilling program and is geared toward developing innovative concepts for reducing the footprint of energy development sites in environmentally sensitive areas.

The importance of higher education in the development and integration of wind energy cannot be overstated. Based on these turbulent times and Wyoming’s “windy” characteristics, the state of Wyoming, the University of Wyoming, and higher education as a whole will play important leadership roles in wind energy. Indeed, it looks as if there will be more of these crucial, if not symbolic, wind turbines on our horizon.

Thomas Buchanan became the 23rd president of the University of Wyoming on July 1, 2005. Buchanan is a long-term University of Wyoming faculty member and administrator, having served as vice president for academic affairs, associate dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, and head of the Department of Geography. He received his undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Cortland in 1973, a master of science in geography from the University of Wyoming in 1975, and a PhD from the Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1979.