Kansas Windscape - 2016 Status

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...