By Melissa Hurtado
Reporter
Crowder College will no longer offer the Alternative Energy: Wind Program for the Missouri Alternative and Renewable Energy Technology (MARET) Center. The MARET Center aims to distribute renewable energy throughout the nation with education, research, and development. Their programs had included certifications in solar thermal energy, solar electricity, and wind. “Our wind [enrollment] numbers have been low. . . we had to cut somewhere,” said Dr. Melissa Oates, Director of the MARET Center. “Some funds expected were not received. . . It was really a financial issue.”
Crowder College has an extensive history with alternative energy dating back to 1978 when solar courses were first offered. In 1984, a Crowder team entered with the first solar-powered vehicle Trans-American Solar Auto Run (TASAR) to cross the continental U.S. In the following years, Crowder continued to thrive with new and improved solar cars. Then the MARET Center expanded to wind courses. In 2008, the Neosho campus obtained a Nordtank TNK wind turbine from a California wind farm.
Moreover, the wind turbine can produce 65kW of electricity with wind speeds of 35 mph. The tower is 120 ft to the center of the blades and 145 ft to the tips. In high winds, the turbine uses centrifugal over speed-blades tips and hydraulic blades and will turn out of the wind. However, the wind turbine is not working, but Dr. Oates has intentions for it to be repaired by remaining wind major students and a former wind instructor.
Students currently enrolled in the program will be able to finish the 2020 fall semester. “It’s unfortunate the wind program is gone,” said Eric Hurtado, wind major student. “It is what it is though”.
The Crowder College wind program is no longer offered; however, the solar program is still available for students. For more information, visit the MARET CENTER on the Crowder website for alternative energy programs.
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