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Ski-nergy; Ski Resorts and Renewable Energies by Max Stanford
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Ski-nergy; Ski Resorts and Renewable Energies |
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Business
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As the winter comes on stronger and stronger in the coming months, more and more people will pack up their cars with their skis and snowboards with anticipation of hitting those slopes. But have you ever stopped to think how much power these resorts use to operate all of the things that get you from point A to point B on the mountain? From chair-lifts to lights, groomers to the lodge, a ski resort is no cheap power investment. In order to offset some of these pretty hefty prices, more ski resorts are looking towards renewable energies as a means of powering some of these necessary machines. So how exactly did this trend amongst these resorts start? Taking roots in Aspen Colorado, resorts started looking at what wind generators could do for their resorts. One resort in Canada even took this notion one step forward and constructed a hydro-electric plant in order to supply a clean form of energy to the mountain. Resorts that have used these renewable sources of energy have reported seeing as much as a 25% decrease in the amount of power they use from more traditional means. This number may not appear to be all that big but when set against a power bill in the multi-thousands, twenty five percent becomes a pretty attractive discount. Seeing this trend, an Italian manufacturing company began to think of ways to go right to the source. What would happen if the ski lift itself was built in such a way as to capitalize on a renewable energy resource right from the start? Traditional ski lifts make use of traditional technologies like motors and gear boxes. So that passengers are able to safely get on and off the lift, these chair lifts also needed what is known as a gear reducer. A gear reducer slows down the speed of the lift and allows skiers and snowboarders to safely board and exit their chairs. Leitner Lifts of Italy wanted to eliminate this step. Gear reducers suck up a ton of power in the process of slowing a lift down, eliminating them entirely would do wonders for a lift’s power bill. With a lot of work and studies, they were able to reverse this process using wind turbines as a means of slowing down the lifts. As they are powered by the mountain’s wind patterns, the need for an increased amount of energy to be expended towards a gear reducer was completely eliminated. Since their inception a few years ago, many resorts have begun capitalizing on the savings that these new and improved lifts can offer to their energy costs. In order to advertise their lift line to more mountains across the Unites States, Leitner released a study with some pretty startling numbers. A switch over to one of these machines would save a community the same amount of power that it would cost to run and operate all of the energy costs of 800 homes. That’s some pretty impressive savings. Max Stanford is a freelance writer for Worldwide Power Products.
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