Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country | Founded 05-05-05

July 24, 2008 issue


ASU Students Produce Harvesting Wind: North Carolina’s Alternative Progress


Story by Sam Calhoun

When ASU video production students Jimmy Lail, Ben Park and Chris Zaluski set out on a semester-long project to produce a local video, they wanted to produce a product that had more of an impact than a video that would be shown once in class and then forgotten. After months of producing, directing, editing and fine-tuning camera work and audio, Lail, Park and Zaluski now have a video that is teaching North Carolinians about wind turbines and clearing up misconceptions about the alternative energy.

The video, Harvesting Wind: North Carolina’s Alternative Progress, is posted at www.appalachianawesome.com, and the producers hope residents will watch the video and become inspired to champion wind energy in the High Country.

Mixing interviews featuring local renewable energy experts Rachael Hoch, Brent Summerville and Ged Moody with roll of the ASU Wind Farm on Beech Mountain and other wind turbine sites across North Carolina, Harvesting Wind takes a fresh look at the nation’s current energy crisis, while offering layman-type explanations of how wind energy works. The 18-minute film also explains the realities behind the many misconceptions associated with wind energy.

The film addresses the 1983 Ridge Law that was put in place after Sugar Top Condominiums was built, as well as the Town of Blowing Rock’s ban on wind turbines.

“Once we all started talking about what we wanted to do for a video, we decided we wanted to do something that we could be proud of but also something that could make a difference,” said Lail. “And then we heard about Blowing Rock’s law and it made even more sense to work on a video on wind energy because of the ban in place—in a place where there’s a lot of wind.”

In Harvesting Wind, Moody explains how wind speeds are categorized from class 1 to class 7. Areas need a class 3 or better to produce ample wind energy and the High Country boasts wind speeds in the class 4 to class 7 range.

“We want to get this video out to more people through the Internet and word of mouth,” said Lail. “The whole goal of the entire thing is to raise awareness and to clear up misconceptions and to hopefully see windmills in these mountains.”

BlueNC.com featured Harvesting Wind on its website last month and Lail, Park and Zaluski are in talks with representatives at BlueNC.com about possible grant monies to do similar projects in the future.

To view the video, click to www.appalachianawesome.com.