It is earth day, and instead of talking about that first, we'd like to tell you about a different "green" cash crop that's sprouting in local farm fields.
The wind has now turned electric along the Tazewell–Logan County line. That's because 67 wind turbines will produce enough electricity to power 30–thousand homes.
"There's no fuel cost. The fuel is the wind. So basically the impact is what it takes to manufacture the turbines and the energy return for that is generally less than a year. Generally, just a couple of months," said Mat Cicero with Horizon Wind Energy.
The 175 to 200 million dollar Rail Splitter Wind Farm will be online by the end of June.
Soon, Horizon Wind Energy will begin construction on its 3rd Wind Farm in Illinois built in Livingston and LaSalle Counties.
"It's just going to keep growing. Right now, we've been limited mostly by the number of turbines that can be manufactured by the manufacturers. The costs are front–loaded. There are no extra costs as they maintain themselves," said Cicero.
Students at Illinois Central College are also turned on to the green movement for the green. They're hoping for a windfall of cash in a career in this field.
"With the wind turbines going up all over the state, the technology is taking off with the job market. Having the basic knowledge here is going to help," said student Patrick Lynn.
As part of an Earth Day Celebration, ICC held a Wind Turbine Contest.
Four home–built turbines were put into a wind tunnel to see which one could lift this weight the fastest.
"I used sheet metal and a bunch of things we had around to put it together and it just won," said Lindsey Rogers, who won the contest.
Rogers recognizes the biggest winner though is the environment.
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