The University of Kansas announced recently that researchers there have built a GIS-powered atlas that provides local governments, developers, and others with information about wind energy regulations for all 105 counties in the state.
With some of the highest potential for wind energy of any state in the country, Kansas is a hot bed of wind energy development, researchers said. But regulations around it vary from county to county. In some counties, the technology is encourage while others have moratoriums preventing any new wind development and still others have no guidelines at all.
The Kansas Energy Transition Atlas is an interactive site that puts wind regulations from all of the counties in one place, and let’s governments, developers and residents learn more about wind policy, build their own maps and find detailed information about things like wind turbine blade length, transmission line in each county and more. Officials said the atlas is one of the first projects of its kind to gather detailed information on wind energy regulations and make it available for anyone.