New Alberta wind farm up and spinning

The most powerful wind farm in Albertaofficially went into production near Taber, southeast of Calgary,on Wednesday.

Built by the City of Calgary's energy company, Enmax, for $140 million, the farm's 37 turbines will generate 80 megawatts of electricity or enough to power 32,000 homes.

'Calgary has the highest per capita ecological footprint of any city in the country. ' — Jesse Row, Pembina Institute

With the addition of this new power, the city will now get nearly 75 per cent of the energy itneeds, for everything from city hall to swimming pools andskating rinks, from green sources.

The city's efforts to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent below current levels by 2012 are applauded by the Pembina Institute, an environmental think-tank.

However, individual Calgarians still need to do more to reduce energy consumption, said spokesman Jesse Row.

"Calgary has the highest per capita ecological footprint of any city in the country, so from that perspective we are certainly having quite an impact on the environment," Row said.