General Information:

Renewable Energy Atlas of the West - 80-page, full-color presentation of the renewable energy resources in the West, including newly-released high-resolution wind maps of the Pacific Northwest. The Atlas profiles wind, solar, geothermal and biomass power: http://www.energyatlas.org/

Montana Green Power – Information on alternative energy including solar, wind, and other renewables: http://www.montanagreenpower.com/

National Renewable Energy Laboratory - nation's primary laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development: http://www.nrel.gov/

Montana Wind Energy Atlas – comprehensive analysis of wind energy data available as of 1987. Data collected by a variety of public and private organizations at 158 wind monitoring sites around Montana , and are available at site and county levels: http://www.deq.state.mt.us/Energy/wind_atlas/wind_atlas_index.asp

U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Program – includes information on alternative energies including solar, geothermal, hydrogen, biomass, and wind power: http://www.eere.energy.gov/

National Center for Appropriate Technology - serves economically disadvantaged people by providing information and access to appropriate technologies that can help improve their lives: http://www.ncat.org/

Rocky Mountain Institute - not-for-profit “think and do tank” that works with individuals and organizations of every imaginable kind to help them use energy and resources efficiently while being ever-better stewards of the environment: http://www.rmi.org/

H2Education and the Alternative Energy Learning Site - the Alternative Energy Learning Site, located in Missoula, Montana, provides educational opportunities to the public about renewable energy technologies.  The site includes a 10 kilowatt wind turbine, 2 kilowatt solar photovoltaic array, a proton exchange membrane  fuel cell and abattery back-up unit.   H2Education provides educational resources on hydrogen technology: http://www.h2education.com/index.php/sID/6a63f9e4/tID/03cd5987/fuseaction/education.main.htm

Geospatial and other data:

National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Dynamic Maps, GIS Data and Analysis Tools Website -  provides dynamically-generated maps of renewable energy resources (solar, wind, biomass, hydrogen) that determine which energy technologies are viable solutions in national and international regions.  This site also provides access to an FTP site where you can download data and Geospatial Toolkits: http://www.nrel.gov/gis/

National Climatic Data Center - NCDC is the world's largest active archive of weather data. NCDC produces numerous climate publications and responds to data requests from all over the world.  Available data sets include land – and satellite-based upper air and marine weather and climate at various spatial and temporal resolutions: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/ncdc.html

U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Program – validated state wind maps: http://www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/windpoweringamerica/wind_maps.asp

Wind Energy Resource Atlas of the United States – includes regional wind speed summaries and a great selection of graphical maps showing seasonal and annual wind resources at state and regional levels (see “List of Maps” link toward the bottom of the document): http://rredc.nrel.gov/wind/pubs/atlas/

National Renewable Energy Laboratory ’s United States Atlas of Renewable Resources - View, zoom into and print interactive maps of solar, wind, geothermal and biomass resources in the US: http://www.energyatlas.org/

Reports and documents available for download:

Hydrogen, wind, biodiesel, and ethanol - alternative energy sources to fuel Montana's future? (2004). Helena, MT, Montana Environmental Quality Council.

Monana wind power - a consumer's guide to harnessing the wind. (2004).  NorthWestern Energy.

AERO (2007). Repowering Montana - a blueprint for home grown energy self-reliance. Helena, Alternative Energy Resources Organization (AERO).

Appenzeller, T. (2004). "The End of Cheap Oil." National Geographic 205(6): 80-109.

Ball, J. (2005). Tilting at energy windmills. The Wall Street Journal.

Party, P. (2002). Renewables in Global Energy Supply: An IEA Fact Sheet, París.