Tanzania will host the first wind farm in sub-Saharan Africa, and my heart swells with pride. I visited Tanzania last year, and while I tend to fall hopelessly in love with every foreign destination I visit, this trip really made me consider tearing up my return ticket.

Although my thoughts mostly ran to the stunning scenery and charismatic megafauna we saw on safari, Tanzania’s energy struggles were obvious: When we deplaned in Arusha (straight onto the tarmac; there are no air conditioned jetways at Arusha Airport), I was stuck by the heavy aroma of coffee tree trimmings being burned for domestic cooking. Tanzania gets most of its electricity from hydro installations, but very little of the country is connected to the grid. And without much diversity in its energy portfolio, the few Tanzanians who are on the grid are in the dark when droughts drain reservoirs.

The lodges we stayed in had electricity for just part of each day, usually powered by diesel generators. I worried that Tanzania’s ecotourism industry might soon be jeopardized by a pollution problem of its own making. Fortunately, solar seems to be catching on, if the many dusty solar contractors’ pickup trucks that I saw are any indication.

Solar seems the obvious choice for sub-Saharan Africa but it turns out there’s wind aplenty, too. When 3TIER unveiled the global 15 kilometer wind map in early March, some of our staffers were pleasantly surprised at the wind potential in the Horn of Africa, and it seems those wind speeds extend to the southwest in bands along the high escarpments of the Rift Valley.

Last year, the World Bank committed $111 million to improve Tanzania’s power system, which includes money for renewable and off-grid projects in rural areas. Looks like Tanzania won’t build the coal-fired plants that were called for in 2006, when droughts caused country-wide black outs.

If, like me, you think extracting the bitumen from the Alberta tar sands for oil is an object lesson in unsustainability, you’ll be glad to know that 3TIER has added Canada to the FirstLook 5 kilometer-resolution wind map portfolio.

The Canadian Wind Energy Association reports:

In the past few years, wind energy production in Canada has grown to 1,856 MW. While this is encouraging, Canada still has vast untapped wind resources available. In fact, there is the potential in Canada for wind energy to meet a full 20% of all our electricity needs.

3TIER wind maps are now available for Alaska, too. The Alaska Energy Authority “lends out” met towers and data collecting equipment to communities that want to find out if they have the potential for municipal wind projects. I applaud Alaska, a state so rich in oil that its denizens get a divided check each year, for its commitment to renewable energy.

Some other states, like Ohio and Texas, have met tower loaner programs. Have any readers made use of them?