As an energy source, wind has a lot of benefits. It's a renewable resource powered by our planet's furnace, the sun. It generates electricity without producing greenhouse gases.

And it isn't associated with toxic by-products such as mercury or radioactive waste.

Wind Energy Image Gallery

The Iowa Stored Energy Park, which will be located in Dallas Center, Iowa.
The Iowa Stored Energy Park, targeted for completion in 2011, will cost around $200,000 to $225,000 -- not including the cost of wind facilities.  See wind energy pictures.

Unfortunately, wind energy also has some drawbacks that have prevented widespread adoption. First, wind doesn't blow all the time, and sometimes it blows hardest when you need it the least. But what if you could store the excess energy created by wind farms so it could be used later?

That's the idea behind the Iowa Stored Energy Park(ISEP). In this case, the energy is stored as compressed air, and the storage unit is not a battery, but the Earth itself. It's not science fiction. In fact, the technology behind compressed air energy storage (CAES) has been around for many years, though it's receiving more attention from environmentalists and renewable energy experts in search of eco-friendly solutions to replace fossil fuels.

So how does it work? Read on to find out.

Acronym Soup
Like the wind, acronyms are a renewable resource when it comes to talking about the Iowa Stored Energy Park. Here are a few you will need to know:

ISEP -- Iowa Stored Energy Park. The "P" originally stood for "Plant," but changed to "Park" when the organization incorporated in 2005.

ISEPA -- Iowa Stored Energy Park Agency. A corporation formed under section 28E of the Iowa code, ISEPA represents more than 130 municipal utilities located in Iowa, Minnesota and the Dakotas.

CAES -- Compressed Air Energy Storage. CAES is a technology in which energy is stored in the form of compressed air in an underground cavern. Then, during periods of peak demand, the air is used to generate power with a turbo-generator system.

IAMU -- Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities. IAMU represents more than 550 municipal electric, gas, water and telecommunication utilities throughout Iowa. It is the largest organization of its kind in the country.