"Who Owns the Wind?", 24 October 2017

Spain’s largest green energy firms pay rent to landowners…for the access roads and clearings around each [wind] turbine. The landowners also collect revenue based on a derecho del aire, or air right, a privilege that did not exist a few years ago. Suddenly, farmers, ranchers, and their business partners now generate sizeable income from the wind, the equivalent of royalties for oil and minerals... As we attempt to move towards a future with more wind energy, there is no avoiding the once outlandish question: who owns the wind? Is it a public or a private good? As we try to transition away from fossil fuels, these questions will determine the shape and the very possibility of our energy solutions.