The answer, our friends — with profound and sincere apologies to Robert Zimmerman, a.k.a. Bob Dylan (of Duluth and Hibbing, Minn., respectively) — is blowing in the wind.

These days, wind increasingly is the answer to many energy questions.

In addition to its environmental and commercial implications, wind energy has made delightful new contributions to the English language.

All over the world, especially in wind-rich regions, we have something new on the landscape: Wind Farms. In his column in this edition of North Star Port, Port Director Adolph Ojard uses the expression Wind Rush. (Take that, 49ers.) Windustry (which comes free of windustrial pollution) is the name of a new non-profit organization that supports wind-energy investors through technical assistance and networking opportunities (www.windustry.org).

But the ever-increasing cargoes that have been moving through the Port of Duluth-Superior in recent years aren’t based on figures of speech; instead, they’re centered on commerce; they’re the direct result of businesses in America and other countries responding to the threats of global warming and new business opportunities by finding ever-more-efficient ways to harvest energy from non-polluting sources, including the wind.

Indeed, according to Windustry, “Wind is the fastest growing energy source in the world, expanding at a rate of 20 to 30 percent per year. The U.S. had a record year for new wind in 2005, with more than 2,400 megawatts of new wind-energy installations. This brings the national total to 9,149 megawatts of installed energy, enough to power 2.3 million homes.” Data for 2006, though not tallied and published yet, are expected to reflect further explosive growth.

The Port of Duluth-Superior finds itself ideally situated to take advantage of wind growth and to serve enterprises that are making wind energy an important part of their business plan. Granted, California leads the nation in the growth of wind energy. And Texas holds the Number Two spot. But Iowa and Minnesota are closing fast. And Minnesota leads the country in community, farmer and locally owned projects. For example: Carleton College, in Northfield, Minn., recently became the first institution of higher learning in the entire country to have its own commercial-scale wind turbine.

According to Lake Country Power , an electric cooperative in northern Minnesota, our state has 812 megawatts of installled wind energy, and “some analysts say that the move is the most aggressive in the country.”

That is true for at least four reasons. First, Minnesota is blessed with an abundance of wind (not a political commentary), especially in its west and southwest regions. The state’s department of agriculture declares that the “Upper Midwest has such tremendous wind resources that it’s often called the Saudia Arabia of wind energy.” Second, by state law, farmers — or even homeowners — can sell the electricity they generate beyond their needs (up to 40 kilowatts) to their local electric utility at the retail rate. Third, farmers (and Minnesota still has a lot of farmers) can lease wind rights to a power company just as they might lease mineral rights. Fourth, and perhaps most important at this stage of the wind game regionally, Minnesota law requires electric companies, by 2025, to obtain 25 percent of their power from renewable sources such as wind, water, biomass and sun. Lake Country Power says, “Most of the new generation is expected to come from wind turbines.”

Which leads us to some remarkable cargoes that have moved through the Port of Duluth-Superior in recent months and years. For example: The largest wind turbine Minnesota has ever seen arrived at Lake Superior Warehousing Co. on May 18, 2007. The German-made turbine, with a 295-foot wingspan, was destined for wind-rich west-central Minnesota. The blades will sit atop a 260-foot tower, giving the finished turbine a height of more than 400 feet and a capacity of about 2.5 megawatts. By the time you read this, the turbine is expected to be in service. By the end of 2008, that first turbine is expected to be joined by 12 more machines, with a total capacity of 32.5 megawatts. (One megawatt is sufficient to power 250 to 300 homes.)

Duluth-based Minnesota Power won’t own the giant windmills, but has contracted to buy all the power they produce over the next 20 years. Minnesota Power also has announced its intention to build, own and run a commercial, 25 megawatt wind-energy operation on the crest of Taconite Ridge, on land leased from U.S. Steel just east of the company’s Minntac iron ore mine and pellet processing plant.

And all over the land, energy is blowing in the wind.