Over the past year, I've become a lot more interested in finding legitimate ways to create sources of income from vacant land that are truly passive.

Now, to the average real estate investor, the words “passive income” and “vacant land” do NOT go together, but if you know where to look and how to find these kinds of properties, there are actually a lot of opportunities out there.

RELATED: 7 Ways to Make $1,000 Per Month from Land

One such opportunity is to invest in land that is leased out to the owner of a wind farm development.

Essentially, the landowner can earn revenue from the lease (which typically lasts for 35 years or longer) and collect a small percentage of the royalties from the energy that is generated and sent into the power grid.

Depending on the size of the wind farm project, it's not uncommon for these leases and royalties to produce anywhere from $20,000 – $50,000 for the landowner. And the landowner doesn't have to do anything. They simply own the dirt and collect the money each year.

Sounds pretty simple, right?

Well… there's A LOT more to the story. In this episode – I talk with Tao Kong (COO of Alcen Renewable) and we uncover a lot of the details behind how wind energy leases work, what kinds of properties make the most sense for this type of development, what markets make the most sense to start looking in (and which ones to avoid), and a lot more.

This was one of the most interesting conversations I've had in a long time, and if you have any interest in passive income, land investing or renewable energy, I think you'll enjoy it too.

Links and Resources

• Alcen Renewable's Facebook Page
• Check out Alcen Renewable on Instagram
• Curious about which states have Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) or Voluntary Targets? Check out this map for more info.
• Want to see which areas of the country have the best wind velocity? Refer to the Wind Prospector to find some of the prime areas around the country.
• See the total number of megawatts installed in each state on the WINDExchange.
• Arnold Schwarzenegger's take on coal energy

Some perspective on how BIG a wind turbine can be:

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Thanks again for joining me this week. Until next time!

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