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(condensed from the Worldwatch Report)
| The first windmills for grinding grain appeared in Persia more than 1,000 years ago, and later spread as far as China and northern Europe, where the Dutch developed the massive machines for which the country is still known. |
To enlarge an image, click on it. |
As the oil age emerged in the 20th century, wind power appeared to become a footnote in the history of energy technology but, in the 1970s, Danish companies invented a machine with three propeller blades that pointed upwind on a steel tower. The latest versions have variable pitch blades that reflect wind speed. The blades, which can be as long as 40 meters, spin in winds as low as 15 kilometers (9 miles) per hour. They maintain a relatively slow and constant speed, though new electronic variable-speed drives allow blade speed to vary, increasing efficiency.
The 1998 wind energy boom was led by Germany, which added 790 MW, pushing its capacity to 2,875 MW ... nearly double the total capacity in the U-S. Germany’s wind industry is only seven years old (a 1991 electricity reform law was motivated in part by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster) but, already, wind produces as much as two large coal-fired plants, or about 1% of the country’s electricity. In northern Schleswig Holstein, wind provides 15% of power, and will supplant nuclear as the leading source of power. One notable development in 1998 was the emergence of Spain As the number-two player in the wind industry. Spain added 395 MW of wind power last year, which pushed total wind capacity up 86% to 850 MW. Robust wind energy plants have sprung up in Navarra, northwest Galicia, and near Gibraltar, and Spain could soon surpass Germany as the world’s leading wind producer.
Wind generation also expanded in the U-S last year, where 230 MW of capacity was added, in the largest increase in wind power since 1986. The installations are spread across ten states, including a 107 MW wind farm in Minnesota, a 42 MW site in Wyoming, a 25 MW farm in Oregon, and many small projects.
Unlike the erratic ups and downs of the U.S. industry, Denmark has maintained a steady pace, with 235 MW of capacity in 1998 pushing Denmark’s total capacity to 1,350 MW, or 8% of the country’s power. Danish wind companies dominate the global export market, manufacturing more than half of new turbines, and Danish companies are involved in joint-venture manufacturing in India and Spain. The Danish wind industry had a turnover of almost $1 billion in 1998, which is equal to the combined sales value of the nation’s natural gas and fishing industries.
To see further details, go to: http://www.enn.com/features/
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Wind power is one
of the fastest growing energy technologies. Wind turbine generators
produce electricity
by converting energy from moving air into mechanical power through rotating
shafts that spin turbines. The wind turbines rushed to market in the 1970s were inefficient and noisy. Since then, the industry has made advancements in blade designs, electronic drives and controls, and turbines, coupled with better manufacturing and careful siting of wind machines. These factors have brought wind power costs down precipitously and put wind on economic parity with coal-based electricity. |
GOING TO WORK FOR WIND POWER by Michael Renner
The economic case for wind power. It's growing by leaps and bounds around the world and could employ three million people by 2020. Meanwhile, fossil-fuel jobs are doing a disappearing act.
CLEANER THAN COWS by David Case
The state of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, home to 2.8 million people, uses state-of-the-art wind turbines to produce about 19 percent of its power. Each cow grazing among the turbines literally produces more greenhouse gas than all the windmills on the horizon.
This article was funded by a grant from the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
A NEW CROP FOR FARMERS by Patrick Mazza
Wind power can make a difference in the USA… if we let it. In Iowa, 257 windmills are helping farmers weather the farm crisis. Landowners earn $2,000 annually for each windmill they host. One proponent says Iowa could generate ten times more wind power.
Wind energy is ready. Is our country?
A TomPaine.commentary - audio and text - produced by Sharon Basco.
During
the spring of 2004, Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.)
came close but ultimately were unable to bring their Climate Stewardship Act to
a vote in the Senate in July. The bill is a comprehensive national policy that
would set the first mandatory limits on U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide and
other heat-trapping gases. McCain and Lieberman had been hoping for an even
better showing of support than the 43 senators who sided with the measure in
November 2003. That strong bipartisan vote shattered the myth that the U.S.
Senate would never seriously consider action to address global warming. Senator
McCain has vowed to keep bringing the issue back until the Senate takes a
responsible approach to climate change.
Wind Energy and Economic Development: Building Sustainable Jobs and Communities
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Wind Energy Comes of Age by Paul Gipe |
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Wind Power:
Renewable Energy for Home, Farm and Business by Paul Gipe |
