Wind Energy
Wind is the world's fastest-growing source of energy; $17 billion was added to the US economy by the wind energy industry in 2008. Today, the U.S. has more than 25GW of wind generating capacity in service, which represents over a quarter of the global installed capacity.
But this represents only a small fraction of our potential: the US is the world’s windiest country and is poised to become the Saudi Arabia of wind power. The U.S. Department of Energy projects U.S. electricity demand to increase by 39% from 2005 to 2030, and targets 20% of our energy to come from wind by 2020. Wind energy diversifies the nation's energy supply, takes advantage of a domestic resource, and helps the nation meet its commitments to curb emissions of greenhouse gases, which threaten the stability of global climates.
During the past seven years, the total number of wind installations worldwide has grown at an average annual rate of 27%. In stark contrast to this growth, the recession in the global financial markets has resulted not only in a dramatic slowdown of investments, but in a loss of funding for both wind projects promising the higher returns and technology startups with great potential.
Astute investors know what this really means – a brief window of entry for investment to achieve higher returns by funding projects and companies that can seize market opportunities without having to compete in markets over crowded with VC-funded startups.
If you’re a company, rapid access to deep-pocketed investors who are already attuned to wind energy opportunities makes a stark difference in your company’s ability capturing and keeping the leadership position in your markets.
There is a policy tailwind: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Read More »)
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Provisions of interest to developers:
- Three Year PTC Extension
- Option for 30% ITC
- Treasury Grant Program
- Clean Renewable Energy Bonds
- Extension of Bonus Depreciation
- Loan Guarantee Program
- Workforce Training
- State Energy Program
Provisions of interest to manufacturers:
- Manufacturing Tax Credit
- Extension of Bonus Depreciation
- Loan Guarantee Program
- Workforce Training
The History of Wind (Read More »)
The History of Wind
Since ancient times, people have harnessed the winds energy. Over 5,000 years ago, the ancient Egyptians used wind to sail ships on the Nile River. Later, people built windmills to grind wheat and other grains. The earliest known windmills were in Persia (Iran). These early windmills looked like large paddle wheels. Centuries later, the people of Holland improved the basic design of the windmill. They gave it propeller-type blades, still made with sails. Holland is famous for its windmills.
American colonists used windmills to grind wheat and corn, to pump water, and to cut wood at sawmills. As late as the 1920s, Americans used small windmills to generate electricity in rural areas without electric service. When power lines began to transport electricity to rural areas in the 1930s, local windmills were used less and less, though they can still be seen on some Western ranches.
The oil shortages of the 1970s changed the energy picture for the country and the world. It created an interest in alternative energy sources, paving the way for the re-entry of the windmill to generate electricity. In the early 1980s wind energy really took off in California, partly because of state policies that encouraged renewable energy sources. Support for wind development has since spread to other states, but California still produces more than twice as much wind energy as any other state.
The first offshore wind park in the United States is planned for an area off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts (read an article about the Cape Cod Wind Project).
How wind machines work
Like old fashioned windmills, today’s wind machines use blades to collect the wind’s kinetic energy. Windmills work because they slow down the speed of the wind. The wind flows over the airfoil shaped blades causing lift, like the effect on airplane wings, causing them to turn. The blades are connected to a drive shaft that turns an electric generator to produce electricity.
With the new wind machines, there is still the problem of what to do when the wind isn’t blowing. At those times, other types of power plants must be used to make electricity.
Types of wind machines
There are two types of wind machines used today: horizontal–axis
wind machines and vertical-axis wind machines. Most windmills are the
horizontal-axis type. One wind machine can produce 1.5 to 4.0 million
kilowatthours (kWh) of electricity a year. That is enough electricity
for to power 150-400 homes.
Horizontal-axis
Horizontal-axis wind machines have blades like airplane propellers. A typical horizontal wind machine stands as tall as a 20-story building and has three blades that span 200 feet across. The largest wind machines in the world have blades longer than a football field! Wind machines stand tall and wide to capture more wind.
Vertical-axis
Vertical–axis wind machines have blades that go from top to bottom and look like giant egg beaters. The typical vertical wind machine stands 100 feet tall and 50 feet wide. Vertical-axis wind machines make up just five percent of the wind machines used today.
The Wind Amplified Rotor Platform (WARP) is a different kind of wind system that is designed to be more efficient and use less land than wind machines in use today. The WARP does not use large blades; instead, it looks like a stack of wheel rims. Each module has a pair of small, high capacity turbines mounted to both of its concave wind amplifier module channel surfaces. The concave surfaces channel wind toward the turbines, amplifying wind speeds by 50 percent or more. Eneco, the company that designed WARP, plans to market the technology to power offshore oil platforms and wireless telecommunications systems.
Wind power plants
Wind power plants, or wind farms as they are sometimes called, are clusters of wind machines used to produce electricity. A wind farm usually has dozens of wind machines scattered over a large area. The Big Spring Wind Power Project in Texas has 46 wind turbines that generate enough electricity to power 7,300 homes.
Unlike power plants, many wind plants are not owned by public utility companies. Instead they are owned and operated by business people who sell the electricity produced on the wind farm to electric utilities. These private companies are known as Independent Power Producers.
Operating a wind power plant is not as simple as just building a windmill in a windy place. Wind plant owners must carefully plan where to locate their machines. One important thing to consider is how fast and how much the wind blows.
As a rule, wind speed increases with altitude and over open areas with no windbreaks. Good sites for wind plants are the tops of smooth, rounded hills, open plains or shorelines, and mountain gaps that produce wind funneling.
Wind speed varies throughout the country. It also varies from season to season. In Tehachapi, California, the wind blows more from April through October than it does in the winter. This is because of the extreme heating of the Mojave Desert during the summer months. The hot air over the desert rises, and the cooler, denser air above the Pacific Ocean rushes through the Tehachapi mountain pass to take its place. In a state like Montana, on the other hand, the wind blows more during the winter. Fortunately, these seasonal variations are a good match for the electricity demands of the regions. In California, people use more electricity during the summer for air conditioners. In Montana, people use more electricity during the winter months for heating.
Wind production
All together, wind machines in the United States generate 17
billion kWh per year of electricity, enough to serve 1.6 million
households. This is enough electricity to power a city the size of
Chicago, but it is only a small fraction of the nation's total
electricity production, about 0.4 percent. The amount of electricity
generated from wind has been growing fast in recent years, tripling
since 1998.
New technologies have decreased the cost of
producing electricity from wind, and growth in wind power has been
encouraged by tax breaks for renewable energy and green pricing
programs. Many utilities around the country offer green pricing options
that allow customers the choice to pay more for electricity that comes
from renewable sources.
Wind machines generate electricity in 30 different states. The states with the most wind production are California, Texas, Minnesota, Iowa, and Wyoming.
The United States ranks third in the world in wind power capacity, behind Germany and Spain. Most of the wind power plants in the world are located in Europe and in the United States where government programs have helped support wind power development.
Wind and the environment
In the 1970s, oil shortages pushed the development of alternative energy sources. In the 1990s, the push came from a renewed concern for the environment in response to scientific studies indicating potential changes to the global climate if the use of fossil fuels continues to increase. Wind energy offers a viable, economical alternative to conventional power plants in many areas of the country. Wind is a clean fuel; wind farms produce no air or water pollution because no fuel is burned.
The most serious environmental drawbacks to wind machines may be their negative effect on wild bird populations and the visual impact on the landscape. To some, the glistening blades of windmills on the horizon are an eyesore; to others, they’re a beautiful alternative to conventional power plants.