NewNergy

Sen. Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat will fill up a hydrogen-powered pickup "and hopefully drive off." Dorgan will be a featured dignitary at the dedication of a $2 million wind-to-hydrogen plant near Minot that he worked to fund over the past three years.

"This is really kind of a breakthrough project, using the wind to produce hydrogen," Dorgan said. "It's an exciting conclusion for me to see this project take shape."

Dorgan said the plant, which is about the size of a garage, uses intermittent power from wind turbines to produce and store hydrogen fuel without creating pollution.

The project is a collaboration of Bismarck-based Basin Electric Power Cooperative, the University of North Dakota's Energy and Environmental Research Center, North Dakota State University's North Central Research Center and other partners. Basin spokesman Daryl Hill said the project is a first for North Dakota.

More from here - Wind-to-hydrogen project about to get started

Labels: hydrogen, wind

Renewable energy from the wind, which previously could only be generated in restricted geographic locations – typically off-shore or in remote rural areas – can now be made available almost anywhere, including urban environments, with the introduction of the AeroCam wind turbine. The AeroCam, developed by BroadStar Wind Systems, was designed and patented for commercial applications. With its parallel rotor blades, not only does it look radically different from conventional propeller designs, but also can be manufactured, transported, installed and maintained at lower cost.

“Wind energy now can be made directly available to everyone,” says Stephen Else, president of Dallas-based BroadStar Wind Systems. “By harnessing its power in almost any setting, the AeroCam can now generate energy close to where it’s actually required. This is a new and exciting product with great potential.” Following four years of research and development and the issuance of U.S. patents, the company is currently in the final stages of negotiations to place the product with two Fortune 100 companies.

Full article here

Labels: alternative-energy, costs, renewable, wind

Directory of videos of various types of wind turbine technologies & of wind energy in general

See this page @ Peswiki

Labels: wind

Offshore wind power is supposed to be the great white hope of renewable energy. So far, though, that’s translated into just under one-half of a regular coal-fired plant.

What’s the holdup? Lots of things. Amongst others, another holdup—building offshore wind platforms means bidding for the same construction materials that are needed for a lot of other things, raising costs and delaying projects.

But there's light on the horizon: concrete instead of steel. At a swoop, that would eliminate the need for pricey steel and all the supporting cast needed to plant it in the seabed. Says New Civil Engineer:

"The project has the dual purpose of reducing industry reliance on steel monopiles for foundations and eliminating the need for the heavy lift ships and jack-up barges typically used during turbine foundation installation. In addition the large hydraulic hammers usually needed for piling are no longer required, further reducing equipment and support vessel hire costs."

More from here

Labels: wind

A slightly old news item (2006), but interesting still

WindStrand™ Allows Longer, Stiffer, Lighter Blades for up to 20 Percent Less Cost Than Other High-Performance Materials Product is First Application of Company's new Stronger, Lighter High Performance Reinforcement Platform, HiPer-tex™ (CSRwire) Owens Corning (OWENQ.OB) announced at the European Wind Energy Conference and Exhibition in Athens, Greece, a breakthrough single-end roving and knitted fabric, WindStrand™, which will allow the wind energy market to take another step forward in competing successfully against other alternative energy sources by reducing the cost per kilowatt-hour (kwh.) The product will allow turbine manufacturers to increase blade lengths by as much as six percent and deliver up to 12 percent more power -- for up to 20 percent less cost than any competing carbon-glass hybrid solution currently on the market.

In addition to the cost and performance benefits of WindStrand, the product also provides manufacturers with the traditional processability of glass, combined with the stiffness strength and weight of other high-performance materials.

Labels: wind

Advances in floating platforms could take wind farms far from coasts, reducing costs and skirting controversy.

Offshore wind-farm developers would love to build in deep water more than 32 kilometers from shore, where stronger and steadier winds prevail and complaints about marred scenery are less likely. But building foundations to support wind turbines in water deeper than 20 meters is prohibitively expensive. Now, technology developers are stepping up work in floating turbines to make such farms feasible.

Several companies are on their way to demonstrating systems by borrowing heavily from oil and gas offshore platform technology. If these efforts succeed, they could open up a resource of immense scale. For example, according to a 2006 analysis by the U.S. Department of Energy, General Electric, and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, offshore wind resources on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts exceed the current electricity generation of the entire U.S. power industry.

Source: Technology Review

Labels: wind

Better wind forecasts could prevent blackouts and reduce pollution.

As wind power becomes more common, its unpredictability becomes more of a problem. Sudden drops in wind speed can send grid operators scrambling to cover the shortfall and even cause blackouts; unexpected surges can leave conventional power plants idling, incurring costs and spewing pollution to no purpose.

To address the problem, power-grid operators are combining hyper-local meteorological data and artificial intelligence to predict when the wind turbines installed on their networks will turn. What makes these modeling systems accurate and affordable is real-time data supplied by the wind farms themselves: wind speed and direction, plus, in many cases, local temperature, barometric pressure, and humidity.

Power-grid operators are using wind-clocking anemometers and weather stations installed at wind farms to predict wind power production hours or days in advance.

More from here

Labels: wind

Although it's clean, plentiful and relatively cheap, there is an inherent problem with wind power. It's not always there when you need it, leaving more conventional, more polluting energy resources to take up the slack.

The wind's variability has been one of the sticking points for wind power growth in the wind energy market.

The prospects for wind power could be greatly enhanced if cost-effective storage could be implemented. Some, like Minnesota based Xcel Energy, are putting their faith in new battery technology. But a UK professor, Seamus Garvey thinks he might have found another solution -- storing energy in flexible containers on the ocean floor.

Professor Garvey's idea of using Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) isn't a new one, but his methods are. Traditionally, CAES stows energy in a vast underground reservoir. During peak energy hours, air is released powering a turbine, which in turn produces electricity. There are currently only two CAES sites in the world -- in Huntorf, Germany and in McIntosh, Alabama. In a moment of inspiration, Garvey realized that air could be compressed using a wind turbine or a wave-powered device.

The prospects for his energy storage idea with tidal power are perhaps even better. Naturally, storing vast amounts of air requires vast amounts of storage. Professor Garvey envisages a cone-like structure stretching 50 meters wide at the top to around 80 meters across at the base.

Labels: wind

Solar sails were once thought to belong in the realms of science fiction. Huge canopies of lightweight tin foil catching the solar photon breeze, slowly allowing spacecraft to cruise around our solar system propelled by the small but continuous radiation pressure. Recent years however have shown that solar sail spacecraft could be engineered in reality, and a new solar sail invention from the Finnish Meteorological Institute could push this goal one step closer. Rather than using solar radiation pressure, this new concept makes use of the highly charged particles in the solar wind to give the craft its propulsion. Additionally, through radio wave electron excitation, the system may amplify the solar wind acceleration effects, giving the spacecraft a "boost" function…

Labels: wind

Vertical Axis Windmill Invention

April 26th, 2007 - Alternative Energy Info

Toronto Inventor Tom J. Gilmour recently published his conceptual designs for what he is calling Tom’s Whirligig. Patent applications have been made, and Tom hopes to reserve all rights and worldwide patents for his design. Tom believes his windmill plans to be the most complex ever devised. While he is not yet sure of the workability of this concept, he is optimistic about its feasibility and hopes to soon find the time to build a working model.

This new design is based around a continuously rotating carousel, which houses eight symmetrical airfoils. The entire carousel is mounted on a fixed vertical shaft. A top mounted central weather vane keeps the cam shaft pointed at the wind.

Read more from this report @ Alternative Energy Info

Labels: inventions, research, wind

Twirling Tower Could Power Itself, Ten Others

By Hank Green - 13 May 2007

An architect has designed a wind-powered rotating skyscraper. While the technical details of the wind-power system are not fully known, the architect, David Fisher, claims that the tower could power itself and ten other similar sized buildings. Though the claim appears unbelievable, if it is even able to produce just it's own energy, it would be a significant achievement.

The architect has proposed that towers be built in a new way, basically by stacking platters on a central concrete core. This will allow for two unique and awesome features. First, a wind turbine between every floor (see image above) and, second, rotating floors.

Read more from this post @ EcoGeek

Labels: green-buildings, inventions, wind

455,000 MW of Wind Power by 2016?

The Danish wind power market analysis firm BTM Consult ApS (BTM) released its latest annual market report in late March. Although the press release on the report notes considerable uncertainty in projections beyond 2011, it also states that its projection would lead to total global cumulative installed wind generating capacity of 455,000 MW by 2016. If that amount of wind capacity were installed in the U.S., it could be expected to generate roughly 1.3 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year (my estimate), or 25% or more of total U.S. electricity supply.

Read more info about this report from here @ Rising Wind

Labels: wind

Spain's wind energy generation reaches new high, exceeding all other forms

Spain's wind energy generators this week (Apr 20, 2007) reached an all-time high in electricity production, exceeding power generated by all other means...On a specific point in time this week, wind power generation rose to contribute 27 percent of the country's total power requirement - at that moment wind power contributed 8,375 mega watts to the nation's power consumption of 31,033, nuclear power - 6,797 mega watts and coal-fired electric generation - 5,081

Source: IHT

Labels: wind

Why is VAWT (Vertical Access Wind Turbine) Struggling?

This blog post @ WindBiz refers to an article in The Economist's Technology Quarterly which has picked up on recent developments in Vertical Access Wind Turbine (VAWT) designs, offering a glimpse at a company that sells equipments, one TMA Global Wind Energy Systems of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Dwelling on the Economist story, the author asks: why has VAWT technology struggled to make it to the mass, industrial scale market, since it's been affirmed time and again as a more reliable and cost-effective design than the current upright tri-bladers (Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine -HAWT)?

The author feels there two broad technical and commercial reasons why VAWT has struggled. One is technical: VAWTs are low to the ground and don't capture the high winds like the 60-80m hub heights of HAWTs. Reason two is commercial: the same old story of technical innovators whose marketing story hasn't been well-banked, well-communicated, nor well-timed....

Read the WindBiz post for more of this discussion

Labels: wind

Turbines Could Pose Threat To Birds And Bats

Written on May 10, 2007

Wsls.com reports that a government study shows that the rotating blades on wind turbines could pose a threat to bats, night-migrating songbirds, and some hunting birds. The threat is more pronounced in coastal areas. Scientists recommend further studies on the matter.

Source: Wind Energy Investing

Labels: research, technology, wind

Building-Integrated Wind Turbines
January 26, 2007

Blue Green Pacific is a renewable energy company that's working towards making microwind energy generation ubiqitous in the urban environment.

As an intial step, they've installed a small Windside turbine on a San Francisco residence. This is the first residental wind turbine installed in the city.

The heavily monitored, seashell shaped turbine is nearly silent, aesthetically unobtrusive, and does well in turbulent, shifty wind environments...

Read the full post from here @ Green Volts

Labels: micro-wind-projects, wind

Dutch firm to roll out US$160 million wind energy project

Namibia Tuesday licensed a privately owned firm to roll out a US$160 million wind electricity generation project, warning the country's energy supply situation had reached alarming levels.

The company, Aeolus Power Generation Namibia, is a 50-50 ownership between Aeolus Association, a Dutch firm, and Namibian firm United Africa Group.

Aeolus Power Generation said it will set up wind turbines in the country's coastal region and generate about 300 MW of electricity yearly starting October 2008.

Read the full news report from here @ Africa News

Labels: wind

Indian Govt banks on solar, wind energy to bridge power gap

Times News Network, Apr 26, 2007

NEW DELHI: The Indian government will shortly evolve a feed-in tariff system for wind, solar and other non-conventional sources of energy. This was stated by V Subramanian, secretary at the ministry of new and renewable energy (MoNRE) on Wednesday. Under the feed-in tariff system, solar and wind energy generators will transmit their energy to government-owned grids and help them supply power to starved locations.

Read the full news report from here @ Economic Times

Labels: solar, wind

Let's get real about alternative energy

Henry E. Payne, Apr 2007

Wind power is intermittent. Wind and sun only run 8 to 9 hours a day.

Solar energy, with possibilities of up to 30 percent capacity factor, produced only 541,000 megawatt-hours of electricity in 2005. The subsidies for solar power are many times that for wind power simply...The capital cost of equivalent coal or nuclear generating plants is far less than the "alternative power" schemes.

These two (solar & wind) energy sources provided less than .4 percent of all the electricity generated in the U.S. for 2005.

Read more on Henry Payne's take on alternative energy from this interesting article @ Charleston Daily Mail

Labels: solar, wind

Environmentalists call for more wind power in Ohio

COLUMBUS, Ohio - New technology is allowing energy producers to capture speedier wind that environmental activists say has the potential to provide 20 percent of the state's electricity within 10 years.

What's new is a taller windmill that can catch gusts that are faster than those closer to the ground.

Rread the full report from here @ Coshocton Tribune

Labels: wind

Northwest embraces wind for electricity needs

Blaine Harden, The Washington Post

PASCO - The Northwest is hardly alone as it chases the wind for clean power. Anxiety about climate change and surging demand for electricity have triggered a wind-power frenzy in much of the United States, making it the fastest growing wind-energy market in the world. Power-generating capacity from wind jumped 27 percent last year and is expected to do the same this year.

But it is in the Northwest where wind power, an often capricious source of electricity, meshes most seamlessly with the existing electricity grid, which relies heavily on hydroelectric dams, power managers say

Read more from this news report here @ The Olympian Online

Labels: wind

Wave farms show energy potential

By Jason Margolis, BBC

Proponents of clean energy have long seen the oceans as a great hope for the future. Ocean waves carry tremendous power, and could, in theory at least, provide much of the world's electricity.

But while other sources of renewable energy - such as wind and solar - have been widely adopted in recent years, wave energy has been slow to take off.

But that's changing. Scottish engineers will soon deploy an offshore "wave farm" in Portugal, says this detailed news report @ BBC News. Read the full report here

Labels: wind

Multi-Million-Dollar Wind Energy Contract In China

23rd March 2007

Windtec has signed a multi-million-dollar wind energy system joint development contract with Sinovel Wind Corporation Limited. AMSC also has a prior delivery right to sell future electrical components under the same conditions as other suppliers to Sinovel for the wind energy systems covered under the contract, creating a substantial follow-on business opportunity for AMSC. Since 2005, Sinovel has ordered electrical components from Windtec for 785 wind energy systems rated at 1.5 megawatts (MW).

Read the entire report from here @ Carbon Free, UK

Labels: wind

Wind Energy Sweeping across Western Illinois

By Stephen Elliott

What started with the Erie school district wind energy project has now exploded into a high-demand growth industry...Wind energy is being considered the panacea for all that ills some school districts and municipal governments. It is changing the way people think about future energy costs at hospitals and nursing homes.

It has given rural landowners incentives to lease property to companies seeking to harness wind energy to sell to large power companies. Some landowners are even working with private investors to put single towers on their properties....

Read the full report here @ Quad Cities Online

Labels: wind

Going green: Local schools, city find new energy initiatives can pay

Click-2-Listen
March 10, 2007

A major university with a $13.5 million electric bill switches to windpower, saving $2 million a year while helping save the atmosphere.

Baylor University just signed a 10-year contract with WPS Energy of Wisconsin to buy power that will be generated mostly from Texas wind turbines, starting in 2008.

Read more from this news report @ Wacotrib

Labels: electricity, wind