Last week, my friends at the American Wind Energy Association were kind enough to take me out for a tour of a wind farm in Meyersdale, PA. AWEA recently became a client, so the trip was an opportunity to see wind at work up close and personal. (UPDATE: I completely forgot to thank the great folks from FPL, the energy company that runs the facility we visited. They made us feel right at home.)
If you’re like me, you probably have a lot of out of date notions about wind energy. You might think that the whole notion is a little bit pie-in-the-sky — a product of idealistic hippies who somehow managed to slip through engineering school.
It turns out that wind is a serious player in our electric grid, and its contribution to keeping our lights on grows every day. Indeed, wind energy relies on mature technology that’s been tested and improved for almost thirty years. Recent technological improvements have made wind turbines more reliable and consistent. And the demand for wind is growing. Companies like GE (also an Edelman client), Siemens and BP Alternative Energy see wind an important investment.
I knew most of this before I headed north to Pennsylvania for the day. I got into the car thinking that wind energy was pretty cool.
I had no idea.
We arrived at the site shortly before noon. It had snowed the day before, and there was a fresh white powder on the ground. But the storm had gone and left in its wake a perfect, crytsal blue winter sky. (Although, it was a little brisk. I believe the temperature topped out that day at a balmy 5 degrees on the Farenheit scale.)
The turbines sat on the top of ridge overlooking the town. They were much taller than I expected, but they didn’t overwhelm the landscape. Indeed, they were an attractive part of it. And there was nothing industrial about them. They simply sat on their spot and turned, nearly silent. Of course, with each revolution, the turbines were sending electricity down the mountain and into the power grid.
And that’s the coolest part of all. Here’s a technology that can produce a significant part of the energy we need every day, and it’s totally, completely 100% clean. There are no emissions. Period. No mountain tops that need removing to strip mine their fuel. No wells that need drilling. And no carbon dioxide drifting into the stratosphere to contribute to our slow bake.
I was a believer in wind energy before I went to Meyersdale, but the trip really brought it home for me: there’s so much we can do. We just need the will to do it.
And for once, I remembered to bring my camera. Here’s a photo that I took:
Cam: As an Oklahoma boy, I can attest to the feasibility of wind power. OG & E (Oklahoma’s big electric company) gives consumers the choice to purchase electricity from their windfarm in the western part of the state.
Marshall: UPDATE II: Some guy who subs himself an “energy consultant” has apparently learned how to use Technorati watchlists, and he’s posted a lengthy comment. Just for the record, I think much what he’s proposing is way over the top.
As to the other question in the comments — the wind is unaffected.
Jim: Oh, sure. We all just sit back and fall for the Marshall Jedi Mind Trick. Wake up, people! Where do you think all of that wind in Pennsylvania comes from? Canada! You people think you’re ending our dependence on Foreign Oil, but all this will do is expand our dependence on Foreign Wind! And sure, the ”American Wind Energy Association” sounds like a good, all-American group. We know this giant, corporate-dominated industry by its more familiar name: Big Air.
Obviously, we haven’t even gotten into the theories that the world has reached Peak Wind. Every time the cost of wind goes up — largely because of increasing wind demand in China and India — we hear the familiar calls for breaking into the Strategic Wind Reserve. Or, as Tom Friedman prefers, increasing wind taxes to reduce our wind usage. Isn’t it long past time to increase the fuel economy standards on hang gliders and hot air balloons? It’s long past time to break the power of the international Wind Cartels that are manipulating the market!
(Okay, I know next to nothing about this topic, so I just took my BoilerPlate Talking Points Cliche-o-matic and stuck “wind” in for the other, more frequently discussed sources of energy.)
Related Posts
» Greetings from Windpower 2007
» Windpower Wrap-up
» I Doubted, But Now I’m a Believer!
» Liveblogging Vacation
» Greenpeace’s Freudian Slip
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February 12, 2007 - 8:55 pm
Won’t someone think of the bats!?
February 13, 2007 - 1:23 am
MANDATORY RENEWABLE ENERGY – THE ENERGY EVOLUTION –R12
In order to insure energy and economic independence as well as better economic growth without being blackmailed by foreign countries, our country, the United States of America’s Utilization of Energy Sources must change.
“Energy drives our entire economy.” We must protect it. “Let’s face it, without energy the whole economy and economic society we have set up would come to a halt. So you want to have control over such an important resource that you need for your society and your economy.” The American way of life is not negotiable.
Our continued dependence on fossil fuels could and will lead to catastrophic consequences.
The federal, state and local government should implement a mandatory renewable energy installation program for residential and commercial property on new construction and remodeling projects with the use of energy efficient material, mechanical systems, appliances, lighting, etc. The source of energy must be by renewable energy such as Solar-Photovoltaic, Geothermal, Wind, Biofuels, Ocean-Tidal, Hydrogen-Fuel Cell etc. This includes the utilizing of water from lakes, rivers and oceans to circulate in cooling towers to produce air conditioning and the utilization of proper landscaping to reduce energy consumption. (Sales tax on renewable energy products and energy efficiency should be reduced or eliminated)
The implementation of mandatory renewable energy could be done on a gradual scale over the next 10 years. At the end of the 10 year period all construction and energy use in the structures throughout the United States must be 100% powered by renewable energy. (This can be done by amending building code)
In addition, the governments must impose laws, rules and regulations whereby the utility companies must comply with a fair “NET METERING” (the buying of excess generation from the consumer at market price), including the promotion of research and production of “renewable energy technology” with various long term incentives and grants. The various foundations in existence should be used to contribute to this cause.
A mandatory time table should also be established for the automobile industry to gradually produce an automobile powered by renewable energy. The American automobile industry is surely capable of accomplishing this task. As an inducement to buy hybrid automobiles (sales tax should be reduced or eliminated on American manufactured automobiles).
This is a way to expedite our energy independence and economic growth. (This will also create a substantial amount of new jobs). It will take maximum effort and a relentless pursuit of the private, commercial and industrial government sectors’ commitment to renewable energy – energy generation (wind, solar, hydro, biofuels, geothermal, energy storage (fuel cells, advance batteries), energy infrastructure (management, transmission) and energy efficiency (lighting, sensors, automation, conservation) (rainwater harvesting, water conservation) (energy and natural resources conservation) in order to achieve our energy independence.
“To succeed, you have to believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a reality.”
Jay Draiman, Energy Consultant
Northridge, CA. 91325
Feb. 12, 2007
P.S. I have a very deep belief in America’s capabilities. Within the next 10 years we can accomplish our energy independence, if we as a nation truly set our goals to accomplish this.
I happen to believe that we can do it. In another crisis–the one in 1942–President Franklin D. Roosevelt said this country would build 60,000 [50,000] military aircraft. By 1943, production in that program had reached 125,000 aircraft annually. They did it then. We can do it now.
The American people resilience and determination to retain the way of life is unconquerable and we as a nation will succeed in this endeavor of Energy Independence.
The Oil Companies should be required to invest a substantial percentage of their profit in renewable energy R&D and implementation. Those who do not will be panelized by the public at large by boy cutting their products.
Solar energy is the source of all energy on the earth (excepting volcanic geothermal). Wind, wave and fossil fuels all get their energy from the sun. Fossil fuels are only a battery which will eventually run out. The sooner we can exploit all forms of Solar energy (cost effectively or not against dubiously cheap FFs) the better off we will all be. If the battery runs out first, the survivors will all be living like in the 18th century again.
Every new home built should come with a solar package. A 1.5 kW per bedroom is a good rule of thumb. The formula 1.5 X’s 5 hrs per day X’s 30 days will produce about 225 kWh per bedroom monthly. This peak production period will offset 17 to 2
4 cents per kWh with a potential of $160 per month or about $60,000 over the 30-year mortgage period for a three-bedroom home. It is economically feasible at the current energy price and the interest portion of the loan is deductible. Why not?
Title 24 has been mandated forcing developers to build energy efficient homes. Their bull-headedness put them in that position and now they see that Title 24 works with little added cost. Solar should also be mandated and if the developer designs a home that solar is impossible to do then they should pay an equivalent mitigation fee allowing others to put solar on in place of their negligence. (Installation should be paid “performance based”).
Installation of renewable energy and its performance should be paid to the installer and manufacturer based on “performance based” (that means they are held accountable for the performance of the product - that includes the automobile industry). This will gain the trust and confidence of the end-user to proceed with such a project; it will also prove to the public that it is a viable avenue of energy conservation.
Installing a renewable energy system on your home or business increases the value of the property and provides a marketing advantage.
Nations of the world should unite and join together in a cohesive effort to develop and implement MANDATORY RENEWABLE ENERGY for the sake of humankind and future generations.
The head of the U.S. government’s renewable energy lab said Monday (Feb. 5) that the federal government is doing “embarrassingly few things” to foster renewable energy, leaving leadership to the states at a time of opportunity to change the nation’s energy future. “I see little happening at the federal level. Much more needs to happen.” What’s needed, he said, is a change of our national mind set. Instead of viewing the hurdles that still face renewable sources and setting national energy goals with those hurdles in mind, we should set ambitious national renewable energy goals and set about overcoming the hurdles to meet them. We have an opportunity, an opportunity we can take advantage of or an opportunity we can squander and let go,”
solar energy - the direct conversion of sunlight with solar cells, either into electricity or hydrogen, faces cost hurdles independent of their intrinsic efficiency. Ways must be found to lower production costs and design better conversion and storage systems.
Jay Draiman
Northridge, CA 91325
Email: renewableenergy2@msn.com
February 13, 2007 - 3:23 am
So the wind turns the blades and the blades generate energy. And what happens to the velocity of the wind that has just passed through the blades? And what happens to weather patterns down-wind of the blades? If it were possible to remove all of the energy from the wind, what then? Just asking…
February 13, 2007 - 10:05 am
I agree with Marshall that much of Jay’s plan is over the top. That doesn’t mean it’s not doable though - Jay’s right on the point that we’re Americans - if we want to do this, we have the willpower and the brain power to get it done. Someone’s going to have to sell it though, and for all the bland platitudes being tossed around in the budding presidential campaigns, no one has brought any real policy plans.
I think changes to the building code are probably a bridge too far - the stick doesn’t seem like the right option here. Better the carrot - offer tax deductions for contractors or homeowners for building/owning a home partially/completely powered with renewable energy. Give people an incentive to go for it, and you’ll see more of it.
It’d be nice to see a candidate pick this up and run with it - “We can break free of foreign dependence, *and* lower your taxes!”.
February 13, 2007 - 12:27 pm
Cam - Did your Oklahoma utility charge extra for power from the windfarm? My local utility does! http://www.srpnet.com/environment/earthwise/home.aspx