Provides news, facts, statistics, jobs, research, and more. Includes solar, wind, biofuels, and other sustainable energy sources that are alternatives to fossil fuels. 2-01
Provides information about wind turbine energy projects, especially in Europe. (Resources do not seem to include after 1996 so some may be out of date.) 1-01
"Plans for the world's largest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle have been scrapped, energy baron T. Boone Pickens said Tuesday, and he's looking for a home for 687 giant wind turbines." 07-09
"Before President Obama took office, the U.S. had 25 gigawatts of wind power, and the government’s “base case” energy forecast expected 40 GW by 2030. Well, it’s not quite 2030 yet, but we’ve already got 50 GW of wind. We’ve also got about 5 GW of solar, which isn’t much but is over six times as much as we had before Obama. Mitt Romney has suggested that wind and solar are “imaginary” sources of energy, but they can now power 15 million homes, and their industries employ more than 300,000 Americans. That’s real." 08-12
"The researchers calculated and compared what it would cost to generate a tenth of the electricity demand with wind power or photovoltaics for six selected countries in the south. The result: with one franc or dollar of funding, you can produce more electricity in all the countries examined — Brazil, Egypt, India, Kenya, Nicaragua, and Thailand — if the money is invested in wind power plants." 04-12
"The cost of solar photovoltaic cells (PVs) has plunged by 75 percent since 2009 and the cost of electricity generated by solar PVs has fallen globally by 50 percent since 2010. In other words, solar is now becoming competitive with oil and natural gas, even at their currently depressed prices."
"According to the DOE, China’s share of world energy consumption is expected to jump from an already impressive 19 percent in 2010 to 27 percent in 2040, with most of its added energy coming from fossil fuels. Should this indeed occur, China would consume another 88 quadrillion British thermal units of such energy over the next 30 years, or 43 percent of all added fossil fuel consumption worldwide."
"Although the Chinese plan allows for continued growth in carbon emissions for another 15 years, it substantially reduces the amount of new energy that will be derived from fossil fuels." 04-15
"Other critical factors are rotor size and tower height. The power a wind turbine can harvest goes up by at least a factor of 4 as you double the rotor size. And making a tower higher gets you above turbulence for better performance and substially increased power output. Putting a wind turbine on a short tower is like mounting solar panels in the shade!" 03-08
"Cape Wind's project, slated for completion in 2009, is a 24-square-mile project five miles off the shore of Cape Cod on Horseshoe Shoal. The 130 wind turbines are expected to have a total maximum output of 420 megawatts, creating enough electricity to power three-quarters of the Cape and Islands when working at average capacity, the company says." 11-05
"The incidents also make the recent proposal by the Danish government — to generate half the nation’s power from wind within eight years, up from less than a quarter currently — look all the more ambitious." 01-12
"Germany, the world’s most aggressive adopter of renewable energy, is taking a bold leap toward a future free from nuclear energy. In March, the German government announced a program to invest 200 billion euros, or approximately $270 billion, in renewables. That’s 8 percent of the country’s GDP, according to the DIW Economic Institute in Berlin." 06-12
"Google’s largest investment in wind power currently is in the Mojave desert, at the Alta Wind Energy Center, a project being developed by Terra-Gen Power. The Web-search company has invested $157 million in two wind-development projects. Google has also invested $100 million in Shepherd’s Flat, predicted to become the world’s largest wind farm, near Arlington, Ore." 03-12
"Motorwind works from 1 m/s wind speed and does not have to be shut down for very high wind speed." The cost starts at $200. Provides good information on units of electricity generated. It is designed to be used for direct energy production for DC lights and appliances or in conjunction with standard 12 volt vehicle batteries. 05-12
"Billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens is putting his clout behind renewable energy sources like wind power."
"The legendary entrepreneur and philanthropist on Tuesday unveiled a new energy plan he says will decrease the United States' dependency on foreign oil by more than one-third and help shift American energy production toward renewable natural resources." 07-08
"When the builders of the Maple Ridge Wind farm spent $320 million to put nearly 200 wind turbines in upstate New York, the idea was to get paid for producing electricity. But at times, regional electric lines have been so congested that Maple Ridge has been forced to shut down even with a brisk wind blowing.""Politicians in Washington have long known about the grid’s limitations but have made scant headway in solving them. They are reluctant to trample the prerogatives of state governments, which have traditionally exercised authority over the grid and have little incentive to push improvements that would benefit neighboring states."
"In Texas, T. Boone Pickens, the oilman building the world’s largest wind farm, plans to tackle the grid problem by using a right of way he is developing for water pipelines for a 250-mile transmission line from the Panhandle to the Dallas market. He has testified in Congress that Texas policy is especially favorable for such a project and that other wind developers cannot be expected to match his efforts." 08-08
Shows that wind, petrol, and natural gas are the quickest growing forms of energy used in the United States. Coal represents about half of the energy. 11-05
"Bats are at risk from wind turbines, researchers have found, because the rotating blades produce a change in air pressure that can kill the mammals."
"Some research groups are investigating ways to keep bats away from wind farms, and a University of Aberdeen group recently suggested radar emissions might act as a 'bat-scarer'. 08-08
"Global investors plowed $148 billion into new wind, solar and other alternative energy assets last year, in what the United Nations describes as a 'green energy gold rush' gaining speed the last several years." 07-08
"While the strongest winds are located along ridgetops in mountainous areas, the Great Plains from Texas to North Dakota contain the preponderance of the nation's wind power potential." 06-06
"Studies from around the world show that the Great Plains states are home to the greatest wind energy potential in the world — by far."
"The Department of Energy reports that 20% of America's electricity can come from wind. North Dakota alone has the potential to provide power for more than a quarter of the country." 07-08
" 'Spend an hour outside in the sun with HYmini and you’ll get enough power for 2 full hours of MP3 playtime. Ride your bike for an hour, with HYmini strapped on your arm, or mounted on the handlebars, and you’ll have enough power for over 50 digital photos or about 15 extra minutes on your cell phone. Mount HYmini on a car window, drive about 40 MPR, and you’ll generate enough power to listen to over 8 hours of music on your MP3 or chat on your cell for over 40 minutes.' " 04-08
"Developers have selected a design by an award-winning American architect for a bold new building nearly as tall as the Eiffel Tower — and powered partly by the wind." 11-06
Provides a 400 watt wind generator. Awesome Library provides this as an example of the technology and has no knowledge of the product's quality or the company's reputation. 5-01