'How does Wind Affect Coal..." From the National Renewable Energy Laboratory

A recent presentation of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory shares insight to how the wind market offsets the cycling, emissions, and costs of coal production in the United States market.

 
Review the full presentation and share your comments below.

'10 (Short) Reasons to be Excited about Wind Power'

An article from National Geographic highlights the 10 quick reasons to be excited about Wind Power shared by Keynote Speaker Lester Brown, founder and president of the Earth Policy Institute:  

• It is abundant. China, for example, has enough harnessable wind to increase its electricity consumption 16-fold 
• It is carbon-free. Reducing carbon emissions is a key part of any plan to transition from fossil fuels. 
• It is non-depletable. What we use today doesn’t affect how much we have tomorrow
• It does not require any water. This is in contrast to other water-intensive energy sources, such as nuclear and natural gas
• It does not use any fuel. Wind farm developers are ready to sign 20-year fixed-price contracts, Brown said, because the main cost associated with wind is building the farm.
• Wind turbines don’t use a lot of land. It’s true that wind farms take up a lot of land. But the turbines themselves only occupy 1 percent of a wind farm’s land area, which leads to the next point…   

See all the reasons offered by Brown at the recent American Renewable Energy Day in Aspen, Colorado at NationalGeographic.com

Upcoming Event: 'Turbines, Towers, and Vessels 2011' Hosted by Michael Best & Friedrich

Wisconsin Wind Works Alliance Member Michael Best & Friedrich LLP announce 'Turbines, Towers, & Vessels 2011: For Northeastern Offshore Wind Projects' conference Sept. 7-9th at The Biltmore in Providence, RI.

The only event focused on securing a
place in the supply chain for the
Northeastern Offshore Wind projects

Featuring A Special Opening Address

Governor of Rhode Island:  Lincoln D. Chafee 

View the Agenda, see the keynote speakers, and register for this great conference today at http://www.infocastinc.com/index.php/conference/windturbines 

'Where to Get a Green Job' - Apollo Group

A recent blog article shared an analysis on 'Where to Get a Green Job' including analysis of green job markets, locations, funding, and more.  Wisconsin and greater Chicago area are specifically targeted as high green job centers.

See the full green jobs report at: 'Infographic: Where to Get a Green Job'

'DOE picks 6 projects for R&D funding' Windpower Engineering

A recent article in 'Windpower Engineering' shares the 6 projects picked by the Department of Energy to receive federal funding for research and development. 

The article states that the 'U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu says six projects have been selected to receive nearly $7.5 million over two years to advance next-generation designs for wind turbine drivetrains.' 

Read the full article on WindpowerEngineering.com

Comments from Wisconsin Wind Works Consultant, Fin Flood on the projects selected: 

I think this DOE funding is particularly important for developing offshore wind as these designs have lower maintenance and significantly less weight in the nacelle, which reduces the anchoring needs, simplifies installation, etc. With the restrictive siting legislation, wind in Wisconsin will likely include installations in Lake Michigan.  Those developing direct drive designs will fill that market.  Opportunities for designing & manufacturing the bases (tri-pod anchored or "floating), transmissions, installation boats, maintenance rigs, etc. exists. 
 

Of note,  6 MW turbines seem to be the new "standard" for offshore applications (to date, mostly in Europe). Siemens (Germany) and Alstom (out of France) have pretty viable designs. I'm told Gamesa (Spain) is also getting into the game.  GE no longer makes an offshore design.  The Cape Wind project, America's 1st large scale offshore project (Cape Cod / Nantucket, MA) has 130 Siemens 3.6 MW turbines.

'WI Pursues SheerWind; Co. Interested in Osceola'

Wisconsin Officials are aggressively pursuing SheerWind, Inc. to locate in Oceola, Wisconsin.  SheerWind, Inc. is looking to build its first wind farm within the Midwest, and Wisconsin is offering competitive incentive packages compared to Minnesota and other Midwest states. 

An article in Twin Cities last week reports that, "SheerWind hopes to have about 20 wind farms—which will collectively produce about one gigawatt of energy—operational by 2016." Also, SheerWind is using the Invelox system, to eliminate the need for tower-mounted turbines. 

Read more on Wisconsin's effort to attract SheerWind at: http://tcbmag.blogs.com/daily_developments/2011/07/wi-pursues-sheerwind-co-interested-in-osceola.html.