Breakthroughs in Green Energy Tech 2009 – Part 3, Wind
Filed Under: Green Technology on December 22, 2009
In the last installment of this series, I promised I would look at wind and hydrogen. Well, they’re big subjects, so this one will cover wind and the next one will cover hydrogen. So much for my planned 3-part series… Anyway, in the last two installments, I covered solar power. You can read the first installment here and the second one here.
Today, we’re looking at wind and the coolest developments in wind power generation this year.
While not the biggest wind farm plans in the nation, the off-shore plan for Rhode Island certainly was the biggest news-getter. In fact, the little story I wrote about it has been a top-viewed story here on Aaron’s EnvironMental Corner since it published just last week.
Another big one is the 203MW farm that went online in Utah last month. Utah trails the western states in wind production, but that is mainly due to its mountainous nature. Honestly, having been to almost every square foot of Utah, I can tell you there really aren’t that many open, windy spots. Not compared to here in Wyoming, anyway, and apparently not compared to Texas, which leads the nation in wattage from wind.
During the summer, it was announced that small (house-sized) wind turbines made to mount on rooftops and to generate about 20% of the average homes power usage annually would be coming to market under the Honeywell name. These turbines are made by WindTronics and are now available in Ace Hardware stores nationally.
Of course, the biggest news came in February when it was announced that the United States was the top wind power producer world-wide. That surprised most everyone, really.
Then there’s innovation.
First, I dispelled some rumors and urban legends surrounding wind turbines. Doing my own Mythbusters thing, I dissected the rumors and showed them to be bunk. “Busted!”
Then we got into technology. Starting with the wacky, which included this idea to stack wind turbines that look like little bi-planes, one atop the other, all the way into the stratosphere. Interesting plan, but probably not realistic.
That innovation gave way to the prototype xBee, which debuted at the Perfect Pitch and was designed by Green Wavelength. The idea is actually pretty cool and having won the contest, may become marketable. Basically, the turbine doesn’t “spin” like a standard wind generator, but instead “flaps” its wings in a rotating fashion similar to a bumblebees (hence the name).
Some pretty cool stuff in wind power this year. Most of the innovations were not very exciting and weren’t new technology, but there were thousands of new turbines being assembled and put online throughout the nation. In fact, according to AWEA, our current existing wind power generation is at 31,109 megawatts and another 5,567MW is under construction right now.
How cool is that?
In our next installment, we’ll look at hydrogen. Also one of my favorite subjects.
Related posts:
- Breakthroughs in Green Energy Tech 2009 – Part 2, Solar (again)
- Breakthroughs in Green Energy Tech 2009 – Part 4, Hydrogen
- Breakthroughs in Green Energy Tech 2009 – Part 1, Solar
