Google Energy Inks Wind Farm Deal, Now Officially a Utility | Earth and Industry

"When Google was first given the go ahead by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to buy and sell electricity in February, we knew they were planning something big in the clean energy space, we just didn't know what it would look like. Today, we're beginning to see the plan unfold.

Google announced today that it will begin a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement to buy 114 megawatts of wind energy generated at NextEra Energy Resources' Story County II facility in Iowa. The agreement, set to begin on July 30, is the first by Google Energy LLC and it allows Google to buy the renewable energy directly from its source, rather from a retailer in the form of renewable energy credits (RECs). Because Google cannot use the energy directly, it is reselling it back to the grid in the regional spot market and retiring RECs associated with the power."

Google Energy Inks Wind Farm Deal, Now Officially a Utility | Earth and Industry

Schooling fish inspire new approach to wind farming

Schooling fish, it turns out, have a lot to teach us about setting up wind farms. That’s the conclusion reached by John Dabiri, a fluid dynamics expert from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). One of the biggest current problems with wind farms is the large land area that they require - if you place the turbines too close to one another, they will be adversely effected by each other’s turbulence. By applying principles learned from observing fish, however, Dabiri thinks he might have found a solution.

Dabiri also noticed that the fish and their vortices were arranged in a staircase pattern relative to one another. Again, this runs contrary to most wind farms, where the turbines are placed in neat rows. By conducting a field study incorporating closely-spaced, staggered vertical-axis turbines spinning in alternating directions, he hopes to show just how much more efficient wind power can become. According to Caltech's computer models, he believes his set up could be up to ten times more efficient than traditional models.

Read the full story by Ben Coxworth

Iowa: Land of Corn and Wind Turbines

"Iowa ranks 30th among the 50 states in population and 23rd in square miles, but it is number two in wind -- and it wants more.

Iowa now has over 25,000 wind turbines and doubled its proportion of wind-generated electricity from 7% to 14% in 2009, the biggest jump in the U.S. Estimates put the current 2010 percentage of Iowa's electricity coming from wind above 17%.

Because Iowa added 879 megawatts of new capacity last year (enough to power more than 200,000 homes), the state's installed capacity is now second only to Texas. It has 3,670 megawatts of total installed capacity, enough electricity for 880,000 homes -- in a state with only 3 million people. And it has over 14,000 megawatts of wind power awaiting approval.

The state, known for its dairy farms and bucolic rolling cornfields, also became the leading provider of wind energy manufacturing jobs in 2009."

Read the full story by HERMAN K. TRABISH at greentechmedia.com

California businesses hope going "green" will put them in the black.

CNN's Casey Wian reports on how some California businesses hope going "green" will put them in the black. Check out Green Wave Energy Corp.

Windmills a great source of energy

While Solar Energy is great in the day time it can't produce power in the dark. However there are other green energy options such as rooftop mounted wind turbines that might be worth a look especially if you live in an area that is breezy or windy.

Helix Wind


WindTerra


UrbanGreenEnergy


Windspire

Yes they also have an Apple iPhone app called Windspire Me that you can download for free!

Rooftop Wind Power, LLC


Building Turbines

CAPE WIND: Wine-Sipping Hypocrites Preach Gospel Of Renewable Energy...As Long As It Doesn't Wreck The View

Movies:

Off-Shore Wind Farming – What Are You Waiting For, America?

Movie

T. Boone Reneges On $1 Billion Worth Of G.E. Wind Turbines For Texas

Duch Family Wind Turbines Gain Momentum

Wind-power industry seeks quantified workforce

Interest in green-collar jobs is surging among workers from struggling industries. Colleges like California's Cerro Coso are scrambling to help fill the lack of technical education for the field.

"Hard times have brought them to a classroom in rural Kern County to learn a different trade. Tonight's lesson: How to avoid death and dismemberment.

This is Wind Technology Boot Camp at Cerro Coso Community College, where eight weeks of study and $1,000 in tuition might lead to a job repairing mammoth wind turbines like the ones sprouting up across this region.

The work requires smarts and stamina. It is potentially dangerous. Candidates need good knees, a cool head -- and a stomach for heights.

"I've seen guys just freeze halfway up the tower," said instructor Merritt Mays, a baby-faced former Marine, who at 29 is already a grizzled veteran in this young industry.

For those who can hack it, starting pay ranges from $15 to $20 an hour. Crack technicians can make six figures a year. Wind farms are hiring and probably will be for years to come. That's luring hard hats like 49-year-old Chuck Patterson back to school, despite the inherent risks of working 300 feet in the air."

Read the full article by Marla Dickerson

Largest Wind Farm in World Halted By Credit Crisis

The credit crunch is not just hurting the banks and the real estate market. Even the billionaire and wind energy enthusiast, T. Boone Pickens is having trouble financing his high profile 4000 MW wind farm. The proposed Texas wind farm has a hefty $10 and $12 billion price tag.

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At $2 Billion Wind Turbine Order Is Largest Ever

Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens has placed an the largest ever order for wind turbines: he ordered 667 wind turbines from GE, each costing $3 million dollars, making the total order $2 billion. Pickens plans to develop the world’s largest wind farm in the panhandle of Texas.

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When anyone invests $300 million dollars into promoting alternative energy sources, the Democrats usually take notice. Mr. Pickens is spending big trying to educate the public that America's war on terror should include foreign oil. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., praised Pickens' plan, calling it a "classically American message of can-do optimism."

A full overview of his plan is at PickensPlan.com, but here are the sticking points that drive the plan:
US Oil imports nearing 70% at $700 billion per year
The United States uses 25% of the oil in the world
Natural Gas is the 2nd largest natural resource in the country and accounts for 22% of the electricity produced
There are 8,000,000 cars in the world that run on natural gas
Wind can replace the need for natural gas in electric production
The bulk of the plan is this: The central corridor in the United States is ripe for utilizing and harvesting wind for generating electricity. By harnessing this, the 22% of electricity that is currently being produced using natural gas can be completely replaced by wind energy.

If we take the natural gas that was being used for electricity and convert it for use in transportation, the United States' dependency on foreign oil would be reduced by 38%, or $300,000,000,000 per year. Natural gas is cleaner, it's abundant in the United States, and wind is, for all intents and purposes, limitless.

Now implementing his plan along with Hydropower, Solar power plants and nuclear energy could really make a difference for not only energy independence but also for a healthy planet Earth. No natural gas is not an utopian solution. Because really no single source of energy that the USA can make use of can be the total solution to what is a very large problem. A multi pronged aproach using many alternative and standard energy sources  is the only real solution.  We must use what energy sources we have in a responsible way. However its impractical to keep passing the buck for a solution to the next generation before the world runs out of oil.

Wind power could make Norway "Europe's battery"

Norway could become "Europe's battery" by developing huge sea-based wind parks costing up to $44 billion by 2025, Norway's Oil and Energy Minister said on Monday. Norway could be Europe's battery," Oil and Energy Minister Aaslaug Haga told Reuters after she was handed the report, which will be considered by the centre-left government in coming months.

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