Talk about irony: As 37-mile-per-hour gusts blasted downtown Minneapolis on Thursday, hundreds of wind-energy executives were inside the Minneapolis Hilton, discussing the challenges their industry still faces.

Chief among those challenges: weather-related down times and – perhaps more surprisingly – utilities unwilling to accept energy from wind farms because their high-voltage transmission lines can’t accept any more power.

“The grid won’t handle it, and (utilities) have to refuse wind power,” said Scott McBride, regional site manager for Texas-based Padoma Wind LLC.

U.S. offshore areas hold enormous potential for wind energy development near the nation’s highest areas of electricity demand – coastal metropolitan centers, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said.

“More than three-fourths of the nation’s electricity demand comes from coastal states and the wind potential off the coasts of the lower 48 states actually exceeds our entire U.S. electricity demand,” Salazar told a group working to lower America’s carbon emissions.

The ability of offshore wind to significantly contribute to the renewable energy targets of 2020 in Europe is spurring governments to support and encourage the sector.

As the onshore market continues to grow in certain regions and move slowly towards saturation in others, offshore wind is expected to form a greater part of the pie from the meager 2% that it is now. Onshore wind will always occupy a major share of the wind energy market. However, Frost & Sullivan expects offshore wind to grow from an insignificant part of the pie to a more substantial contributor of electricity generated from wind by 2020. According to Frost & Sullivan estimates, installed capacity of offshore wind is expected to grow from 1,276 MW in 2008 to 18,769 MW by 2015.

By Amy Berry

Traditional Wind Farm Site Disadvantages Are Actually Advantages in Urban Settings

For most who hear the words “wind power” the mind conjures up images of towering white propellers in a wide open rural setting. These large propeller turbines, also known as horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs), are the standard in the large wind industry due to their excellent efficiency in converting wind to power. However, what makes them ideal for large scale wind farms (large and remote open spaces with consistent wind direction) does not necessarily make them a great fit for urban sites. In fact, the traditional limitations of vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) technology for wind farm applications can actually turn into advantages for more urban locations.   Increasingly, homeowners and small businesses are considering VAWTs to help overcome the challenges associated with many small wind sites.

by Zach Hagadone via idahobusiness.net

Bob Lewandowski may have been among Idaho’s greatest do-it-yourselfers. As a farmer on 20 acres between Boise and Mountain Home he saw his seeds blown from the ground by a seemingly constant wind. Finally, after years of kicking and scratching at the soil, he realized if he couldn’t raise a crop from the earth, then maybe he could harvest something from the sky: electricity.

Betting the farm on wind power, Lewandowski invested a total of more than $120,000 to purchase, ship and refurbish three old turbines from California. Inventing his own performance-boosting repairs, he labored for about three years before hoisting the first 150-foot tower himself.

By Sustainable Business – Matter Network

The U.S. market for small wind turbines–those with capacities of 100 kilowatts (kW) and less–grew 78% in 2008, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).

With a total of 17.3 megawatts (MW) of new installed capacity, consumer demand for clean energy options is on the rise, the Association said.

U.S. manufacturers sold about half of all small wind turbines installed worldwide last year. U.S. market share amounted to $77 million of the $156 million global total. (Worldwide, about 38.7 MW of new small wind capacity was installed in 2008.)

“The U.S. wind industry is a growing bright spot in our domestic economy, and the small wind sector is no exception,” said AWEA CEO Denise Bode. “Strong federal policies like the federal investment tax credit for small wind are critical to future growth, just as adoption of a federal renewable electricity standard (RES) is essential to growth in the utility-scale market.”

By Shawna Mac

We will create 3 categories for wind power systems. We will primarily discuss the small size but all three have some similarities.

-Large: commercial grade Wind Turbines
-Medium: Windmill
-Small: Long Fan blade

How do wind power systems work?

A fan blade system is installed on top of a tower or on the roof of your home and collects kinetic energy and converts it to electricity to be used by your home.

Companies like AVN Energy, a Danish manufacturer of wind-power equipment, are creating the technology which now provides 20% of Denmark’s electricity production. AVN co-operated with The Trelleborg Group’s Sealing Solutions to develop seals for their wind power actuators. Trelleborg’s reporter, Donna Guinivan, visited AVN’s plant, Silkeborg, Denmark, to get the full story on this and the future of wind power in general:

Nature-Inspired Luxury and Environmental Education-Focused Destination Chooses Wind Power to Offset 100 Percent of Its Electricity Going Green/Corporate Social Responsibility

PINE MOUNTAIN, Ga.– Callaway Gardens, a 13,000-acre destination comprised of award-winning gardens, upscale lodge and spa, recreation and residential communities all focusing on connecting man with nature, has offset all of its electricity use with renewable energy by purchasing 21,000,000-kilowatt hours of renewable energy credits (RECs). As a leader in environmental stewardship, Callaway is the Southeast’s first resort to embrace wind energy with a 100 percent annual commitment.

New AeroCam Turbine Turns Almost Any Location Into an Affordable Source of Wind Power Generation

Renewable energy from the wind, which previously could only be generated in restricted geographic locations – typically off-shore or in remote rural areas – can now be made available almost anywhere, including urban environments, with the introduction of the AeroCam wind turbine.

The AeroCam, developed by BroadStar Wind Systems, was designed and patented for commercial applications. With its parallel rotor blades, not only does it look radically different from conventional propeller designs, but also can be manufactured, transported, installed and maintained at lower cost.