By Zachary Shahan •
January 26, 2010
FloDesign, an R&D start-up in the US that has created a wind turbine design based on jet engine technology, just secured $34.5 million to help begin commercial development of its turbines. Lars Andersen, former president of Vestas China, has also just been appointed as the company’s CEO.
FloDesign claims that its turbines are 3-4 times more efficient than traditional open-fan turbines. They have several other beneficial features as well that help economically, environmentally, and in other ways.
By Tina Casey •
January 22, 2010
The flywheel is an old technology that dates back to Neolithic-era spindles and potter’s wheels. Flywheels made a huge splash during the Industrial Revolution (anyone remember steam engines?) and now they’re ready to take center stage in the new wave of sustainable energy.
In sustainable energy, flywheels come into play as a means of storing intermittent power. Wind power and solar power are notoriously fickle in many parts of the world, and some means of smoothing out the bumps is required. Vycon is one of several companies exploring the potential of flywheels, and it has come up with some interesting twists.
By Susan Kraemer •
January 19, 2010
Not only do off-shore wind turbines not harm marine life, but they actively encourage more of it, a very encouraging study has just concluded, after closely following the effects of the off-shore wind farms being built off the European coast.
By Timothy B. Hurst •
January 16, 2010
Joint New Zealand-U.S. project begins harvesting steady Antarctic winds on Ross Island.
Besides the heavy snow, unrelenting wind, and bone-chilling temperatures, what’s the most difficult part of building a wind farm in Antarctica? The lack of daylight in the winter means construction can only take place in the summer months. And with only one supply ship a year, you better not forget any parts.
On Saturday, the $7.4-million Ross Island Wind Farm in Antarctica began feeding electricity at full power for the very first time. The new wind farm can generate up to one megawatt of electricity and will cut diesel use at New Zealand’s Scott Base and the U.S.’ McMurdo Station by 120,000 gallons and reduce carbon dioxide output by 1,370 tons annually, according to New Zealand’s state-owned Meridian Energy, the project’s developers.
By Zachary Shahan •
January 14, 2010
India has been a bit of a wild card on climate change and clean tech issues. Like China (but not to the same extent), India made the Copenhagen climate negotiations more of a challenge, reluctant to commit to internationally binding targets and international transparency. One day they weren’t willing, then they might be, then they weren’t again. Then, they finally committed to cutting their carbon intensity 20-25% by 2020.
But without a stong, legally-binding, widely-accepted agreement, we are all left wondering what they (and others) will actually do.
Now, we are actually seeing India steam forward. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, following Copenhagen, said, “There is no escaping the truth that the nations of the world have to move to a low-greenhouse-gas-emissions and energy-efficient-development path.” He said that India “must not lag behind” in low-carbon technologies. Jairam Ramesh, Indian environment minister, followed this up by saying that India would go ahead with its carbon intensity reduction plans (above) even despite the lack of a strong agreement. “We’ve got to do what we’ve got to do,” he said.
And just this week, India announced it is launching its “National Solar Mission” which includes creating enough solar power that it could power about 20 million US houses.
It has more going on this month, too.
By Susan Kraemer •
January 11, 2010
Berkeley based Nordic Windpower has just moved from being one of the DOE-supported renewable energy start-ups - to getting its own VC funding. The Department of Energy support (funded under the Recovery Act) was intended to bridge the gap as Venture Capital lost its nerve during the recent financial crisis. This bet seems to have paid off.
By Zachary Shahan •
January 7, 2010
New wind turbine technology out of Denmark can “see” the wind before it arrives and aim itself accordingly.
By Susan Kraemer •
January 5, 2010
In readiness for an expected flood of orders WePower has just held their first training workshop in Palm Desert to build a supply of competent and knowledgeable Authorized Dealers around the nation for their small vertical axis wind turbines.
By Susan Kraemer •
January 5, 2010
When I read about the training workshops for small wind power dealers for WePower, I found no information on the site to let you know how much their units will cost. But if you want to sell (or buy) their vertical axis revolving wind turbines, you’d want to know how cost-effective they are.
By Susan Kraemer •
January 4, 2010
his month Europe’s first electricity super-grid dedicated to renewable energy will become a political reality, as part of Europe’s plan to meet its target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 20% below 1990 levels by 2020.
By Susan Kraemer •
January 1, 2010
A North Dakota rural electric cooperative made history on New Year’s Eve, in completing the nation’s largest wind project to be entirely owned by a consumer cooperative.
The $240 million, 115.5 MW wind farm was begun in August and completed a mere four months later; three and a half hours before midnight on the last night of 2009.
