Green Options

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about China’s new policy to focus on buying (almost entirely) “China-grown” wind turbines and wind turbine technologies with Chinese patents. That policy wasn’t a big hit internationally and China is back-tracking.

However, is it changing its stance out of international moral pressure or a major financial incentive (recent deal) in the US? And who is to benefit the most from this shift?

Big shifts seem to be stirring in the wind turbine market. Foreign companies are backing out of China due to China’s move to use more home-grown technology. At the same time, China is looking to expand its wind turbine sales into Europe.

European energy giant E.ON “turned on” what is reported to be the largest wind farm in the world this week, in Texas.

The farm contains 627 wind turbines on almost 100,000 acres of land near Roscoe, Texas.

Tejon Ranch Company (TRC) has received the Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award (GEELA) for its PR scheme designed to distract the public from condor-killing real estate development plans.

Apparently, in Schwarzenegger’s California, the development of a luxury mountain resort in the middle of designated California condor habitat is an award-winning event.

There has been evidence suggested that rooftop wind turbines (micro wind turbines for the home) just aren’t effective, and in some cases even pose a safety risk. However, that hasn’t stopped the engineering of other home wind turbine technologies that might just improve upon those already offerred on the market. In the Dutch Postcode Lottery’s Green Challenge which took place this past week, a new type of wind turbine was unveiled that’s said to have a high-efficiency, working in weather conditions where there is minimal wind; and it also has a more discreet look that better blends in with the architecture of any home.

The world’s very first floating fullscale offshore wind turbine has officially been inaugurated in the North Sea off the coast of Norway.

The turbine even has a name: Hywind. It measures 213 feet tall and weighs 5,300 tonnes, and it rests on a floating stand which is filled with water and rocks to provide balast. Three powerful cables anchor the stand to the seafloor.

Even though the ‘green’ movement has the likes of Leo, Brad, and Robert (Redford) as it’s Hollywood faces, it could still use a little more ’sexiness’ to gain popularity…

Asian countries may soon lead the world in clean energy technology. Take a look at how they are using it today.

Despite President Obama’s call for the United States to lead the clean energy technology industry, a weak climate bill (H.R. 2454) awaiting the Senate to return from recess promises limited funding for research and development of renewable clean energy technologies.

Asia, however, has recognized the advantages of embracing clean energy development and the race for clean energy dominance is heating up faster than the planet. Here’s a look at the development of clean energy technology in the some of the world’s developing Asian economies.

1. Kunming - China’s “Solar City”

In addition to a sub-par resource, political opposition based largely on aesthetics have prevented wind power from taking off in the western part of the North Carolina.

Made in the USA is back.  Nordex USA, Inc., one of the world’s leading manufacturers of wind turbines, has just announced that it will build a manufacturing plant in Jonesboro, Arkansas.  The plant is expected to begin producing turbines in 2010 and create approximately 600 jobs.  With a typical wind turbine requiring about 8,000 components, that could mean a ripple effect in related jobs in the supply chain.

Concept incorporates vertical-axis wind turbines directly into transmission towers already dotting the landscape.

Three Frenchmen, architects Nic­ola Delon and Julien Choppin, along with engineer Raphaël Ménard, believe they have stumbled upon a scalable design that would not only allow wind turbines to work in virtually any landscape, they believe it avoids some of the aesthetic hurdles normally facing large wind farms. The Wind-it concept would fuse vertical-axis wind turbines directly into new or existing electricity transmission infrastructure.

The team estimates that if a third of France’s high-voltage electricity towers were renovated with turbines, they could rival the power generation of two nuclear reactors, or about 5 percent of the country’s energy needs.