Sign up | Login with →

wind turbines

Old Wind Turbines Find New Life In Playground

April 3, 2012 by Nino Marchetti
with 283 views
0

Image via 2012Architecten

The wind power industry is still in its beginning stages, so few have stopped to think about what we’ll do with these giant structures when they’re beyond repair. In the Netherlands, a country with a rich history of harnessing the wind’s energy, there are already plenty of spent discarded wind turbine blades and towers looking for a... [read more]

Aesthetic Energy- Beautiful Transmission and Glamorous Turbines

October 29, 2011 by Michael Giberson
with 479 views
0

We talk a bit about the economics of electric power transmission and wind power here, but there is more to understanding the world than economics. Previously we have noted Virginia Postrel writing on the techno-glamour of, among other things, wind turbines. Now we take note of the Pylon Design Competition and its recently announced... [read more]

Big Ship, Big Blades

August 11, 2011 by Rich Maltzman
with 513 views
0

One look at the huge ship (612 feet long) and you knew it was something special.  It was backed up to the middle bridge of the Piscataqua River and loomed over the roadway.  How to handle the ship and its cargo is a project.  The Port Director at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, considered the project as a new opportunity, and... [read more]

What Happens at the End of a Wind Turbine’s Use?

November 10, 2010 by Glen Estill
with 1,022 views
3

I have often been asked by members of the public what happens to wind turbines at the end of their lives. For many of the components, that’s easy. Steel, copper and aluminum have well established scrap markets – the vast majority of the turbine is worth money. But what about the blades, usually made of a fiberglass composite material... [read more]

Wind Turbine Report Confirms No Health Effects

June 4, 2010 by Vicky Portwain
with 455 views
1

If you are baffled by people referring to terms such as ‘vibro-acoustic disease’, ‘wind turbine syndrome’ or just generally worried about wind turbine noise, a report has been published confirming that many wind turbine claims are ill founded. The review ‘Wind Turbine Sound & Health Effects‘ carried out last year includes an... [read more]

Wind Turbines Shed Their Gears

April 27, 2010 by Big Gav
with 260 views
0

Technology Review has an article on GE and Siemens adopting direct drive wind turbines - Wind Turbines Shed Their Gears. Wind turbine manufacturers are turning away from the industry-standard gearboxes and generators in a bid to boost the reliability and reduce the cost of wind power. Siemens, the world's largest turbine manufacturer... [read more]

Siemens To Build UK Offshore Wind Turbine Facility

March 29, 2010 by Michael Davidson
with 203 views
0

German manufacturing firm Siemens has decided to invest approximately GBP80m to develop an offshore wind turbine production facility in the UK, creating around 700 new local jobs once the facility is in production. The company is currently exploring sites on the East Coast and in the North East, and is working with regional development... [read more]

Preliminary results from an offshore wind farm/recreation survey in North Carolina

March 26, 2010 by John Whitehead
with 500 views
5

Given current technology offshore wind turbines are feasible to a depth of 30 meters. New technology exists to site wind turbines to a depth of 50 meters while 100 meter technology is on the horizon. Considering this, offshore wind turbines are feasible from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The benefits and... [read more]

GE to Create 2000 Green Jobs in the UK

March 26, 2010 by Vicky Portwain
with 330 views
0

Wind turbine manufacturer GE announced this week that it plans to spend 110m Euros (US$147m) and create up to 2000 green jobs in the UK.  The company is to join other wind turbine manufacturers who have recently decided to invest heavily in the UK offshore wind energy market. GE plans to build an offshore wind turbine manufacturing... [read more]

Floating Wind Turbine Future

December 14, 2009 by Vicky Portwain
with 567 views
0

It appears that floating wind turbines are set to become a reality in the near future if the signs of a newly emerging supply chain are anything to go by. The Hywind, a 2.3 megawatt (MW) floating wind turbine made by Siemens, combines technologies from both the wind farm industry and the oil and gas sectors, and was installed in June of... [read more]

Framework Deal for Repower Wind Turbines Signed

November 29, 2009 by Vicky Portwain
with 204 views
0

It was announced this week that German wind turbine manufacturer Repower signed a deal with French utility EDF for the supply of wind turbines for five wind farms in Canada. The framework agreement is for the supply of turbines totaling a capacity of 954 Megawatts for wind farms in Quebec, developed by Saint-Laurent Energies, a... [read more]

Do Wind Turbines Work?

November 7, 2009 by Vicky Portwain
with 491 views
10

Numerous reports have now been published saying wind turbines work and can make an important contribution towards the UK’s energy needs. Prominent energy analyst David Milborrow published a new report back in June which the wind energy industry hoped would put to bed the question of whether wind turbines work. The report confirms that... [read more]

Bird and Bat Radar Detection For Wind Farms

November 1, 2009 by Vicky Portwain
with 199 views
2

With many people and organisations concerned about potential bird and bat kills from wind turbines, could radar be the answer? Radar specialist company DeTect has developed and manufactured a new Avian Radar System ‘Merlin‘ which is aimed at protecting birds and bats from colliding with wind turbines. The company believes the technology... [read more]

Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Market Continues to Expand

October 24, 2009 by Vicky Portwain
with 568 views
0

Vertical axis wind turbines appear to be flavour of the year when it comes to small wind turbines. In the UK, supermarket giant Tesco has installed several “Ropatec” vertical axis wind turbines with a rated capacity of 6kW. The latest vertical axis turbine model to come into the test arena is the new Blackhawk Tilt Rotor Wind Turbine... [read more]

GE, biomimicry, wind and nanopants

October 16, 2009 by Marc Gunther
with 250 views
0

Earlier this week, I visited GE’s Global Research Center in Niskayuna, New York, near Albany. Cool place, the home base for about 1,900 scientists, and one of four GE research centers around the world. The others are in Bangalore, Munich and Shanghai. I wrote a column for FORTUNE’s website about GE’s venture investments (GE brings good... [read more]