Wind

Google acquires Makani

It’s been a long time since we covered Makani Power, the company developing kite-like wind turbines. In fact, it has just been bought by Google, for development under its Google[x] division.[read more]

renewable energy storage/shutterstock

 

Wind and solar power generated 3.5% and about 0.1%, respectively, of US electricity last year. To what extent could more and cheaper storage enable wind and solar to function as the equivalent of high-utilization, baseload generation?[read more]

wind energy and the grid

Wind only sets the market price if it is the most expensive resource on the system, and that almost never happens because wind has a zero fuel cost. If wind is setting the price, everything else in the area has been turned off.[read more]

German solar production

This idea, that you build wind farms where it is windy and solar panels where it is sunny is a curiously controversial one. Some would even lobby accusations of you being “anti-renewables” if you put it forward.[read more]

coal-fired plants

Now, the inexorable growth of coal in China in the last decade is often news even to people who make some kind of living writing about energy, but could it possibly be slowing down? And could wind be growing faster than coal?[read more]

wind farm/shutterstock

How many people support renewables or nuclear energy, or for that matter fracking? A closer to look at polls shows that support numbers should be treated with caution.[read more]

wind energy in Iowa

When Warren Buffet's MidAmerican Energy announced the new investment, it gave full credit to the extension of the production tax credit for enabling it to expand its wind generating capacity.[read more]

women in the wind energy industry

Women are under-represented in wind and the other renewable energy industries, according to Kristen Graf, Executive Director of Women of Wind Energy.[read more]

wind energy/shutterstock

I wanted to find a means of estimating the cost of a one million mega watt (Mgw) wind generator and compare that to the cost of one million Mgw of nuclear generation capacity.[read more]

community renewable energy/shutterstock

The most successful way of letting many people participate in energy production is through community energy co-operatives. They allow the broader public to share in the profits of energy production.[read more]

Not only is there increasing demand for energy in the world, there is also increasing awareness as to the importance of renewable energy development for a better world. Funding for such development, however, is becoming more difficult to come by. Can in-house financing provide a solution?[read more]

combined heat and power

Combined heat and power (CHP) is an underutilized tool that could have a huge impact on industrial energy efficiency. But how do the benefits of CHP stack up against building new wind, solar, or natural gas facilities?[read more]

Offshore Wind in EU

Europe is expected to continue dominating the global offshore wind industry, but the Asia Pacific and North American regions will soon represent significant market shares as technological innovations reduce many bottlenecks[read more]

Anne McEntee

Newly appointed GE Renewable Energy VP Anne McEntee, who will run the world leading wind division, met with a group of reporters to talk shop at Windpower 2013, the industry’s annual conclave.[read more]

GE's Brilliant wind turbine

After premiering its 2.5-megawatt, 120-meter rotor Brilliant wind turbine in February, GE is now announcing the commercial installation of the first three models that will integrate energy storage capability.[read more]