About Social Media Today
wind turbines
Old Wind Turbines Find New Life In Playground
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
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
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?
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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?
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
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
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
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]
-
Baby You Can Drive My (Electric) Car
Posted May 11, 2012 by Scott Edward Anderson
-
Siemens develops ABS plastic alternative
Posted May 9, 2012 by Doris de Guzman
-
Reduce CO2 and Slow Global Warming?
Posted April 30, 2012 by Willem Post
-
Hidroenergia 2012
May 25, 2012, Wroclaw, Poland
-
WGC 2012 - 25th World Gas Conference
June 4, 2012, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
-
Ecwatech 2012
June 4, 2012, Moscow, Russia
The moderated community for energy, policy, and environment professionals
What's New on
Scott Edward Anderson is a consultant, blogger, and media commentator who blogs at The Green Skeptic. More »
Marc Gunther is a writer, speaker and consultant, who focuses on business and the environment. More »
Christine Hertzog is a consultant, author, and a professional explainer focused on Smart Grid. More »
Jesse Jenkins is the director of energy and climate policy at the Breakthrough Institute. More »
Robert Rapier works in the energy industry and writes and speaks about energy and the environment. More »
Geoffrey Styles is Managing Director of GSW Strategy Group, LLC and an award-winning blogger. More »
Dan Yurman is a nuclear energy blogger and writes regularly for Fuel Cycle Week. More »
The Energy Collective
- YOU
- Rod Adams
- Scott Edward Anderson
- Charles Barton
- Barry Brook
- Dick DeBlasio
- Simon Donner
- Big Gav
- Michael Giberson
- James Greenberger
- Lou Grinzo
- Marc Gunther
- Tyler Hamilton
- Christine Hertzog
- David Hone
- Jesse Jenkins
- Lynne Kiesling
- Sonita Lontoh
- Jesse Parent
- Vicky Portwain
- Tom Raftery
- Robert Rapier
- Joseph Romm
- Robert Stavins
- Robert Stowe
- Geoffrey Styles
- Alex Trembath
- Gernot Wagner
- John Whitehead
- Dan Yurman
Hidroenergia 2012
When: Fri, 2012-05-25 09:00
Global JOJOBAWORLD 2012
When: Fri, 2012-05-25 09:00
NESCO Town Hall: Security Risk Management Practices for Electric Utilities
When: Wed, 2012-05-30 13:00
Ecwatech 2012
When: Mon, 2012-06-04 09:00
WGC 2012 - 25th World Gas Conference
When: Mon, 2012-06-04 09:00
2nd CSP Optimisation Summit
When: Tue, 2012-06-05 08:00
“Cities will need to be retrofitted, as a whole. There's much work to be done. Vertical farming and other forms of energy/space/agriculture integration will be necessary to further sustain how humans live on this planet.”
“David,Reserves, potential resources and production are not interchangeable, and apocalyptic statements that depend on conflating them are thus fundamentally flawed. Your cogent analysis makes this crucial distinction well. It just needs a bigger audience.”