Oregon Field Guide: Wind Turbine School

Go to a classroom three hundred feet in the air to learn all about wind turbines and what it takes to keep them spinning. As more and more wind turbines come on line in north central Oregon, Columbia Gorge Community College’s Renewable Energy Technology program is training the local workforce to meet the need for skilled technicians who can repair and maintain these technological marvels.

I do not think this is the job for me.

Wind Turbine …. as the green future unfolds.

“There is enough energy in high altitude winds to power civilization 100 times over; and sooner or later, we’re going to learn to tap into the power of winds and use it to run civilization.” – Ken Caldeira, Professor of Global Ecology at the Carnegie Institution for Science. (Discovery Channel, Project Earth, Infinite Winds episode) (more…)

Linking Renewable Energy Resources Around the World

World Wide Grid

GENI – Global Energy Network Institute

The Vision: A world in which all people have access to ecologically sustainable energy.

The Mission: To conduct research and to educate world leaders and the public about the critical viability of the interconnection of electric power networks between nations and continents, with an emphasis on tapping abundant renewable energy resources, called ‘the GENI Initiative.’ The GENI Initiative focuses on linking renewable energy resources around the world using international electricity transmission. (more…)

A Reason For Fish Swimming In Schools Leads To Better Wind Efficiency AND Revisiting A Wind Catcher Start-up

Mariah: In November, 2008, Forced Green posted an article called “…And They Call The Wind Mariah…”   About a green start-up company called Mariah Power that was regonized as “Best of What’s New” by Popular Science in 2008, for their Windspire vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT).

Since then, they have hit the ground running and on April 5th, 2010 Mariah Power officially changed its name to Windspire Energy Inc. The change was made to clarify confusion in the marketplace between the corporate name – Mariah Power – and the product name – Windspire. (more…)

The United Kingdom – An Island Nation Serious About Cleanly Harnessing Their Natural Resources

On Thursday September 23, 2010, off the coast of Kent, where the English Channel meets the North Sea in southeastern England, the world’s largest offshore wind farm went online. The Thanet Offshore Wind Farm consist of 100 wind turbines covering an area of 13.5 square miles (35 square kilometers), each turbine is 115 meters tall, generating enough electricity for 200,000 homes a year. The Swedish energy company Vattenfall which invested about 880 million pounds ($1.38 billion), operates the wind farms. The construction took just over two years and expected to operate for at least 25 years. (more…)

Plug-In Solar And Wind Power Systems On The Market In 2011

So you want to feel better about your “green-self”, but don’t know how to, or the affordability concerns. Well, here’s the first bit of knowledge to get you on your way – one step at a time – start simple and slow, then grow.

Your power for instance, there’s no regulation, mandate, nor physics law that requires you to completely (more…)

Dangerous Dynamic Fluid-Structure Interactions Give Rise To Ingenious Green Innovations

In 2004, Shawn Frayne, a member of a team from MIT visiting Petite Anse, Haiti, found the fishing village near the coast was not connected to an electrical grid, and the only lighting available was diesel-powered or kerosene-based. Frayne recognized that white LEDs powered by a small, very inexpensive wind generator might be better able to power LED lamps and radios in the homes and schools in the area. However, he hit a brick wall – turbine technology is too inefficient at these scales to be a viable option. (more…)