Articles by
Paul Gipe
Visit the German Windpower Museum–When You Can
By
Paul Gipe
I’ve just learned that an open-air museum of wind turbines in Germany has expanded its collection to include two US-built machines. I hope to get there some day--once Covid-19 has lifted. Nothing like kicking iron if you’re into windmills.
GE’s Haliade Offshore Wind Turbine–A Comment—or Two
By
Paul Gipe
Ok everyone, I’ll give in. I’ll say something about GE’s big new wind turbine that’s all the rage in the media.
Slight Chevy Bolt Traction Battery Degradation after Nearly 30,000 Miles
By
Paul Gipe
One of the concerns about battery electric vehicles is the amount of degradation the battery suffers during normal use. We drove a Chevy Bolt for three years, clocking nearly 30,000 miles on the odometer. We tracked the car’s performance during this time, including changes in the battery’s capacity. In contrast to our experience with the Nissan Leaf, we found only a modest amount of degradation in the Bolt’s traction battery.
Are EVs More Expensive–Average New Car Prices November 2020
By
Paul Gipe
We drive electric and have for several years now. We encourage our friends to do so as well. However, some have balked, arguing that electric vehicles are too expensive. The question is, are they more expensive?
Cultural Icons of Wind Turbines—A List that Never Stops Growing
By
Paul Gipe
I just added chocolate as a category of subjects that celebrate wind turbines or traditional windmills. Yes, chocolate. I thought “home decor” would be the last category on the topic. I never expected to be writing about table runners or wall paper that featured wind turbines. But the list of categories just won’t stop growing.
Major New Study Criticizes Auctions: Recommends More Equitable Policies to Spur Rapid Renewable Energy Development
By
Paul Gipe
In a sign that Feed-in Tariffs as a policy mechanism for the rapid—and equitable—development of renewable energy are not dead and that their proponents have not given up the hope of a brighter post Covid-19 future, the Energy Watch Group has released a major new report.
Video of Gedser Mill in Operation
By
Paul Gipe
As interest in the Smith-Putnam project heated up, a colleague directed me to a video of the famous mill at Gedser in Denmark. It was at Gedser where the modern wind industry began.
Smith-Putnam Turbine: Patents and Movie Clip
By
Paul Gipe
Because of increasing historical interest in the Smith-Putnam wind turbine, I’ve added two new pages on the Project: patents for ... Read more
Wind Turbine Shadow Jumping
By
Paul Gipe
By now you’ve probably seen the viral video of a woman or girl jumping or skipping over the shadow of a wind turbine blade as it sweeps across the ground. It’s all over the “interweb” as a friend calls the internet.
Journey to the Future: A Review
By
Paul Gipe
Guy Dauncey’s novel Journey to the Future: A Better World is Possible has been extolled by a who’s who of Canadian environmental thought leaders from Elizabeth May, onetime leader of Canada’s Green Party, to David Suzuki, TV personality and environmental activist. The book has also garnered laurels from the Green party of the UK and American progressive radio host Thom Hartmann.
2020 Chevy Bolt EV Battery Capacity Anecdotal Observation
By
Paul Gipe
After two months of driving a 2020 Chevy Bolt for some 2,000 miles we've found that the traction battery of our car has a capacity of 64 kWh, not the 66 kWh advertised. More interestingly, the 2020 battery pack of our car has only 2.5 kWh more than that of our previous 2017 Bolt. This anecdotal observation may not reflect the rest of the 2020 Bolt fleet.
Data Request for 2020 Bolt Battery Capacity Measurements
By
Paul Gipe
I am looking for drivers of 2020 Bolts who have kept records of consumption and State-of-Charge.
