News & Articles on Wind Energy
This is an archive of articles and news on both large and small wind turbines, wind energy & the environment, and links to topics on the history of wind energy.
I’ve been working with wind energy since 1976 and my professional experience in the subject runs the gamut from wind resource assessment to installing and testing small wind turbines. I continue to follow the industry and analyze its growth and increasing contribution to renewable electricity generation worldwide.
For newcomers to wind energy I’ve added pages from my previous books explaining terms used in the industry.
- 200 Term Multilingual Lexicon: The lexicon translates English terms into five different languages: Dansk, Deutsch, Español, Français, and Italiano.
- Glossary of Wind Energy Terminology: The glossary was written by Paul Gipe and Bill Canter in the late-1990s. I’ve added the glossary to my web site for both its historical content—many of the terms were in use during the 1980s and 1990s—and as a reference for the thousands of newcomers to the wind industry since it was first published.
DAF-Indal: The Canadian Darrieus
By
Paul Gipe
DAF-Indal[1] began working with Canada’s National Research Council and provincial utilities to develop Darrieus wind turbines using Canada’s abundant aluminum in the mid 1970s.[2] They constructed about a dozen small prototype Darrieus turbines less than 5 meters in diameter and about 9 meters tall in the mid to late 1970s, rated variously from 4 kW to 12 kW.[3] One was installed in the Arctic for Canada’s Defence Research Establishment.[4] Another was installed in Texas at the USDA’s Bushland Experiment Station in a wind-assisted pumping test. Another was installed on Block Island, Rhode Island.[5] One was still standing—inoperative–outside Toronto in 2007.[6]
Smith-Putnam Stainless Steel Strap Found on Grandpa’s Knob
By
Paul Gipe
No, not recently, not by a long shot. Paul Bergman found a piece of torn and twisted stainless steel on …
Climate scientists: concept of net zero is a dangerous trap
By
External Source
The time has come to voice our fears and be honest with wider society. Current net zero policies will not keep warming to within 1.5°C because they were never intended to. They were and still are driven by a need to protect business as usual, not the climate. If we want to keep people safe then large and sustained cuts to carbon emissions need to happen now. That is the very simple acid test that must be applied to all climate policies. The time for wishful thinking is over.
Greenwashing & Wind Energy: What is it and Who Does it
By
Paul Gipe
Recently I was approached about an article I’d written in 2013 where I accused The Nature Conservancy of greenwashing. (See …
World Moving On Without USA As It Declines
By
Michael Barnard
The world will keep a weather eye on the thrashing giant. Those like me who once admired many things about the country will mourn the loss of more and more checks and balances, the erosion of good governance, the continued increase of grievances of the working and middle class which Trump, his successors, and other Republicans will continue to exploit. The neighboring countries of Mexico and Canada will catch colds as the elephant sneezes. But Europe, China, India, and the rest of the world will continue to move forward without the United States.
RFK Jr.’s ‘Sad’ Slide From Environmental Hero to Outcast
By
External Source
Opposition to offshore wind by the third-party presidential candidate turned Trump supporter began decades ago in the waters off Cape Cod. Project proponents say the fierce opposition by Kennedy, a presidential candidate who recently suspended his campaign but remains on the ballot in nearly three dozen states, had a long-lasting impact on the U.S. offshore wind industry and laid the seeds for opposition that continues today. “It set back offshore wind over 20 years in the United States,” said Jim Gordon, the former CEO of Cape Wind, the company that tried to build the Nantucket Sound project. Gordon said Kennedy was often the loudest, most combative voice of the well-funded opposition. “You have to understand that they created such a brouhaha and so much fear over the technology and the impacts, which have proven to be unfounded.”
