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 I’ve added the glossary to my web site for both its historical content—many of the terms were in use during the 1980s and 1990s—and as a reference for the thousands of newcomers to the wind industry since it was first published.
Wind energy company pleads guilty to killing at least 150 eagles
By
Maya Yang
Turbine blades owned by ESI Energy hacked many birds to death, a violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act
Smith-Putnam Stressed Skin Blades and Bridge Construction Spar
By
Paul Gipe
Included in the correspondence from Palmer Putnam to Herman Drees is a letter from Richard Heckscher who was involved in blade development on the Smith-Putnam project. (See Palmer Putnam to Herman Drees Letter Reveals Emphasis on Swept Area.) Hecksher had alerted Putnam to the work of Herman Drees in developing Drees’ Cycloturbine.
Palmer Putnam – Herman M. Drees Correspondence 1979
By
Paul Gipe
18-page scan of documents in the archives of Wally Thompson of correspondence from Palmer Putnam to Herman Drees in 1979.
Palmer Putnam to Herman Drees Letter Reveals Emphasis on Swept Area
By
Paul Gipe
Wally Thompson forwarded to me some fascinating correspondence from Palmer Putnam to Herman Drees of Pinson Cycloturbine fame.
Confirmed: Tvindkraft Designed to be Slightly Larger than Smith-Putnam
By
Paul Gipe
Erik Grove-Nielsen has confirmed that the Tvindkraft wind turbine was designed to be slightly larger than the Smith-Putnam wind turbine and become the world’s largest wind turbine in 1978.
Beating a Dead Horse–More on Smith-Putnam’s 1,000 kW Rating
By
Paul Gipe
Since I posted my article on the revised rating of Smith-Putnam’s famed wind turbine of the 1940s, I’ve received several comments. (See When is a 1,250 kW Wind Turbine Only 1,000 kW? Setting the Smith-Putnam Record Straight.) One was from an old wind hand, Mark Haller. Others also noted the historical record is rife with the error.
