Summer Spirit

Wind energy

Crude early European windmill

Dutch sawmill
Advanced automatic turning windmill

Elaborite new blade designs in the late 18th and early 19th century showed continued high levels of innovation.

Windmills for small electrical needs were common in the Midwest in the early 20th century.

Aeromotor windmills for water pumping
are still typical in the West where six million were installed in the frontier period.

Smith - Putnam designed this 1.5 MW windmill with 175 ft rotors in Vermont. Built in 1941, it was dismantled in 1945 after one of the rotors cracked.

Windmill installed at Howard's Knob in Boone, N.C.
The $6.2 million, ten-story, 350-ton, 2 MW was built by General Electric.

It was dismantled in 1983 following complaints about the noise from residents. The windmill was also very expensive to operate.

It was considered evidence that renewable energy was clumsy and unworkable.

Jacobs 15 kw windmill installed in Floyd County, Va. in December, 1984. Installers rushed to beat the tax break deadline. Wind tax credits went up and down for the next 24 years.

Cost of producing electricity was about 15 cents per kWhr compared to prices at the time of 5 cents retail and 2.5 cents utility buyback.

Although not cost-effective, it was seen as a symbol of the fight for renewable energy. It was dismantled in 1990.

Altamont pass "condor cuisinarts" were notorious for killing thousands of low-flying golden eagles and hawks.

Environmental impacts of wind devices are starting to be taken far more seriously.

Over 17,000 machines, ranging in output from 20 to 350 kilowatts, were installed in wind farms in California between 1981 and 1990.

At the height of development, these turbines had a collected rating of over 1,700 megawatts and produced over 3 million megawatt hours of electricity.

Wind farms are now found throughout the world such as this one in Xinjiang, China

* Wind farms can be controversial. Proposals to locate wind farms off the south shores of Cape Cod ran into serious environmental resistance in 2002. * Wind farms proposed for West Virginia have generated more controversy over harm to flying migratory birds.

Nordtank 1.5 MW wind turbine located in Esbjerg, Denmark (Oct. 1995)
Wind power now provides 20 % of Denmark's electricity.

World markets are growing at 30% per year.

Wind farm located near Palm Springs, CA.

In the early 1980s wind-generated electricity cost as much as 30 cents per kilowatt-hour. Now, state-of-the-art wind power plants at excellent sites are generating electricity at less than 5 cents/kWh. (American American Wind Energy Association)

Costs are continuing to decline as more and larger plants are built and advanced technology is introduced.


Crude early European windmill	Dutch sawmill	Advanced automatic turning windmill
	Elaborite new blade designs in the late 18th and early 19th century showed continued high levels of innovation.

Windmills for small electrical needs were common in the Midwest in the early 20th century.	Aeromotor windmills for water pumping are still typical in the West where six million were installed in the frontier period.	Smith - Putnam designed this 1.5 MW windmill with 175 ft rotors in Vermont. Built in 1941, it was dismantled in 1945 after one of the rotors cracked.
	Windmill installed at Howard's Knob in Boone, N.C.	The $6.2 million, ten-story, 350-ton, 2 MW was built by General Electric. It was dismantled in 1983 following complaints about the noise from residents. The windmill was also very expensive to operate. It was considered evidence that renewable energy was clumsy and unworkable.
	Jacobs 15 kw windmill installed in Floyd County, Va. in December, 1984. Installers rushed to beat the tax break deadline. Wind tax credits went up and down for the next 24 years.	Cost of producing electricity was about 15 cents per kWhr compared to prices at the time of 5 cents retail and 2.5 cents utility buyback. Although not cost-effective, it was seen as a symbol of the fight for renewable energy. It was dismantled in 1990.
	Altamont pass "condor cuisinarts" were notorious for killing thousands of low-flying golden eagles and hawks. Environmental impacts of wind devices are starting to be taken far more seriously.	Over 17,000 machines, ranging in output from 20 to 350 kilowatts, were installed in wind farms in California between 1981 and 1990. At the height of development, these turbines had a collected rating of over 1,700 megawatts and produced over 3 million megawatt hours of electricity.

	Wind farms are now found throughout the world such as this one in Xinjiang, China
	* Wind farms can be controversial. Proposals to locate wind farms off the south shores of Cape Cod ran into serious environmental resistance in 2002.	* Wind farms proposed for West Virginia have generated more controversy over harm to flying migratory birds.
	Nordtank 1.5 MW wind turbine located in Esbjerg, Denmark (Oct. 1995)	Wind power now provides 20 % of Denmark's electricity. World markets are growing at 30% per year.
	Wind farm located near Palm Springs, CA.	In the early 1980s wind-generated electricity cost as much as 30 cents per kilowatt-hour. Now, state-of-the-art wind power plants at excellent sites are generating electricity at less than 5 cents/kWh. (American American Wind Energy Association) Costs are continuing to decline as more and larger plants are built and advanced technology is introduced.

Renewable energy in the industrial age and beyond