Posted by: Jonathan Marshall

Finally, 67 years after it first opened, the hit musical Oklahoma has received official confirmation from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory that "the wind blows sweeping down the plains" with dramatic force.

According to a new report from NREL, the wind generation potential in Oklahoma is nearly 1.8 million gigawatt-hours annually, or more than a third of total U.S. electric generation in 2008 (4.1 million GWh). 

And Oklahoma' s wind resources rank only 9th among states in the continental United States. Texas leads the pack with annual potential wind generation of 6.5 million GWh--50 percent more than total U.S. generation in 2008. Other Plains states also have immense potential, as shown in this map.

And what about California? It ranks a measley 19th, with potential generation of only 105,000 GWh. On the other hand, PG&E's total electricity sales in 2008 were 82,000 GWh, so that's hardly a trivial number.

These new estimates represent a huge increase since a 1991 asessment by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, which found California's total potential to be about 59,000 GWh annually, Oklahoma's at 725,000 GWh, and Texas's at 1,190,000 GWh. (Mississippi still takes last place, at zero potential.)

Nationwide, NREL's new estimate of potential wind energy is more than three times the old estimate and more than nine times total U.S. electricity consumption.

The increased estimate reflects in part the enhanced ability to today's immense turbines to grab wind energy at heights of 80 meters or more, where it blows relatively unobstructed by surface effects and obstructions.

The gap between existing and potential resources is immense, even in California, which was one of the earliest adopters of wind power. Total installed wind capacity in California was 2,794 MW in 2009, less than a tenth of its estimated potential capacity of 34,000 MW. Texas had more than three times as much installed capacity, 9,410 MW, but a total potential more than two hundred times that, according to NREL.

The big unknown is what fraction of the potential can ever be realized, especially given intense local opposition to siting of huge (and to some eyes, ugly) turbines and transmission towers near populated communities, recreation areas and sensitive habitat.

Nearly everywhere you go, from Cape Cod to California's Mohave Desert, activists are seeking to block large wind energy projects. There's even one doctor who claims people living near such facilities may suffer from "Wind Turbine Syndrome," which allegedly brings on sleep disorders, headaches and panic attacks. These claims have been debunked by other scientists assembled by the wind industry, but good luck trying to stamp them out once they're all over the Internet. 

Posted by: Jonathan Marshall

PG&E has become the first utility to join the American Wind Wildlife Institute (AWWI),  a national organization committed to peaceful coexistence between wind energy and wildlife.

The organization was founded in late 2008 by 20 environmental groups, state wildlife agencies and wind energy companies to focus their collective expertise on protecting wildlife through research, mapping, mitigation and public education on best practices in wind farm siting and habitat protection.

Members include Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, BP Wind Energy, Clipper Windpower Inc., Environmental Defense Fund, GE Energy, Horizon Wind Energy, Iberdrola Renewables, National Audubon Society, Natural Resources Defense Council, and others--but until now, no electric utilities.

PG&E's decision to become a member reflects the utility's longstanding use of wind power--dating back at least to the 1980s. Wind power is sure to represent a growing share of the utility's generation as PG&E continues taking aggressive steps to add to its portfolio of clean energy.

In addition, PG&E announced last month plans to buy and operate a major wind production facility in Kern County. The proposed Manzana Wind Project, if approved and built, would provide enough energy to meet the needs of about 100,000 average homes. The project will undergo careful environmental reviews that consider, among other things, its potential impact on birds and other wildlife.

PG&E's membership in AWWI also reflects the utility's heightened interest in environmental stewardship. Two decades ago, PG&E became a founding member of the Avian Power Line Interaction Committee with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The utility's Avian Protection Plan, which includes retrofitting thousands of power poles to make them safer for birds, is considered a national model.

Some studies suggest that wind farms cause a tiny percentage of bird deaths compared to vehicles, buildings, and even communications towers. But concerns over the high rate of bird kills in Altamont Pass and bat deaths in East Coast wind plants have prompted the wind industry and its allies to fund significant research on the siting and operation of turbines to minimize risks to wildlife. AWWI's exclusive attention to that issue should help advance this collaborative effort as the wind industry ramps up its installations.

AWWI Vice President Stu Webster said the organization is still in the "nurturing stages." Its early focus is on efforts to map wind and wildlife resources so developers can make more informed siting and mitigation decisions.  

One of its biggest and most important initiatives will be to find ways to share proprietary data across the industry to help stakeholders better assess wildlife issues. "The legal and competitive issues need to be harmonized with the need for data to improve our scientific understanding," Webster said. "NGOs, academia, government agencies and industry all want this. It's critically necessary to answer the questions that have been raised."

Posted by: Jonathan Marshall

The U.S. wind industry hurtled forward at gail force last year, flying in the face of of the nation's deep recession. But California, once the leader in wind energy, seemed caught in the doldrums.

The American Wind Energy Association reported yesterday  that the U.S. wind industry "broke all previous records by installing nearly 10,000 megawatts (MW) of new generating capacity in 2009," thanks in part to stimulus from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In fact, wind was on par last year with natural gas as a source of new generation--a major feat for the renewable power industry.

But little of that growth took place in California. The Golden State added only 277 MW of wind capacity, compared to 2,292 MW in Texas and 879 MW in Iowa. California still ranks third in wind power, but its growth of just over 10 percent last year was dwarfed by national growth of 39 percent.

I'm not the only one who was struck by our state's sluggish performance. Bill Opalka, editor of Renewablesbiz.com, commented,

It's hard to miss that the former leader, California, the place that kept wind on the map for 20 years, is falling further and further behind. . . . If the state with the most aggressive mandates in the country has trouble matching sparsely populated states - and those happen to be ones without mandates - what chance does California have it making its deadlines? A question worth asking, even if it's one beyond the scope of a report like this one.

I asked Nancy Rader, executive director of the California Wind Energy Association (CalWEA),  for some perspective on the industry's difficulties in our fair state.  She noted that it was inevitable that other states, many of which have superior wind resources, would begin catching up to California.

Nonetheless, some of our wounds are self-inflicted. "It is very hard to build in California because we are waiting for transmission development and it takes years to slog through the permitting process, whether you are on private or federal land," Rader said.

Partly as a result, Rader said, demand for wind energy in California is spawning development in surrounding states like Oregon and Washington.

The good news is that a new Tehachapi transmission line being built in Southern California should enable a host of new wind projects by 2013--including one announced by PG&E.

"Hopefully within five years we will see California wind capacity more than double because of the Tehachapi transmission line," Rader said.

Posted by: Jonathan Marshall

If California solar developers think they have it bad, waiting endless months for permit reviews, consider the case of Cape Wind, the first offshore wind project proposed in the United States.

That $900 million project, sited off the coast of Cape Cod., Mass., has been in limbo for nine years while local residents, dismayed by the prospect of giant wind turbines spoiling their views of Nantucket Sound, have waged guerrilla warfare to kill it. Further delays were ensured when two Indian tribes this month persuaded the National Park Service that the project might interfere with their spiritual practices.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, the European Wind Energy Association reported Monday that developers last year connected to the European grid 199 offshore wind turbines with a combined capacity of 577 megawatts--a third more than the entire Cape Wind project. EWEA projects that another 1,000 MW of offshore wind capacity will be added this year, continuing the dizzy pace of growth in the market. 

And that's not the half of it. Some 17 offshore wind farms are now under construction in European waters, totaling more than 3,500 MW of capacity, and 52 more have been approved with a combined capacity of more than 16,000 MW. (By way of comparison, peak demand in PG&E's service area runs about 21,000 MW.)

Much more is coming. Great Britain this month announced the winners of a third round of offshore licenses in the North Sea for up to 32,000 MW of wind power. The government expects construction to begin in 2014 and all projects to be completed by 2020. The projects could end up supplying a quarter of the country's entire electricity demand.

The United States does have a handful of small offshore wind projects under consideration off the Eastern seabord, but nothing remotely comparable to Europe. Unfortunately, the high prices that U.S. developers are seeking make some of these projects unappealing to utilities shopping for more renewable power.

If the United States could get its act together, it could potentially tap offshore wind resources totaling 900,000 megawatts, according to the Department of Energy. Polls show strong public support for projects in the Eastern seabord states with the best offshore wind potential. (California, with its deep coastal waters, is unsuited to traditional offshore turbines.) But until state and federal governments can set forth clear policies and streamline their reviews, the United States will remain an embarrassing laggard in the race to tap this enormous source of clean energy.

Posted by: Leonard Anderson

Several items relating to the business and technology of clean energy and the environment caught our attention this week:

Internet giant Google is looking at high-altitude wind power and other renewable energy sources to beat the price of coal. In a lengthy interview with Green Inc., Google green energy czar Bill Weihl says it's exploring ways to capture stronger and steadier winds at 500 to 2,000 meters or potentially up in the jet stream. Google has invested in Makani Power, a company exploring high-altitude wind using an airborne platform. Weihl says Google also is looking at concentrated solar thermal and enhanced geothermal power.

Update from our item last Friday on the controversial wind farm project proposed for offshore Cape Cod: Federal Interior Secretary Ken Salazar met with virtually all the parties to the lengthy dispute and said he plans to decide whether to approve the Cape Wind project no later than April. The project is a test of the Obama administration's commitment to renewable energy projects on public lands and off the nation's shorelines, the New York Times says. It would be the country's first major offshore wind farm.

The symbolic Doomsday Clock showing how close we are to annihilation and the end of time was set back by one minute to six minutes before midnight from five. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which maintains the clock, attributed the change to efforts by world leaders to reduce nuclear arsenals and work together on climate change. The group said a "new era of cooperation" has been helped by the election of President Obama and increased U.S. participation in international affairs.

Posted by: Leonard Anderson

Several items relating to the business and technology of clean energy and the environment caught our attention this week:

Worldwide venture capital funding in green technology companies fell 33 percent in 2009 to $5.6 billion amid the global recession, according to a survey by consulting firms Deloitte and Cleantech Group. Investments in solar power plunged 64 percent but the industry remained the top green tech sector and accounted for 21 percent, or $1.2 billion, of total investment. Energy efficiency companies drew $1 billion in venture financing and transportation ventures took in $1.1 billion. The top three green investors were Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, SAIL Venture Partners and RockPort Capital Partners.

Specialized California license plates with environmental themes are failing to attract very many takers. A plate featuring a bear and a mountain would fund projects of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy but only 256 copies have sold. A Golden Gate Bridge plate sponsored by the California Coastal Conservancy has only 455 takers. Commemorative plates costing $50 a year help pay for new parks, hiking trails, beach restoration and other projects but the bad economy and gas prices are hurting sales. "For a lot of people these days, specialized plates are a luxury," says a spokeswoman for the Department of Motor Vehicles.

A controversial wind farm project proposed off Cape Cod may see further delays after the National Park Service ruled that Nantucket Sound was eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Two Massachusetts Indian tribes said 130 wind turbines would thwart their spiritual ritual of greeting the sunrise and disturb ancestral burial grounds, the New York Times reports. The wind project, in the works since 2001, is strongly supported by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and opposed by Cape Cod homeowners and boaters. The late Senator Edward Kennedy, whose Hyannis Port compound looks out on the proposed site, was the project's most powerful opponent.

Posted by: Leonard Anderson

Several items relating to the business and technology of clean energy and the environment caught our attention this week:

Smart grid company Silver Spring Networks Inc. scores $100 million in a new round of financing to expand in the U.S. and abroad, raising total funds to about $250 million. Silver Spring, based in Redwood City, Calif., installs networking infrastructure for smart grid applications and has contracts with utilities PG&E, Florida Power & Light, Pepco Holdings and American Electric Power.

The outlook for LED lights is brightening, according to semiconductor research company iSuppli. Global LED revenue is projected to grow by 10.9 percent in 2009 to $7.4 billion, up from $6.7 billion in 2008, and to jump up to $14.3 billion by 2013. LEDs are increasingly used in everything from street lights to flat-screen TVs and are beginning to penetrate the residential market as a replacement for incandescent or compact fluorescent bulbs, the company said. LED manufacturers are releasing 40-watt replacement bulbs with the traditional Edison shape.

U.S. and Canadian wind energy associations say a literature review found no medical basis for health complaints that come up near large wind farms. There is no evidence that audible or "subaudible" turbine sounds and vibrations have physiological effects, the industry-financed study says. It concedes that some people are irritated by swishing noise from wind mills. A Canadian surgeon who belongs to a group fighting wind farms in Ontario says the study's authors were "picked and paid for by the wind industry."

Posted by: Leonard Anderson

Several items relating to the business and technology of clean energy and the environment caught our attention this week:

Nine European nations plan to build a wind power "supergrid" in the North Sea west of the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark. The plan, announced as the United Nations climate meetings began in Copenhagen, includes Denmark, Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Sweden, Britain and Ireland. The move did not allocate any funds but a plan for moving forward should be crafted next year.

Ocean Power Technologies will build the first of 10 wave power buoys to place off the Oregon coast beginning next year. If the project succeeds, it would be the first U.S. commercial-scale wave energy farm. Ocean Power has contracted with Oregon Iron Works to build the first buoy, which will be tethered to the ocean floor 2.5 miles off the coast. Ten buoys would have capacity of 1.5 megawatts and generate power through a Bonneville Power Administration substation for 750 homes.

Atlantis Resources Corp. will test the world's biggest tidal energy turbine at the European Marine Energy Center test site off the Orkney Islands in the North Sea near Scotland. The 1-megawatt turbine is the height of a 5-story building and has rotors 18 meters in diameter. The test is in preparation for Scotland's plan to tap the ocean's energy to power about 500,000 homes by 2020.

Posted by: Leonard Anderson

Several items relating to the business and technology of clean energy and the environment caught our attention this week:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is celebrating the one millionth home to receive the blue Energy Star label for energy efficiency since the program was launched in 1995. Energy Star homes are at least 15 percent more efficient than conventional homes, saving residents energy costs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The homes have thick insulation, energy-saving heating and cooling systems, and other efficiency features. The top five markets for Energy Star homes are Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Los Angeles.

The brown pelican has been taken off the federal endangered species list after its population along the West Coast plunged in the 1960s due to DDT poisoning before the chemical was banned in 1972. About 8,500 breeding pairs are believed now to be living in the Channel Islands National Park in California. "The brown pelican is a treasure of the California Coast, and the announcement that the species has been able to rebound is exciting, not only for me but for all who enjoy our coastal wildlife," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said.

Spain's large wind farms supplied more than half of the nation's electricity last weekend as strong winds battered the country. Early last Sunday morning when power loads were low, the wind turbines generated a record 53 percent of Spain's total electricity demand. For the entire day, wind power covered 39 percent of demand. Spain, with 18 gigawatts of wind turbines, is the third largest wind power generator after the U.S. and Germany.

Posted by: Jonathan Marshall

While kitepower is still only an exciting concept as a source of renewable energy on land, it has already become a viable commercial product over water.

A kite flown over the ocean is just a sail by another name. SkySails, a company based in Hamburg, Germany, has reinvented the sailing ship by designing towing kites that dramatically cut the reliance of cargo vessels on polluting fuels.

Ocean-going ships are an enormous source of air pollution. They contribute nearly 3 percent of all the world's CO2 emissions. In addition, they emit about 9 percent of global sulphur oxides and at least a fifth of all nitrogen oxide pollution.

U.S. researchers estimated in 2007 that high-sulfur marine fuels caused the premature death of 60,000 people in 2002. The U.S. EPA has proposed tough new engine and fuel standards that could prevent 13,000 to 33,000 premature deaths by 2030 and produce health benefits of $110 billion to $280 billion annually.

One way to cut down on pollution is kitepower. Like a giant spinnaker, the 160-square-meter SkySail can tug ships forward with the equivalent force of a thousand horespower engine, reducing fuel consumption 10-to-30 percent, the company claims. That can save big money as well as reducing pollution.

Flying at an altitude of more than 100 meters, the sail picks up high-velocity winds, giving it several times more propulsion power than traditional sails. It doesn't require extensive rigging, and because it causes little or no heeling of the vessel, it is said to be far better suited to modern shipping than other sailing rigs.

When not in use, the kite can be folded into a space the size of a telephone booth.

Last year, Beluga Skysails became the first commercial cargo ship to cross the Atlantic--from Venezuela to Norway--with assistance from a towing kite, which provided 20 percent of the vessel's power.

Wessels Shipping Company is now equipping some of its new cargo ships with SkySails, and plans to retrofit the Beluga SkySails with a monster new 300 sq. meter towing kite. It should be fun to watch, but don't try hooking one of these babies up to your kiteboard unless you want to become an astronaut.