Small Wind Power is Growing Fast, Even Bush Sr. Will Get a Wind Turbine
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 04.30.08
Residential wind power is the too often forgotten little brother of the wind power industry that builds turbines on the scale of jumbo jets. But it's starting to grow up and come out of the shadow of its bigger sibling. "improved generator technology [lighter magnets in the generators, blades that adjust to wind conditions, and units that wirelessly report how much power they're making], more financial incentives, rising electric rates, and energy-security concerns have opened the way for small-wind power to bloom in unlikely places."
That's right, they aren't just for the farm anymore. You should see more and more small wind turbines in suburbs and urban settings as time goes on. Of course, we're still talking small potatoes compared to big wind power, on the order of only 3 megawatts in 2007 according to the American Wind En ergy Association (AWEA), but that's triple the generating capacity of 2006. A few more years of tripling and doubling, and the power of exponential growth will be felt.
One benefit of small wind is that it's probably easier for new manufacturers to throw their hats in the ring. It's not quite the massive industrial challenge that building an Enercon E-126 wind turbine is...
Supplying that tiny but red-hot market are dozens of new companies that have popped up since 2000. Though a half-dozen companies dominate the market, AWEA tracks about 45 US manufacturers. With demand strong overseas, too, the US is the world leader in small-wind power, exporting more than half of what it sells.
In the US, there are at least 26 states with incentives for small wind, but even in states where there is nothing, growth is strong, showing that it's not an artificially inflated bubble.
Even former US president George H.W. Bush is reported to be getting a 1.8-kilowatt "Skystream" wind turbine made by Southwest Windpower.
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I don't think that the bush family getting a windmill should be taken as any indication that they are good people or that they care about the environment in the slightest.
Re: "I don't think that the bush family getting a windmill should be taken as any indication that they are good people or that they care about the environment in the slightest"
I think that's the sorta the point. This didn't strike me as a pro-Bush (either junior or senior) article. It struck me more as an indication that even people who don't bleed green are seeing value in wind-generated electricity.
Good post. But I hear that many state policies on net metering are inadequate at best.
http://tinyurl.com/3usj5r
thespyofcharles, in fact it may be a sign that people who don't really care that much about the environment are getting one. And that may be a good thing for people who do care about the environment.
Marc P.
George Bush Sr.'s small turbine has already been operating for several months now at his Walker Point compound in Kennebunkport. Coastal location, super-rich neighbors - but so far, the only view that's been ruined is the one that pegs the whole Bush family as petro-pyromaniacs who don't believe in global warming.
Now if only we could get the Kennedys to live up to their good example and stop fighting against Cape Wind!
See
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/environment/018812.html
After all Bush did for the oil industry they don't even have the decency to supply him with free gas and oil for the rest of his life? Some people are just so inconsiderate...
I may be dumb enough to drive a Hummer, but I'm smart enough to know that wind power is the future. For what we've spent on this stupid Iraq war we could have installed 10,000 3mW turbines, nationalized the electric grid and made electricity so cheap it's free. Free energy (electric only) would be a bigger boost to US Economy than any other "stimulus package". At this point, we only lack the will and leadership to do what's inevitable.
I've been reading more and more about treehugger.com so I dropped by for a visit.
Then the first thing I see is left-wing comments attacking Bush Sr. I personally think both parties suck. They are both in it for the money and could care less about anything else.
Neither party has candidates that say, "as President, I'm going to re-price energy in every way that I can. I will insure that new home building codes around the country require minimal photovoltaics systems. I will insure that photovoltaics systems are priced on a monthly basis at a price less than a home's current electric bill. I will not rest until every home is capable of selling electric to their electric company, if they are connected to an electric company. This is a matter of urgency to reduce our dependence on oil, to prepare for the day we park electric vehicles in every driveway, to have an energy backup for homeland security and to satisfy that portion of scientists that claim we are creating global warming. For the rest of you, you can skip that last part if it really pisses you off."
Quite frankly, I doubt we will ever again have a U.S. Senate capable of fixing our problems since those same U.S. Senators have chosen to remain criminal Republicans and criminal Democrats rather than becoming U.S. Senators that put party aside and come up with laws that fix real problems. You need look no further than the two decade inaction on Social Security as an example.
The worst thing you can have on treehugger.com is the continued Democrat versus Republican divide.
Personally, I am a Fairtax supporter because I believe getting the IRS off our backs, eliminating 65,000 places to hide lobbyists deals, removing the income tax component from international pricing and many, many other reasons - will go a long way towards reducing the burden the average family in the U.S. is forced to endure. Families are devastated when a dot-com bust happens and destroys their life savings. Families are devastated when hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, terror attacks and other events change lives and taxes can no longer be paid. I am sick and tired that no one listens anymore.