Wind Power

Wind turbines are getting really big — some with blades as long as a football field — and more powerful, often generating 50 times more electricity than the first generation of wind power machines built in the 1980s. But scientists are also studying how to harness the wind in different ways that could help allay concerns that today's turbines are unattractive, noisy and sometimes even dangerous. Already in the works: Turbines that float and turbines that fly. Turbines without blades and turbines with blades fat enough to fit a double-decker bus inside.

Supporters of a bipartisan effort to protect the American wind energy industry say that 37,000 U.S. jobs will be at risk this year if Congress fails to extend the production tax credits that have been vital to wind power development. The call for Congress to pass HR 3307, the American Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit Extension Act, was made during a teleconference hosted by three members of Congress, the American Wind Energy Assn. and TPI Composites, a Newton, Iowa-based wind blade manufacturer.

The wide, green gorge where the majestic Columbia River begins its final push to the sea generates so many stiff breezes that windsurfers from around the world make their way to Hood River, not far from here, to ply their colorful sails atop the churning whitecaps. Lately though, electricity, not recreation, has become the big-ticket wind client in the Columbia Gorge. Wind turbines have sprung up all over the blustery hilltops in eastern Washington and Oregon, an area soon to become home to the largest wind farm in the world, developed for customers of Southern California Edison.

On Thursday, the Annual Market Report from the American Wind Energy Assn. (AWEA) will show that California was first in the nation in new wind power installations in 2011 with more than $2 billion in investments. The AWEA report will highlight data on industry jobs, manufacturing, and installed wind capacity across the U.S. Wind is the nation's fastest growing source of non-hydroelectric renewable power generation, according to the U.S. Energy Department. In 2011, California added more wind power than any state, according to the advocacy group Environment California, and the wind industry in California now regularly employs between 4,000 and 5,000 workers.

Google Inc. is investing $55 million in a large Mojave Desert wind farm, pumping fresh air into California's struggling wind power industry. The Internet search giant made the announcement in Anaheim at the industry's largest gathering, where wind farm developers and turbine makers said the investment could be a key step in California's efforts to regain its once enviable title as the world's capital for wind power. "We just fell off a cliff," said Gary Polakovic, a consultant for San Diego wind energy developer EnXco Inc. "But all eyes are on California now. It's our chance to do this right.

Wind energy now supplies about 5% of California's total electricity needs, or enough to power more than 400,000 households. That's the word from the California Wind Energy Assn., which said that California put up more new turbines than any state last year, with 921.3 megawatts installed. Most of that activity occurred in the Tehachapi area of Kern County, with some big projects in Solano, Contra Costa and Riverside counties as well. “The total amount of wind energy installations in 2011 created a banner year for wind generation in California and is helping to drive California closer to reaching its goal of 33% renewable energy ,” said Nancy Rader, executive director of the California Wind Energy Assn.  Wind capacity in the Golden State has doubled since 2002.

On Thursday, the Annual Market Report from the American Wind Energy Assn. (AWEA) will show that California was first in the nation in new wind power installations in 2011 with more than $2 billion in investments. The AWEA report will highlight data on industry jobs, manufacturing, and installed wind capacity across the U.S. Wind is the nation's fastest growing source of non-hydroelectric renewable power generation, according to the U.S. Energy Department. In 2011, California added more wind power than any state, according to the advocacy group Environment California, and the wind industry in California now regularly employs between 4,000 and 5,000 workers.

Google Inc. is backing a plan to lay undersea cables to connect proposed windmills off the mid-Atlantic coast, a step the Internet giant hopes will boost wind power as an energy source. The offshore wind power transmission line would stretch 350 miles from New Jersey to Virginia and could supply enough electricity to serve about 1.9 million households. But the ambitious project, which could cost billions of dollars, faces major hurdles as federal subsidies for construction of wind power installations are set to expire in 2012.

In "Gulf Crisis Spurs Interest in Renewable Sources of Electricity" (Part A, Nov. 8), The Times unwittingly repeats an old utility myth about wind energy being "unreliable." Yes, wind is "intermittent," but it's as reliable as hydro or most other technologies. And when wind supplies a diversified utility, whether PG&E or SCE, even wind's intermittance becomes unimportant. Your article inadvertently furthered Southern California Edison's shortsighted policy of "bashing renewables" at every opportunity, a policy begun to help justify its merger with San Diego Gas & Electric.

Installed U.S. wind energy capacity grew nearly 45% last year to 16,800 megawatts, or enough to serve 4.5 million homes, an industry group said. Texas remained the top state in total wind power capacity and new wind power capacity, the annual report from the American Wind Energy Assn. said.

Century City skyscraper Constellation Place, formerly known as MGM Tower, is the first Los Angeles high-rise to be served by electricity-generating fuel cells. Landlord JMB Realty installed two Bloom Energy Servers that will produce 400 kilowatts of power, about one-third of the electricity needed by the 35-story tower. Bloom servers, made by Bloom Energy of Sunnyvale, Calif., are each big enough to occupy an average parking space and contain thousands of Bloom fuel cells - flat, solid ceramic squares made from a sand-like powder - that convert air and fuel into electricity through an electrochemical process.

Wind energy now supplies about 5% of California's total electricity needs, or enough to power more than 400,000 households. That's the word from the California Wind Energy Assn., which said that California put up more new turbines than any state last year, with 921.3 megawatts installed. Most of that activity occurred in the Tehachapi area of Kern County, with some big projects in Solano, Contra Costa and Riverside counties as well. “The total amount of wind energy installations in 2011 created a banner year for wind generation in California and is helping to drive California closer to reaching its goal of 33% renewable energy ,” said Nancy Rader, executive director of the California Wind Energy Assn.  Wind capacity in the Golden State has doubled since 2002.

The Department of Energy's Wind Powering America program has released new maps of wind energy potential in the U.S. The maps, the first new ones in 19 years, are meant to serve as a resource for policymakers, state and local governments and anyone looking to invest in wind power sites or anyone trying to determine the best potential locations. The maps are based on data gathered in 2010 and show average annual wind speeds at a height of 80 meters above the ground. Some of the information is fairly well know, such as the fact that the best states for wind energy are found along the north central tier of the country, the Great Plains, and in states farther south, such as Oklahoma and Texas.

They can look benign from a distance — solar panels glistening in the sun or turbines gently churning with the breeze to produce electricity for hundreds of thousands of homes. But building and maintaining them can be hazardous. Accidents involving wind turbines alone have tripled in the last decade, and watchdog groups fear incidents could skyrocket further — placing more workers and even bystanders in harm's way — because a surge in projects requires hiring hordes of new and often inexperienced workers.

Wind turbines are getting really big — some with blades as long as a football field — and more powerful, often generating 50 times more electricity than the first generation of wind power machines built in the 1980s. But scientists are also studying how to harness the wind in different ways that could help allay concerns that today's turbines are unattractive, noisy and sometimes even dangerous. Already in the works: Turbines that float and turbines that fly. Turbines without blades and turbines with blades fat enough to fit a double-decker bus inside.

The wide, green gorge where the majestic Columbia River begins its final push to the sea generates so many stiff breezes that windsurfers from around the world make their way to Hood River, not far from here, to ply their colorful sails atop the churning whitecaps. Lately though, electricity, not recreation, has become the big-ticket wind client in the Columbia Gorge. Wind turbines have sprung up all over the blustery hilltops in eastern Washington and Oregon, an area soon to become home to the largest wind farm in the world, developed for customers of Southern California Edison.

The United States will boost its wind power capacity this year by about 25%, an industry group said. More than 3,000 megawatts of wind power turbines will be added in the U.S. -- enough to power about 825,000 households, the American Wind Energy Assn. said. In rankings issued last month, the AWEA showed Texas with 2,768 megawatts of wind power by the end of 2006 and California second with 2,361 megawatts.

Edison International, the Rosemead-based owner of California's largest electric utility, won regulatory approval to buy power from what's slated to be the state's largest wind farm. The 10-year contract with the Alta Windpower unit of Allco Finance Group Ltd., an Australian firm, was approved on a 5-0 vote by the California Public Utilities Commission.

Reporting from Oakland — Scores of protected golden eagles have been dying each year after colliding with the blades of about 5,000 wind turbines along the ridgelines of the Bay Area's Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area, raising troubling questions about the state's push for alternative power sources. The death count, averaging 67 a year for three decades, worries field biologists because the turbines, which have been providing thousands of homes with emissions-free electricity since the 1980s, lie within a region of rolling grasslands and riparian canyons containing one of the highest densities of nesting golden eagles in the United States.

Google Inc. is investing $55 million in a large Mojave Desert wind farm, pumping fresh air into California's struggling wind power industry. The Internet search giant made the announcement in Anaheim at the industry's largest gathering, where wind farm developers and turbine makers said the investment could be a key step in California's efforts to regain its once enviable title as the world's capital for wind power. "We just fell off a cliff," said Gary Polakovic, a consultant for San Diego wind energy developer EnXco Inc. "But all eyes are on California now. It's our chance to do this right.