Wind Energy

World's first floating wind turbine launched in Berlin
BERLIN (AFP) - A floating wind turbine that its makers claim could significantly boost the renewable energy sector was officially launched at a trade show in the German capital on Wednesday.
Dutch company Blue H Technologies said its invention, which adapts technology used in offshore oil rigs, was a world first. It will soon go into operation off the coast of Puglia in southern Italy. Read more at Yahoo News

Whole Foods Commits to Wind Energy
By STEVE QUINN AP Business Writer

Natural-food grocer Whole Foods Market Inc. said Tuesday it will rely on wind energy for all of its electricity needs, making it the largest corporate user of renewable energy in the United States.

The Austin-based company said it is purchasing 458,000 megawatt-hours of wind energy credits a year — enough to power 44,000 homes annually — from Renewable Choice Energy of Boulder, Colo.

The decision follows the publicly traded company's mission of environmental stewardship without losing sight of the bottom line, Whole Foods regional president Michael Besancon said.

"It's a sales driver rather than a cost," he said. "All of those things we do related to our core values: help drive sales, help convince a customer to drive past three or four other supermarkets on the way to Whole Foods."
Read more at Yahoo News

Debate Swirls As Wind Power Grows Rapidly
By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN , AP Business Writer

STAMFORD, Conn. - Giant windmills on scenic mountain ridges, prairie grass and even an Indian reservation are spinning an unusual debate that is dividing leading environmentalists.
Wind power grew rapidly in 2005, becoming more competitive as natural gas prices jumped and crude oil prices reached record highs. Improved technology, a federal tax credit and pressure on utilities to use clean energy sources helped fuel the growth from coast to coast.
But wind energy is posing a dilemma for environmentalists who support its pollution-free electricity but have grown increasingly alarmed at its death toll on birds and bats.
Read the rest Yahoo News

A Step Toward Personal Windmills
By LiveScience Staff

Engineers have developed the guts of a small-scale windmill that could one day help power individual homes.

Most efforts at harnessing wind for electricity focus on large, commercial wind farms.

Personal windmills could be useful in rural settings where space is ample and electricity sometimes costly. But before they could ever effectively supplement regular power supplies, more efficient systems are needed.
Read the rest LiveScience.com

Wind Power Potential in the U.S.
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Study: Wind Could Meet Global Energy Needs
By Larry O'Hanlon, Discovery News

A new survey of wind power around the globe has found there's ample energy for all humanity blowing around us. Read the rest at Discovery News

Wind Energy Projects Throughout the United States of America
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Since1974 the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA)
has advocated the development of wind energy as a reliable, environmentally superior energy alternative in the United States and around the world.

Ireland to build world's largest wind farm

Marine and Natural Resources Minister Frank Fahey said the wind farm, in the Irish Sea off County Wicklow on Ireland's east coast, would be three times the size of all the existing wind farms in the world put together. More

Norway has significant wind power potential

---OSLO - Norway's potential for wind generated energy could total 480 terawatt hours of electricity a year, The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) said in a statement yesterday. More

American wind energy industry comes of age

---The European wind energy industry has outpaced the world for years with Germany, Denmark and Britain leading the pack, but the maturity of the American wind power industry was demonstrated this month.

American wind energy producers responded powerfully to a request for proposals to build new generating facilities from the Bonneville Power Administration, a federal agency based in Portland, Oregon. More