WIND NEWS

Wind generates power for 35 million people

Wind turbines around the world
generate enough electricity for 35
million people, according to the
Worldwatch Institute. The use of
renewables has ignored a lagging
world economy and has experienced an unprecedented surge in
growth in recent years, says the
research group. More wind capacity is installed each year than
nuclear, and the technology is
closing in rapidly on hydroelectric power. Wind power is the
first renewable energy source to
enter the mainstream, president
Christopher Flavin told the

American Council for Renewable

Energy. Sales of turbines generated
US$7 billion last year and claims
100,000 jobs. Solar cells are nine
years behind wind energy in terms
of installed capacity, and growing
at 24% each year. Annual production of solar power systems has
grown 150% in the past three
years, ahead of the 78% growth in
wind, and have even greater
potential than wind energy
because they can be placed almost
anywhere.
These dynamic growth rates similar to the recent trend in

Scottish survey shows firm

public support for wind
The Scottish Executive has
announced the results of a recent
survey that shows strong public
support for wind farms. The survey of residents living around
Scotland's ten existing wind farms
found high levels of acceptance
and overwhelming support for
wind power, with support
strongest amongst those who lived
closest to the wind farms.
Rob Forrest, Chief Executive of
Scottish Renewables Forum (SRF)
commented: "This survey shows
that the Scottish public wants
wind. The fact that the majority of
those living near wind farms
would support an extension of
these farms shows that wind works
and is already a good neighbour to
communities in Scotland."
Marcus Rand, Chief Executive
of The British Wind Energy
Association pointed out that the
results of this survey match that of
an earlier one carried out by the
Scottish
Executive,
Public
Attitudes to the Environment in
Scotland 2002. The survey found
that the Scottish public would prefer the majority of their electricity
to come from renewables, and

rated wind power as the cleanest

source of renewables.
Both sets of results support the
findings of previous opinion polls
carried out in the UK. An analysis
of 42 surveys conducted between
1990 and 2002 shows averages of
77% of the public in favour of
wind energy, with less than one in
ten people against. An average
eight in ten people in the UK are
consistently supportive of wind
power technology, a level of support that has been maintained for
over a decade. The analysis of public attitude surveys was compiled
as the British Wind Energy
Association released the results of a
UK-wide opinion poll which
showed that 74% of British bill
payers were in favour of increasing
the use of wind power. Details at:
www.bwea.com/view/news/roun
d2.html
The MORI Scotland study for
the Scottish Executive study can
be found online at: www.scotland.gov.uk/enterprise/energy
For further details of the above
contact: Maf Smith, SRF, on +44
7818 075 600 or Alison Hill,
BWEA, on +44 7956 859 749

mobile phone sales - are driving

down costs and increasing the
political strength of the new industries which, in turn, is driving further growth, says Flavin. A
decade from now, renewable energy
is likely to be an accepted part of
the mainstream energy business,
and in a position to dominate the
market for new electricity generators. After falling behind Europe
in the use of renewables last decade,
the U.S. is moving back into the
game as a result of supportive state
policies. Thirteen states have set
renewable portfolio standards, and

thirty allow net metering, while a

number of state governments have
set goals for green power procurement. Biodiesel and geothermal are
expanding rapidly around the
world, with wave and tidal projects
under examination, although
Flavin did not comment on green
heat applications for thermal space
conditioning. He said renewables
are being recognized as a solution
to climate change and as a means to
stimulate development and create
jobs.
Visit www.worldwatch.org for
more information.

AWEA predicts strong

end to 2003
The American Wind Energy
Association (AWEA) has reported that the U.S. looks likely to
install up to 1600 MW of new
wind power in 2003. While the
outlook for the balance of the
year is strong, AWEA warned
that the wind industry's future
beyond year's end will be strongly influenced by whether
Congress extends the wind production tax credit (PTC) scheduled to expire at the end of 2003.
According to AWEA's quarterly
assessment of the wind energy
market, the wind project developments that are underway could
increase the cumulative total of
U.S. installed wind capacity to
over 6000 MW. That level of
wind capacity will be able to produce approximately 16 billion
kWh of pollution-free electricity,
enough to serve 1.57 million
average U.S homes. In the past
month or so, a number of large
projects have been announced
that will increase the year-end
total. AWEA Executive Director
Randall Swisher commented,

"We see more reason for optimism than we did three months
ago. The market appears to be
firming as the end of the year
draws nearer." Developers are
pushing to complete projects by
the end of the year in order to
qualify for the PTC. A quick
extension of the credit is urgently
needed, Swisher said, to ensure
that the momentum gained
toward industry growth is not
lost as it has been in the past
when the credit expired. A threeyear extension of the PTC is
included in both the House and
Senate versions of comprehensive
energy legislation now pending
in Congress. Swisher also called
on energy bill conferees to support Senate-passed provisions
that would establish a national
Renewables Portfolio Standard
(RPS) requiring that 10% of the
nation's electricity come from
renewable energy sources by
2020 and a Small Turbine
Investment Credit for homeowners who install residential wind
machines. www.awea.org

clockwise. The turbine can be

built with several different
kinds of material and can be
assembled or disassembled quickly. It is applicable on offshore
platforms, towers, containers,
campers, house roofs and on
industrial building roofs.

Contact: Marco Gorini, Veneto

Innovazione SpA, Via della Libert,
5-12, Marghera VE, Nord Est,
Veneto, Venezia 30175, Italy. Tel:
+39-041-5093023; Fax: +39-0415093078; e-mail: marco.gorini@
venetoinnovazione.it; www.venetoinnovazione.it

New VAWT design

A vertical axis wind turbine
(VAWT) has been developed and
patented by an Italian company.
The turbine is designed to operate at both low wind flow and
wind blowing in gusts and to orient itself according to the wind
direction. The Italian owner of

14

the patent has already produced

and installed several models and
is looking for a company interested in the patent and its use. The
turbine consists of a vertical axis
rotor with mobile self-oriented
blades. The rotation of the turbine can be clockwise or counter-

September/October 2003

REFOCUS

www.re-focus.net