An Introduction To The Wind Power Industry In The United States

Since early recorded history, people have been harnessing the energy of the wind. In the United States in the late 19th century, settlers began using windmills to pump water for farms and ranches, and later, to generate electricity for homes and industry. Industrialism led to a gradual decline in the use of windmills. The steam engine replaced European water-pumping windmills, and in the 1930s, the Rural Electrification Administration's programs brought inexpensive electric power to most rural areas in the United States. However, industrialization also sparked the development of larger windmills, wind turbines, to generate electricity.

Relates the history of the efforts to capture the power of wind for electricity, from the first European windmills to California's wind farms of the late twentieth century.

As the demand for energy increases, and fossil fuels continue to decrease, Wind Energy: Renewable Energy and the Environment, Second Edition considers the viability of wind as an alternative renewable energy source. This book examines the wind industry from its start in the 1970s until now, and introduces all aspects of wind energy. The phenomenal growth of wind power for utilities is covered along with applications such as wind-diesel, village power, telecommunications, and street lighting.. It covers the characteristics of wind, such as shear, power potential, turbulence, wind resource, wind turbine types, and designs and performance. The text discusses the measurement and siting of individual wind turbines, and considers the development and economic impact of wind farms. What’s New in the Second Edition: Expands the section on distributed wind Adds new sections on global warming, community wind, and storage Illustrates the need for a shift to renewable energy through discussions on energy use and the order of magnitude estimates for the lifetime of fossil fuels Discusses the interconnection of wind turbines to utility grids, regulations on installation and operation, and environmental concerns This book provides material on statistics, installation, types, and energy data, as well as new information, applications, and updates on the wind industry. It serves as a resource for practicing professionals in the wind energy industry, and can be used by undergraduate and graduate students in energy engineering/environmental engineering/wind technology.

He cites improvements in the performance, reliability, and cost effectiveness of modern wind turbines to support his contention that wind energy has come of age as a commercial technology.

Named as one of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles of 2012 Every year, Choice subject editors recognise the most significant print and electronic works reviewed in Choice during the previous calendar year. Appearing annually in Choice's January issue, this prestigious list of publications reflects the best in scholarly titles and attracts extraordinary attention from the academic library community. The authoritative reference on wind energy, now fully revised and updated to include offshore wind power A decade on from its first release, the Wind Energy Handbook, Second Edition, reflects the advances in technology underpinning the continued expansion of the global wind power sector. Harnessing their collective industrial and academic expertise, the authors provide a comprehensive introduction to wind turbine design and wind farm planning for onshore and offshore wind-powered electricity generation. The major change since the first edition is the addition of a new chapter on offshore wind turbines and offshore wind farm development. Opening with a survey of the present state of offshore wind farm development, the chapter goes on to consider resource assessment and array losses. Then wave loading on support structures is examined in depth, including wind and wave load combinations and descriptions of applicable wave theories. After sections covering optimum machine size and offshore turbine reliability, the different types of support structure deployed to date are described in turn, with emphasis on monopiles, including fatigue analysis in the frequency domain. Final sections examine the assessment of environmental impacts and the design of the power collection and transmission cable network. New coverage features: turbulence models updated to reflect the latest design standards, including an introduction to the Mann turbulence model extended treatment of horizontal axis wind turbines aerodynamics, now including a survey of wind turbine aerofoils, dynamic stall and computational fluid dynamics developments in turbine design codes techniques for extrapolating extreme loads from simulation results an introduction to the NREL cost model comparison of options for variable speed operation in-depth treatment of individual blade pitch control grid code requirements and the principles governing the connection of large wind farms to transmission networks four pages of full-colour pictures that illustrate blade manufacture, turbine construction and offshore support structure installation Firmly established as an essential reference, Wind Energy Handbook, Second Edition will prove a real asset to engineers, turbine designers and wind energy consultants both in industry and research. Advanced engineering students and new entrants to the wind energy sector will also find it an invaluable resource.

The use of the wind as an energy source is increasing and growing worldwide. Wind energy is an important non-fossil option to supplement fossil (coal, natural gas and oil) and nuclear fuels for the generation of electricity. Many parts of the world, particularly the coastlines of Western Europe, North Africa, North and South America, India, Eastern Russia, China, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand, experience a high annual incidence of wind energy. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, together with the Republic of Ireland form a particularly windy location, being favoured with strong westerly winds. The technology of the design and installation of wind turbines and wind farms are, in fact, well established. Operational practice, though, is still being developed as engineers learn by experience. This book is written for electrical engineers concerned with the use of wind power for generating electricity. It incorporates some meteorological features of international wind supply plus a survey of the past and present wind turbines with technical assessment of the choice of turbine sites. Detailed coverage is given to the different types of electrical generator machines used and the electronic control devices employed in modern turbine systems. Importantly, this book devotes full chapters to the integration of wind farms into established electrical grid supply systems, and the environmental and economic aspects of wind generation. Engineers will be drawn to the practical approach in this book, featuring worked numerical examples complete with answers at the end of some chapters.

In 2006, a panel explored a modeled energy scenario in which wind would provide 20 percent of U.S. electricity by 2030. Their official report estimates impacts and discusses specific needs and outcomes.