Ascent of Wind Power
The
Ascent of Wind Power (NYTimes):
KHORI, India -- Dilip Pantosh Patil uses an ox-drawn wooden plow to till
the same land as his father, grandfather and great-grandfather. But now he
has a new neighbor: a shiny white wind turbine taller than a 20-story
building, generating electricity at the edge of his bean field.
Wind power may still have an image as something of a plaything of
environmentalists more concerned with clean energy than saving money. But it
is quickly emerging as a serious alternative not just in affluent areas of
the world but in fast-growing countries like India and China that are avidly
seeking new energy sources. And leading the charge here in west-central
India and elsewhere is an unlikely champion, Suzlon Energy, a homegrown
Indian company.
Suzlon already dominates the Indian market and is now expanding rapidly
abroad, having erected factories in locations as far away as Pipestone,
Minn., and Tianjin, China. Four-fifths of the orders in Suzlon's packed
book now come from outside India.
Interesting article about the rise of wind power in other countries (I
say as I type this message using power from a nearby wind farm...). Some of
the challenges they've faced are interesting (after all, how do you
ship a gigantic blade across several hundred miles?).
In other news, the weather's been lovely the past couple of days. We've
been enjoying cloudy mornings, sunny afternoons and tolerably low
temperatures (high of only 78 today). Looks like it'll improve from
here...