NASA Mod1

Wind turbines have been built for decades but following the oil crisis, there was a push to develop commercially viable and reliable turbines. NASA was one of the technical developers of a new generation of these turbines. Seen here is the Mod1 turbine, built by General Electric, which operated in North Carolina but ultimately suffered from flaws and was dismantled in the early 1980s as funding for the program was cut. According to a history of green technology called "Powering the Dream" by Alexis Madrigal, some U.S. wind companies attempted to leap ahead with radical designs. Meanwhile, companies in Denmark focused on reliability and incremental performance improvements over time, which led to Denmark being a world leader in wind energy.