Wind

Cape Wind finds buyer for offshore wind power

Utility National Grid said that it has agreed to buy half of the electricity produced by Cape Wind, a controversial offshore wind project planned for Cape Cod, at a price that will add about $1.59 to the monthly electricity bills of National Grid customers in Massachusetts.

At a press conference on Friday, National Grid U.S. president Tom King said that National Grid will pay 20.7 cents per kilowatt-hour for the electricity from Cape Wind starting in 2013. Currently, comparable prices are about 8 to 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, King said.

National Grid agreed to the 15-year contract, … Read more

Google invests nearly $39 million in wind farms

Google, a company whose core business is Internet search, has made its first investment in a renewable-energy project, putting up $38.8 million into two wind farms in North Dakota.

The company on Monday announced the funding, saying the two locations generate 169.5 megawatts of power, or enough to supply 55,000 homes. The farms, which were developed by NextEra Energy Resources, will reduce fossil fuel use in the region and make "good business sense," for Google, too, said Rick Needham, Google's green business operations manager, on the company blog.

Google has invested millions of dollars … Read more

Gulf Coast oil spill responders employ latest tech

With hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil threatening some of America's richest wetlands and fisheries, crews grappling with the massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico have at their disposal new technologies never before available in such a disaster.

To be sure, oil spill response is a largely low-tech business that hasn't changed that much over the years. But as the aftermath of the explosion and subsequent sinking of the semi-submersible offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon looks increasingly like it may result in the country's worst environmental catastrophe in decades, there are some ways that technology … Read more

Direct-drive turbines to propel offshore wind

With projected growth in offshore wind farms, turbine makers are adopting direct-drive generators, a technology that could help address concerns over cost and reliability of offshore wind.

Siemens Energy's first direct-drive turbine is now available for both onshore and offshore applications, the company said last week. Siemens has been testing a prototype since last year and the results have been good, according to the company.

Rated at 3 megawatts of capacity, the SWT-3.0-101 is a lower height and weight than Siemens' 2.3-megawatt machine and has half the number of parts. It's more compact than generators that … Read more

Feds OK Cape Wind project

Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar on Wednesday approved the controversial Cape Wind project, paving the way for the first offshore wind farm in the U.S.

Salazar announced the federal go-ahead in Boston at the Massachusetts State House as he stood next to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick. Patrick is a supporter of the project, which has been in development for nine years.

The decision means that Cape Wind can move ahead with its plan to erect 130 wind turbines, which would stand 400 feet above the seabed in Nantucket Sound, an area south of Cape Cod and north of Martha's … Read more

Man versus machine, for three points

SAN FRANCISCO--Apparently, robot field goal kickers are pretty pathetic when it comes to talking trash.

That much was clear Monday morning during a placekicking face-off between San Francisco 49ers kicker Joe Nedney and Ziggy, a 340-pound combat robot. The two bitter rivals took the field at Kezar Stadium here, the original home of the 49ers, for nothing less than the victory stand in the never-ending battle between man and machine.

Ziggy arrived at Kezar first, and had already gotten in some good practice kicks when Nedney, decked out in his No. 6 Niners jersey, strode purposefully onto the perfectly manicured grass. And within minutes, the NFL kicker was already bringing it.

"It's pretty windy out here, Ziggy," Nedney taunted the robot as he booted a few practice balls through the yellow uprights about 35 yards away. "I'm expecting [Ziggy's ball] to fly over the top of the arch [far beyond the uprights] by the way you've been hyping it."

Through it all, Ziggy said nothing, seeming to prefer to let its kicking do the speaking. And that's generally the robot's style.

"You know, the robot is the strong, silent type," said Simone Davalos, one of the organizers of the RoboGames, the world's-largest robot competition, which takes place in San Mateo, Calif., this weekend. Nedney and Ziggy were on-hand here to do a little promotion for RoboGames.

'Oh, it's on' For Monday's competition, Nedney had agreed to the proposal to kick against Ziggy from CM Robotics, an Ottowa, Canada-based team of engineers. About five years ago, the team built Ziggy, not with beating pro-kickers in mind, but actually with the idea of launching 340-pound peers in the air in battle-to-the-death robot wars.

But after years of ruling the RoboGames roost, it was time for Ziggy to take on some new competition. And that's when CM Robotics came up with the idea for today's event. And for Nedney, it was an offer he couldn't refuse.

"I got challenged," Nedney said. "I can't pass up a challenge."

The format for the day's gridiron festivities was simple.… Read more

Nuclear power: Friend or foe to renewable energy?

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif.--As renewable energy gains steam, environmentalists are increasingly being asked whether to support their longtime enemy: nuclear power.

At the Fortune Brainstorm Green conference here, nuclear power has frequently entered the discussion over the future of clean energy. Prompted by government policies, utilities are investing in wind and solar power but there are limits to what renewable power can do, say people in the industry.

When environmentalists say that clean energy can supply all electricity needs in the near future, they're being idealistic, said David Crane, the CEO of utility NRG Energy, which has invested in … Read more

Iowa, Texas tops in wind power efforts

Iowa and Texas lead the nation in wind energy efforts, according to the annual report released Thursday from the American Wind Energy Association.

Iowa claims the title for the state with the largest percentage of electricity from wind energy. As of the end of 2009, over 14 percent of Iowa's power was from wind energy.

And while the large state of Texas may still only get a modest percentage of its power from wind energy, it actually has the most wind power capacity of any U.S. state. Texas is also home to the largest wind farm in the U.S.… Read more

Trailer-mounted wind turbine tested at Army base

WindTamer said on Wednesday that its small wind turbine, which looks more like a megaphone than a traditional wind mill, will be tested on an army base.

The Rochester, N.Y.-based company said a 1-kilowatt unit, mounted on a mobile trailer, will be used on the Army Research, Development and Engineering Command center in Maryland. The center is exploring whether the turbine can be used as an alternative means to charge communications equipment.

WindTamer's turbines collect wind through a housing that fits around fan blades. When wind passes through the "shroud" fitted around the blades, it … Read more