Environmental Impacts of Wind-Energy Projects
Environmental Impacts of Wind-Energy Projects

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2007-09-27

Total Pages: 395

ISBN-13: 0309108349

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The generation of electricity by wind energy has the potential to reduce environmental impacts caused by the use of fossil fuels. Although the use of wind energy to generate electricity is increasing rapidly in the United States, government guidance to help communities and developers evaluate and plan proposed wind-energy projects is lacking. Environmental Impacts of Wind-Energy Projects offers an analysis of the environmental benefits and drawbacks of wind energy, along with an evaluation guide to aid decision-making about projects. It includes a case study of the mid-Atlantic highlands, a mountainous area that spans parts of West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. This book will inform policy makers at the federal, state, and local levels.

Renewable Energy: Problems and Prospects in Coachella Valley, California
Renewable Energy: Problems and Prospects in Coachella Valley, California

Author: James B. Pick

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-02-07

Total Pages: 223

ISBN-13: 3319515268

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The book analyzes the problems and potential of renewable energy development for the Coachella Valley of California and provides a useful case study for renewable energy feasibility assessments for other areas. A conceptual model, Integrated Policy Assessment Theory for Renewable Energy, is given and justified for renewable energy development in the Valley. Further, Central Place Theory, well known in urban geography, is discussed and it is seen to be very relevant to the understanding the Coachella Valley’s city sizes and renewable energy markets, compared to the greater Los Angeles region. The book’s research methods include geospatial mapping and analysis and interviews leaders in small innovative firms, government agencies, and nonprofits. The many findings of the book include evaluation of how the Valley’s socioeconomic and transportation features influence renewable energy development, the scope of markets for solar and wind energy in the Valley, spatial confluences of renewable energy facilities with other features, and the future potential of ground-source heat pumps. Benchmark comparison of the Coachella Valley is done with two leading wind and solar regions elsewhere in the country, to assess the Valley’s evolution and opportunities in renewable energy. The book concludes by evaluating the prospects and problems for the growth of renewable entrepreneurship, manufacturing, assembly, and operations in Coachella Valley. This leads to policy recommendations grounded in the book’s research findings, which are intended for use by governments, businesses, and nonprofits. The hope is that many of the developmental experiences from the Coachella Valley will be helpful not only within the Valley but to other communities nationwide and worldwide.

Wind Energy Revolution
Wind Energy Revolution

Author: Christopher C. Gillis

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press

Published: 2023-12-14

Total Pages: 873

ISBN-13: 1648430635

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

It may sound simple. Fashion a set of blades, attach them to a generator, set the machine on top of a tower, and let the wind do the work of creating electricity. Not so. Most of these attempts fail, even with the availability of the latest technologies. In Wind Energy Revolution, Christopher C. Gillis Sr. examines the efforts to develop “small” wind generators for use at homes, farms, and ranches following the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo. Wind machines were once featured prominently on farms and homesteads throughout the Midwest of the United States and Canada during the late 1910s through the early 1950s in areas that had no access to overhead electric-power transmission lines. As a result of rural America’s connection to the power grid, many of these pioneer wind-electric machines fell “victim” to electrical power lines. Interest in wind energy resurfaced in the early 1970s when energy shortages were created by the Arab Oil Embargo, the rise of environmentalism, and the move toward self-sufficient, off-the-grid living. Early wind-electric machines were dusted off and restored back into service, while several former manufacturers reemerged, and entrepreneurs developed new designs. Political and societal interest in renewable energies—wind and solar—began to wane in the early 1980s and did not return until the late 1990s. Even so, the developments in the 1970s influenced how Americans subsequently viewed and used renewable power. Wind Energy Revolution is a first-of-its-kind comprehensive history for historians and anyone interested in wind as a viable renewable resource.

Harvest the Wind
Harvest the Wind

Author: Philip Warburg

Publisher: Beacon Press

Published: 2012-04-17

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 0807001074

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Winds sweeping through the Great Plains once robbed the Farm Belt of its future, stripping away overworked topsoil and creating the dreaded Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Today, those winds are bringing new hope to the declining rural communities of the central United States. Nowhere is wind’s promise more palpable than in Cloud County, Kansas, where the soaring turbines of the Meridian Way Wind Farm are boosting incomes and bringing green jobs to a community that has, for decades, watched its children drift away. In Harvest the Wind, Philip Warburg brings readers face-to-face with the people behind the green economy–powered resurgence in Cloud County and communities like it across the United States. This corner of Kansas is the first stop on an odyssey that introduces readers to farmers, factory workers, biologists, and high-tech entrepreneurs—all players in a transformative industry that is taking hold across America and around the globe. In this illuminating book, Warburg reveals both the remarkable growth of a breakthrough technology and the formidable challenges it faces. He visits epicenters of anti-wind opposition as well as communities that have embraced wind farms as neighbors. He guides readers through an Iowa turbine assembly plant that is struggling to compete in a global marketplace dominated by European and Chinese manufacturers. And he looks at the thousands of miles that wind-generated power will need to travel to reach American consumers. Harvest the Wind is an earthly antidote to loftier treatises on global warming and green energy. By showing us how practical solutions are being implemented at the local level, Warburg offers an inspirational look at how we can all pursue a saner and more sustainable energy future—while at the same time investing in the nation’s infrastructure and jumpstarting its economy.