Those pesky engineers!

In today's Boston Globe, the new turbine atop the roof of Boston City Hall was unveiled. The Menino administration selected a SkyStream 3.7 from Southwest Windpower. Whether the decision was based on Southwest Windpower's offer to donate the turbine, I do not know, but kudos to them for selecting a credible turbine.

I was amused to see that "engineers" (that's us!) were credited with deterring them for installing a utility-scale turbine. They listened! We're glad to take the rap, because to the average person, City Hall Plaza is wicked windy, the kind of place where you'd hope they could harness the wind because it's such a nuisance in every other way. To a wind engineer, it's a turbulent nightmare that you'd cringe at the idea of subjecting a turbine to.

Green Porn...

and, no, we're not talking about the new Isabella Rosellini movie. This week in the Boston Globe in the business section there was a feature-ette on personal renewable energy devices. It touted something called a "HYmini" which captures wind energy while you walk, run, or bike. This, of course, is a completely silly product and has little or nothing to do with "going green". I was hoping Walter Sass would write this blog entry, but he was so disgusted that all he could scrawl was "This is green porn. I'm sorry, if you can't figure out that it's incredibly more efficient to hook a generator up to the drivetrain of a bicycle than is to put a little windmill on your handlebars, you shouldn't be writing little energy pieces for the Globe." Remember, kids, this energy isn't free - you have to pedal that much harder. As far as I know, the first law of thermodynamics is still in effect, although, as Walter said, "with this Supreme Court, you never know".

The discussion inevitably continued to the idea of harnessing the energy of children to provide energy for the home. There are many anecdotes about parents who only allowed the TV to operate when powered by energetically pedalling children. Go green, Mom and Dad!

Oh...My...God

When I opened my paper yesterday morning and saw this picture, my first words were "Oh...my...God". The first impression was that wind energy is really mainstream now. It's not that long ago that only a Ralph Nader would seek a photo op at a wind facility - renewables were the province of those latte-loving, Volvo-driving, elitist tree-huggers. And look at us now! A self-described conservative Republican is not only recognizing that renewable energy can be an economic force, but even acknowledging that global warming exists. Whether this is lip service or not, the idea that McCain perceives acknowledging the warming of our planet to be an asset, not a liability is a milestone. And even more, that it might be OK to stand with the rest of the civilized world that agrees with that idea.

Jon Stewart definitely agreed with me, as he used the same exclamation to greet the same photo on the Daily Show last night.

The second thing, that is definitely not on Jon Stewart's radar screen, is that Vestas is moving in a big way for national household recognition. Vestas ran a full page ad in the Boston Globe about the time of the MMS public hearings on Cape Wind with a photo of a worker buffing a big, beautiful blade and the simple headline "WIND = JOBS". This is the same message I've been trying to convey in the Cape Wind discussion and does deserve a wider audience. This week's New Yorker magazine had another full page ad. More power to them, I say.

Second Wind featured in The Deal

Everybody knows that "cleantech" is hot hot hot for investment, and not least the wind energy sector. The Deal magazine, the "voice of the deal economy" targeting VC investors, recently ran a special report on wind energy spotlighting Second Wind and our investor Good Energies.

The articles are available online at the Tech Confidential website, and make an informative read. Each article has a cute name reflecting the wind theme: Catching A Breeze profiles the investors, and Winds of Change profiles five companies including Second Wind. Blowback ends the special report with a cautionary report on the Production Tax Credit expiration risk which is looming over the entire US industry. The PTC is something that's been on my mind a lot lately. I hope not to see a repeat of 2004, which was a grim one for Second Wind.

Triton now commercially available

We proudly sent the first commercial Tritons on their way to their new homes last week. This momentous (to us, anyway) event did get some good coverage:

North American Windpower

http://www.nawindpower.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.2018

Windtech International
http://www.windtech-international.com/content/view/1702/1/

Wind Today
http://www.windtoday.net/articles/Second_Wind_Reports_Triton_Sonic_Wind_Profiler_is_Now_Commercial-55368.html

Renewable Energy World.com
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/partner/story?id=52047

Photovoltaicus (blog)
http://www.photovoltaicus.com/2127/a-new-tool-for-sodar-based-wind-assessment-now-commercial-windtech-international/

Parade Magazine Features Wind Energy

Since I live in the cultural bubble that is Eastern Massachusetts, I rely on bulletins from the Real America to understand how America's opinions are formed. Parade Magazine has always been my window into the Real America, right down to its obsession with celebrities. This past weekend Parade had a whole feature on wind energy, with a spotlight on Massachusetts' own Cape Wind project. The author was none other than Second Wind Friend Wendy Williams, coauthor of the Cape Wind book. Congrats, Wendy, on this high-profile placement and on putting the Cape Wind issue squarely in front of the nation.

Triton in the Cranberrry Bog

Glen Berkowitz of Beaufort Wind is an early adopter of Triton and has become a Friend of Second Wind. He's using Triton to assess the potential for utility-scale wind in a Massachusetts cranberry bog. Like other agricultural wind projects, his offers the opportunity for an additional revenue stream for farmers. We think this is very cool and are also benefiting from a Massachusetts test site for Triton.

His project was recently featured in an article in South Coast Today, which covers the greater New Bedford area. There are more photos in this September article.

Sodar article in February North American Windpower

I must admit to being excited to see my name in print in this month's North American Windpower magazine. Editor Jennifer Delony invited us to write an article on sodar for this month's resource assessment issue, and although it was an educational experience, I was unreasonably thrilled to see the final result in the magazine. It's not online, or I'd link to it, but it is in the print edition, which is a free subscription. The cornerstone of my reputation as a world authority has been set!

Press coverage for our latest news

Thanks to Good Energies' investment, Second Wind is getting some good press mentions this week:

The Boston Globe!

Mass High Tech News

Xconomy, a cool local blog covering the "exponential economy" wrote their own article.

cnet also wrote their own article for their GreenTech blog.

Techweb

Earthtimes, covering news affecting the human environment

And, of course, our favorite wind publications and websites:

North American Windpower

Renewable Energy Access (love their podcast!)

Wind Today

Windtech International

The role of forecasting and grid integration

Pat Quinlan, Second Wind's former Business Development guy, penned this article on forecasting for Electric Light and Power magazine before his departure. It just hit the presses this month. I hope it makes a contribution toward increasing understanding of wind energy in the conventional generation world. Pat has moved on to the Renewable Energy Research Lab at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. All of us, especially the other UMass wind program alumni here, wish him the best in his new role.