here is new kid on the block.
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=121522

I stand corrected. Last year, I was under the impression that Japan was unable to develop its own wind turbines and was dependent on those imported from other countries. Now I am pleased to note that they do have a good wind generator and that the blade can be broken down for more convient shipping. I think that the installation of this generator is a sign that the Japanese do realize the important of wind power. Was it not the "divine wind" that saved Japan from the Chinese fleet many centuries ago during the time of Mongol Empire? Now we see that wind power will help Japan today transition toward a renewable energy economy. My regards and good wishes that windpower in Japan will grow and strengthen steadily from a small shoot to a great protecting tree.

[email protected]

argod,

You of course realize that 1035 of these will take up a fraction of the real estate that Hoover dam did (think Lake Mead or think the Three Gorges Dam if you like), the real estate they do use can still be used for other uses like farming, and it will cost much less.

Seabird. WTF

How many species are going extinct because of carbon and nitrogen
pollution. Count them before bring that red herring to the table

Yeesh, that bird myth will be around forever. Here, read this, then feel at ease about the poor little dinosaurs:

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/31542/story.htm

Now, shall we not hear of this silliness again?

I wonder how much these cost.

While wind's disadvantage is that it is intermittent, we can start solving that problem by using it for requirements that are amenable to that which is intermittent. We could start with PHEVs and EVs. There is also pumped storage of water and the other approaches that Rafael outlined.

And, furthermore, the farmers in Easter n Colorado are finally getting a break with all the wind power that's being installed on their land. Otherwise, I don't see how they could survive. They are victims of heat and drought. Here is a way to take global warming on directly.

Wind doesn't blow much in some places – that's why it's important to site the turbine well. Nor does it blow all the time – that's why it's important to have more than one turbine in a wind farm, and more than one wind farm feeding a grid. And few tout wind as supplying more than 20% of a large grid's power. It's more of a supplement than a source.

Come to think of it, it's nice to have more than one power plant feeding a grid. Power plants can be intermittent and unreliable, of course, whether due to an aging grid or the nonsense that happened in, for example, California some time back.

What I would like to see is a wind turbine with a second and much smaller rotor connected to a second turbine. Wind turbines generally shut down when wind rises above around 40 miles per hour (60 mph for the large offshore rigs). It would be nice to get some energy from high winds. Admittedly, that would be a niche market for some unusual sites.

For a rebuttal to concerns about wind as an unreliable energy source, check out:

http://www.ewea.org/index.php?id=96

Keep in mind that the article is written by a wind energy assciation; your mileage may vary...

"I wonder what the seabird mortality will be with scores of these things sitting on the coastline."
Who cares. More wind mills = less bird poop on my car when I got to the beach.

You either find ways of storing the energy, or redesign the grid / appliances to use energy when it is available.
Phev's are an obvious application, water heaters, driers are another, once you get a way of signalling that "there is spare juice about".
I think this is the "smart grid". It makes a lot of sense if you have wind. Otherwise, you have to back it all up with a throttleable fossil source which greatly reduces the effectiveness of the whole thing.
This just brings us back to storage (big storage) not a Lion battery for a car.
But it is all good stuff.

Well, that will come as disturbing news to all these folks. From Wikipedia:

The cost of wind-generated electric power is plummeting, and is much lower than the cost and externalities of fuel-generated electric power, and lower than the cost alone. [1] Since 2004, wind power has been the least expensive form of new power generation. [2] [3] Wind power is growing quickly, at about 37% [4], up from 25% growth in 2002. In the United States, as of 2003, wind power was the fastest growing form of electricity generation on a percentage basis.

The intermittency of wind power can be solved by using low-cost piston engined powered natural gas generator. These generators sold retail at ~$750 USD for ~5kw continous power, and when counting installed cost, probably ~$200 USD/kw power. Larger units are probably even cheaper per kw installed cost. These can be turned on and off rapidly without shortening their lifespan, unlike large gas turbines which are already very expensive and suffers from internal stress upon switching on and off. Steam turbines must practically kept running all the time to prevent stress damage from shutting down and starting up. Piston IC engine can be designed to run on Atkinson cycle as in Prius hybrid engine, with thermal efficiency up to 45%. Of course, solar power can complement wind power, and often in mid summer day, there may be a lot of sun but no wind, and in winter days, a lot of wind but no sun.

Dear Sir,

We are interested in your wind turbines, which is very suitable espacially as technical data 62 m as tower, 2MW for the turbine, these specifictions are suitable in the MIDDLE EAST region (with 3 m velocity).
We would like to cooperate with your company in the future to realise our scheme, awaitting your answer we remain yours.
All the best,
MOGABGAB JOHN P. ENG.