Hermes Gift

When the subject of renewable energy comes up, we mostly talk in terms of fuel for automobiles. Beyond our collective driving needs, one must consider the greater implications of renewable, clean energy in all other facets of life. Electricity for our homes comes immediately to mind. In many cases we are dependent on gas to heat our homes and additionally we depend on nuclear power for electricity. The problem with nuclear energy, other than the occasional 3 Mile Island disaster, is that it tends to produce tons of pollution and is a major cause of cancer to the residents where plants are located. Congruently, we all know the problem with depending on imported foreign crude oil, which also wreaks havoc on our lives.

Obviously this is unacceptable. Many years ago there may not have been economically viable alternatives to foreign crude oil or nuclear power available to the average middle income and lower income consumer in the marketplace. In previous writings I’ve sung the praises of biodiesel and ethanol as alternative fuels for automobiles. However, there’s more going on in the world of alternative energy than just what you can fill your Hummer with.

For example, there are many newsworthy items coming out of the world of wind energy. Other than what happens around my house after a heavy Mexican dinner, “wind energy [is a form of power that] converts kinetic energy that is present in the wind into more useful forms of energy such as mechanical energy or electricity. Wind energy is a pollution-free, infinitely sustainable form of energy. It doesn’t use fuel; it doesn’t produce greenhouse gasses, and it doesn’t produce toxic or radioactive waste.

Windmills that were used to grind grain are an example of early uses of wind energy. Modern uses of wind energy include generation of electricity and pumping water. Current wind energy machines are called "wind turbine generators", "wind pumps", or more generally, "wind turbines".”

While wind may sound like one of those perfect cure-all’s for our energy needs, there have been some expressed downside issues with this idea. First, some analysts that have looked into wind power say that the output is inconsistent as compared to nuclear power. The other problem is an issue of aesthetics. Many people have kvetched that they are just too darn loud and are awfully ugly to look at. On a side note, that tells you a lot about our priorities as a culture. We could have a cheap cure for AIDS but if it inconveniences too many people or isn’t pretty as a picture, we’ll all collectively spit on it. Patooey!

Luckily for those of us with a little more concrete sense of needs versus wants, the good people from Terra Moya Aqua Inc. have offered a product that should satisfy the most finicky of energy consumers.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Recent howling winds have been like sweet music to one local company, which says its new vertical wind turbine is substantially more efficient than traditional propeller designs.

Officials at Terra Moya Aqua Inc. unveiled their new turbine Friday, saying the design already had attracted interest from both domestic and foreign buyers.

"We have people nationally and internationally who want to buy this turbine now," said Ron Taylor, TMA's founder and chief executive officer.

Company officials said traditional propeller-driven turbines are able to convert 25 percent to 40 percent of wind power into transmittable energy. But TMA's design is 43 percent to 45 percent efficient, creating up to 80 percent more power from the same wind.

That power is generated even though the blades are moving slower than on traditional propeller models, meaning the turbines are less noisy and less dangerous to birds, the company said. And since they stand no taller than 96 feet, the turbines can be used in industrial areas where taller propeller-driven models are not allowed.

Former Gov. Jim Geringer, who serves on TMA's board of directors, said the design improvements could help persuade doubters of wind's potential.

"To some people, wind is a four-letter word," Geringer said. "With what we're talking about here, it's anything but a four-letter word."

Well, I’m glad Wyoming has had something to contribute to the world other than Dick Cheney.

Anywho, a newer, shorter, quieter, and more efficient product is just what the energy market needs at this critical juncture. According to Renewable Energy Access financing for wind power projects is increasing but so is demand. In fact demand for merchant wind plants has risen so high that supplies of turbines for said plants is too low. One example of this is that, “GE Energy's order books are filled through 2007. Most turbines are sold out in the U.S. for 2006, and 2007 appears to be rapidly filling, according to Robert Poore, president of Global Energy Concepts.”

Wind energy is not just an American trade. Our good friends over in the Far East are also looking to harvest the wind. The Dominican Today writes that, ”On the eve of the Beijing International Renewable Energy Conference (BIREC)1, a new report released by the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association (CREIA) and sponsored by Greenpeace and the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) shows that China could at least double its current wind energy target for 2020.

Energy Bureau Director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Xu Dingming said: “The development of renewable energy plays a crucial strategic role in the power supply of China. Wind energy growth in China is now on a fast track and globally we believe that wind power will become the primary alternative energy in the future.”

According to the CREIA report, Wind Force 12 in China, China’s current wind energy plan is to reach 20 Gigawatts (GW)2 by 2020. Germany, the world wind energy leader today, has just under 17GW. However experts within the Chinese industry believe that 40GW can be delivered within 15 years; rising to ten times this by 2050. This scale of wind power would need 20,000 typical modern wind turbines by 2020 and the investment generated could be worth USD 40 billion; putting China on track to become the world’s biggest wind energy market by 2020.

The wind is more than just a destructive force that wrecks cities throughout Florida and Gulf of Mexico region. It is a gift from Hermes (or whatever Pagan god you pray to) that keeps on giving so long as we are committed to developing better technology to control it and find a place for it in our ever changing global marketplace.