The Return of the Windmill
CONAWAY, JAMES
NEW ENERGY FROM AN OLD SOURCE The Return of the Windimill BY JAMES CONAWAY Since the beginning of time, presumably, the wind has provided power. But only now, as the search for new energy...
...In areas of the country where the wind is strong and relatively constant, they believe, a power base could be established...
...Then in the 1950s experts promised that nuclear energy would soon be produced that would be "too cheap to meter...
...The vessels would be equipped with sails that would extend from the center of 200-foot masts on curved steel yardarms, and could be trimmed by remote control from the bridge...
...In the middle of the 19th century, windmills in America produced almost 1.5 billion horsepower-hours of work a year—the equivalent of burning 12 million tons of coal...
...Unlike nuclear power it comes in an unlimited supply...
...Proponents of wind generators have more answers than they did 20 years ago...
...A windpower system able to provide sufficient electricity for a large American family would probably require two imported systems costing about $15,000 apiece, including the tower, wind generator, inverters, and batteries...
...Auxiliary engines could be used for windless conditions, and for maneuvering...
...These letters come from all stratas of society," says a spokesman...
...Wind, for example, can charge batteries in a small wind power plant, storing the energy...
...Such a ship—at about 17,000 tons—would consume only five per cent of the fuel required by a modern freighter...
...It produced electricity for almost a year and a half, before a main bearing failed...
...There is a catch, however, to large-scale land-based systems...
...On the other hand, wind is certainly a proven and practical source of energy...
...We've just got to be more realistic...
...The Smith Putnam Project of 1939-45 and the Percy Thomas Project of 1944-51 successfully used wind power, but neither the private sector nor the Federal government was interested...
...There has even been renewed interest in using wind for transportation...
...This year the first International Solar Industry Expo drew 600 participants and more than 30 exhibitors...
...Researchers James Conaway, a new contributor, is an Alicia Patterson Award winner and a free-lance journalist...
...Wind stations would be mounted either on large, semi-submersible platforms, or placed in relatively shallow water...
...In 1970 Heronemus proposed the creation of the New England Offshore Wind Power System, and he believes this could provide electricity for the six New England states by 1990...
...The research required to apply wind power to particular energy needs has been delayed by utilities and other interest groups...
...Experts claim that a properly designed flywheel enclosed in a vacuum is cheaper and more efficient than a storage battery...
...The wind stations would have six-megawatt capacities with various types of wind generators...
...According to Smithsonian magazine, the School of Naval Architecture at the University of Hamburg is developing a proposal for modern four-masted clipper ships called "Dyna-Ships...
...All these studies show that electricity could be generated at a cost competitive with fossil-fueled plants...
...One system, called the Windcharger, is a 12-volt apparatus that produces 200 watts, and costs $400...
...Some researchers have suggested conserving wind energy by linking wind plants to a regional utilities grid...
...That model could meet the energy requirements of a household willing to do away with hair and clothes driers, and to limit the use of electrical appliances and lights...
...As the spokesman for Solar Wind says, "Most people want to maintain their standard of living, and have wind power at the same time...
...Sea water could be distilled and elec-trolyzed at the sites, and the hydrogen gas produced could be stored in pressurized tanks on the sea bed...
...Heronemus points out that the loss of a generator would not cripple the entire decentralized system or cause black-outs of large areas: One wind station disabled would mean one thirteen-thousandth of the system capacity would be lost...
...But only now, as the search for new energy sources becomes more frantic, are a growing number of people rediscovering this form of solar energy...
...In fact, wind-powered electric generators were developed in the 1920s and the demand for them first ended when programs such as the Rural Electrification Administration started to provide cheap electricity for even the most isolated areas...
...During World War II, a huge 1,250 kilowatt wind electrical station operated at Grandpa's Knob in the mountains of central Vermont...
...Later, the windmills on the American plains were used only for pumping water...
...One question often asked about wind power is, what happens when the wind stops blowing...
...They're not just hippies going back to the land, they're doctors, lawyers, farmers...
...at the University of Massachusetts have also proposed other wind power systems for generation of electricity to serve the Lake Ontario region, the New York Shoals, and the Prairie states...
...As it runs down, it can be used to generate electricity long after the wind has ceased...
...A group of communards in Wisconsin has also designed several small wind plants —one based upon a design by Buck-minster Fuller—and some can be constructed for as little as $200...
...Small scale, individual use of wind power, meanwhile, could eliminate much of the cost of transmitting electricity, one of the greatest expenses in energy development...
...The station was never repaired...
...Winds in the North Atlantic would propel the Dyna-Ships to speeds of up to 20 knots approximately 72 per cent of the time...
...Nevertheless, the windmill industry in America, prospered well into the 20th century...
...It could then be pumped ashore on demand, and distributed by pipelines...
...Finally, individual Americans looking for an alternate method of providing electricity for their homes are turning to the wind...
...But by 1870 the amount of power produced here by windmills had been halved as the steam engine began to take over...
...The flywheel, another storage device, is driven by the blades of a wind generator, but stepped up to a greatly increased rate of rev-olutions-per-minute...
...Several projects, though, have shown the potential of large-scale uses of wind power...
...Reines installed his first wind generator in the winter of 1972, then rebuilt other used wind generators and constructed his solar heat collector...
...The Brace Research Institute at McGill University in Montreal, a leading center for research into natural energy sources, has developed windmills for the small landowner that utilize two 45-gal-lon oil drums cut lengthwise and welded together to form troughs that scoop up the wind...
...A station would hold three wind towers, each supporting two 200-foot diameter wind turbines...
...One system would use hydrogen and air to generate electricity locally at an average cost per kilowatt hour of 35 mills, considerably cheaper than the present rate...
...Wind technology was all but abandoned...
...The basic technology already exists, he says...
...His home took 10 months to build and cost about $12,000...
...In a large system, energy can be stored mechanically by pumping water or air into a reservoir, and then releasing it to drive a turbine that operates an electric generator...
...The plants would be located 100 miles offshore, in the prevailing westerlies above the continental shelf...
...Until recently, Solar Wind sold Australian and Swiss wind generators, but now it deals only in American equipment...
...A Massachusetts consulting firm predicts that by 1985 there will be a $1.3 billion market in the United States for solar heating and cooling systems and wind power plants...
...The wind is much stronger several hundred feet above the surface of the earth than it is within 100 feet...
...Founded by Henry Clews, the Solar Wind Company has received 35,000 letters in the last year and a half from people interested in installing wind power systems in their homes, or in second homes...
...Wind is clean and available everywhere, they point out...
...The professor suggests placing a wind power station off Long Island instead of the nuclear power plant scheduled for construction in Shoreham, New York...
...But any use of the alternate energy source is going to require adaptation by Americans...
...The joint committee of the National Science Foundation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has said that by the year 2,000 wind power could be developed to produce almost as much electricity as the United States currently consumes...
...Six hundred and forty wind stations would be linked together along 16 lines extending north and south...
...Unlike fossil fuels it does not require processing...
...The only commercial distributor of home-size electric wind generators in this country is the Solar Wind Company of East Holden, Maine...
...Fossil fuel was cheap, and few Americans cared about pollution or energy conservation...
...William E. Her-onemus, professor of civil engineering and aerodynamics at the University of Massachusetts, argues that it could be designed even sooner...
...Most wind generators would therefore have to be located at least 300 feet above ground, and huge machines towering over the countryside could be hazardous and ugly...
...Holland became the wealthiest nation in Europe during the mid-17th century using wind for manufacturing and for driving its merchant fleet...
...A larger 12-volt model from California, the Sencen-baugh, produces 750 watts, and costs $1,500...
...On days when there is no wind, fossil fuel power could be employed as a supplement...
...Robert Reines built a year-round home near Albuquerque, New Mexico, with a dome heated by solar energy, and with electric power for the usual appliances provided by the wind...
Vol. 58 • October 1975 • No. 21
