As is my habit, I’ve bitten off more than I can chew. My business is thriving. My new baby consumes more time (and produces more joy) than I would have thought possible. Something has to give. And I’m afraid it must be this blog. I’ve decided to close WindFarmNews. I’m not the only wind-farm blogger …
Author Archives: Tad Jarding
Go east, young man, if you’re looking for wind work
Looking for work in the wind-power industry? Consider a move to China, where the government estimates there will be “tens of thousands of specialized workers” working in the industry by 2020, but where only one university offers a four-year degree in wind energy.
FAA says OK to Midwestern wind farms
In a move that’s sure to please investors in wind energy, the FAA has begun giving the go-ahead to a number of wind-farm projects it had placed on hold out of concern the turbines could interfere with radar operations. Three projects in Minnesota have received FAA approval, according to Renewable Energy Access. Two Wisconsin farms …
Teaching about wind energy through KidWind
I recently praised an ambitious student with an interest in wind energy. So it’s only fitting that I make note of a remarkable program created by a remarkable teacher (well, actually from a remarkable ex-teacher.) KidWind is “is a team of teachers, students, engineers and practitioners exploring the science behind wind energy in classrooms around …
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What if those turbines should spill some wind into the water? You ever think about that?
I happened to be in Chicago a few weeks ago when Earl Bush, press aide to the first Mayor Daley, passed away. Bush is best remembered for defending the English-challenged mayor with the line “Don’t print what he said. Print what he meant.” I think of Mr. Bush and that line often whenever I hear …
Kansas winds
I spent several years living in Kansas, in the college town of Manhattan as well as the Kansas City suburb of Merriam. And many were the weekends when I’d hop in my car and drive aimlessly across the plains, stopping in small towns to meet the locals and find a meal. Back then — more …
Recruiting the next generation of wind engineers
The other day I mentioned a particularly ambitious college student with an interest in wind power. And today I read about a new initiative aimed at attracting just such kids to the profession.
Ambitious students
Back when I was in college, I knew a student who designed his own major, focusing on alternative energy and ecology. He studied hydro power, built a geodesic dome on campus, and also operated a small organic farming operation. I thought of that guy for the first time in years earlier today when I came …
There’s something rotten in Massachusetts, not Denmark
Jens Larsen knows quite a bit about wind power. He’s the director of the Copenhagen Environment and Energy Office and project manager for Denmark’s Middelgrunden wind farm, an offshore system that’s similar to the proposed facility off Cape Cod. As I’ve mentioned before, the Cape Wind plan has attracted complaints from a collection of wealthy, …
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Thinking about the future; no time in the present
I became interested in alternative energy as a business, not as a cause. Although I’ve believed for a long time that the cleanliness of wind power was, obviously, a good thing, that wasn’t the key attraction for me. Rather that fact that wind power was good for the planet meant only that it was also …
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