This is a Tuesday, which means I select a past posting of relevance and, as necessary, update it. The reason why I felt compelled to include this particular blog was that I learned a lesson: knowing nothing about something can inspire you to develop creative solutions. Today,
MY LIFE IN WIND POWER was extracted from
SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Planet Earth, a book which documented my life in renewable energy. This lesson I just mentioned? So I thought, why not write a book on which I know almost nothing, which became
SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Planet Earth.
You will note that the first sentence of MY LIFE IN WIND POWER indicates that there was a reason why I went to Washington, D.C. The following info is useful to provide the background of this trip. Keep in mind that all this occurred almost 50 years ago soon after the First Energy Crisis, which occurred in 1973.
Dean of Engineering John Shupe was asked by Governor George Ariyoshi to do something about the long gasoline lines. Shupe convened ten of his faculty. Each proceeded to pick an energy topic of his liking, and, as I had the least seniority, was left with wind power. I don’t think I had even seen a large windmill in my life, but just within an hour of reading, figured out that if the power obtained from a wind energy conversion system (WECS) increased with the cube of the wind velocity, Hawaii, indeed, had some potential, for we had mountains that channeled and amplified the trades. What this means is that if you had two sites, one at a speed of 10 miles per hour and a second at 20 MPH, the latter would produce EIGHT (2 cubed, or 2x2x2) times more power with the same WECS.
Armed with this awesome knowledge, I went to Washington, D.C. to talk to the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA), the predecessor of the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE). Lou Divone was in charge of the winds (that was in 1974, and several decades later, he was still basically involved with this technology within the department in the same Forrestal Building), and I told him that Hawaii had started a wind power program. He literally laughed out aloud, reached behind his desk and pulled out an almanac, showing that the Hawaiian wind velocities were among the poorest in the Nation. But, I noticed that the measurements were only taken at airports, where you don’t want high winds. Such was the level of knowledge in 1974. He conceded that this was perhaps worth a second look, so suggested that, as there was a solar energy conference in Denver the following week, I should drop by and talk to the experts there. This story continues in the CHAPTER 2 section on Wind Energy Conversion Systems.
MY LIFE IN WIND POWER
I left “My Life” (go to May 10 blog) in 1974 on a plane from Washington, D.C. to Denver, Colorado. I drove to the annual conference of the American Solar Energy Society, and arrived just in time to walk into a semi-darkened room of the annual meeting of the Wind Power Division, which had already started. An hour or so later towards the end of the meeting I volunteered a somewhat optimistic statement about Hawaii wanting to lead the nation in wind power R&D, and that I was “asked” by Lou Divone (who then ran the government's wind power office--this is pre-Department of Energy--and who I had just met in the Forrestal Building) to interact with this Division. I don’t think I exaggerated anything and sincerely asked for their help. Half an hour later, I was elected chairman of that Wind Division of the American Solar Energy Society. At that moment I had not yet even seen a windmill in my life. There was an important life lesson learned here, but let me go on.
Hawaii did advance, quite swiftly, for we had the good fortune to bring to Hawaii Frank Eldridge, who I had replaced as wind division chairman, and who had at that time written, but not yet published, the definitive book on the subject (Wind Machines, Mitre, by Van Nostrand Reinhold Company). In relatively short order, mostly because of the excellent monitoring work accomplished by the meteorological scientists at the University of Hawaii and the progressive attitude of Hawaiian Electric Company, Hawaii became a world leader in the pre-commercialization of the technology. The 200 kW Westinghouse MOD-OA wind farm was installed in the Kahuku Hills of Oahu beginning in 1980, and in 1987 the largest WECS ever built in those days, the 3.2 megawatt Boeing MOD-5B machine, came on line at this location This behemoth had a tip-to-tip propeller length longer (320 feet) than a football field. This was the last of the Federal wind energy conversion systems. Various commercial wind farms followed on the Big Island, then, Maui.
There is a problem, though, with being a pioneer in anything. Technology generally does not work the first time, and all those early wind farms, almost predictably, failed. I was an academic, so, while I served as head cheerleader for wind power in the State, I was mostly interested then, as now, in research, not commercialization. It took a long time, unfortunately, to recover from these expected fiascos. -
Finally, Hawaii is beginning to make a comeback, as Shell announced in 2006 a $200 million wind farm project for the Island of Maui and a $750 million project was announced in 2007 for Lanai to produce 20% of Honolulu’s power. This did give the local utility some pause, as their initial reaction was guarded. I guess, they, too, have learned a lesson. A major increment of wind power requires a storage buffer. This technology has not yet been perfected. Here I go, again, but my sense of a wind future for Hawaii is the ocean around us. The best wind regimes are between the islands where the mountains channel the trades. Remember, the power increases with the CUBE of the wind velocity. Plus, an advantage for any developer is that no one owns that plot of water. There might be a few bureaucratic hurdles, but our state is eager to be helpful. If only a means can be found to dynamically stabilize a floating wind farm, for mooring will probably not work. However, regarding that storage challenge, the hydrostatic head of the sea can be tapped if a bladder (or something, perhaps, more technological ) can be used to compress air or store hydrogen.
In hindsight today, I would have used a different approach, but that is called maturity. When these companies went bonkers installing untested devices, I could have urged them to be more careful with their investments. I have learned something, and am now the more vocal resident voice of caution on technologies like bioethanol, hydrogen and wave power. They are just not ready yet for prime time, and some perhaps never will be. -
But wind power is surging today, and is the breakthrough sustainable technology at less than 5 cents/kWh, easily half the average price of electricity sold in the country. Keep in mind that utility solar towers and the like are still in the 10 cent / kWh range and solar photovoltaics closer to 20 cents / kWh. Even if the price of solar cells dramatically drop, keep in mind that up to two-thirds of the PV system is spent on labor, materials and the like. For all our wind power scars, we can take some pride in being able to say, we helped start it all. A third of century later, 2000 conferees came back to Denver for SOLAR 2006: Renewable Energy—Key to Climate Recovery. -
Yes, not only is Peak Oil gaining our interest, but Global Climate Warming clamors for attention. Peak Oil would not be a significant problem if we could quickly shift to coal, for the USA is the Saudi Arabia of coal, and, also, shale oil. But burning coal releases twice the carbon dioxide relative to natural gas. Of course, both the U.S. and China are nevertheless careening headlong into more coal usage, anyway, so, I guess, this matter about the Greenhouse Effect seems not to be affecting corporate decision-making. Coal is the fastest growing major energy resource today. What kind of insanity is this? -
The Huffington Post (http://huffingtonpost.com/) will have a green section on June 4. I have submitted THE VENUS SYNDROME for consideration. Just click on that web page, then type "Patrick Takahashi" in the box at the top right, click on SEARCH, and click on the article of mine you wish to read. The interesting part of these posts are the comments. They come swiftly, and, here, I think, is the simple solution, for readers have contacts, and the issue mushrooms in minutes. If I were to write a journal paper or send a letter to a newspaper editor, the reader loses time and convenience. There is no spontaneity, only lethargy. This electronic medium is instantaneous. However, I'll wait until later this month for this blog to entually get into climate change, Chapter 5 in Book 1 (http://simplesolutionsbook1.com/), entitled, The Venus Syndrome. 
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This is a Tuesday, which means I select a past posting of relevance and, as necessary, update it. The reason why I felt compelled to include this particular blog was that I learned a lesson: knowing nothing about something can inspire you to develop creative solutions. Today, MY LIFE IN WIND POWER was extracted from SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Planet Earth, a book which documented my life in renewable energy. This lesson I just mentioned? So I thought, why not write a book on which I know almost nothing, which became SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Planet Earth.
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