[The following is the electronic edition of _Wind Energy Weekly_, Vol. 12, #542, 4.12.93, published by the American Wind Energy Association. For more information on the Association, contact AWEA, 777 North Capitol Street, Suite 805, Washington, DC 20002, USA, phone (202) 408-8988, FAX (202) 408-8536, email 3304640@mcimail.com] 'FUNDAMENTALS OF WIND' WORKSHOP SLATED FOR BOSTON MAY 5 AWEA will offer a one day workshop on "Fundamentals of Wind Energy" May 5 at the Omni Parker House Hotel, 60 School Street, Boston, Mass. The workshop, cosponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, is billed as an "introduction to the promise of wind energy in the Northeast--an affordable and accessible crash course in wind energy applications, impacts and technologies." Target audiences, according to AWEA, include environmentalists, the media, educators, utilities, utility regulators, students and the general public. Presentations will include an introduction to wind technology, discussions by three utilities (Pacific Gas & Electric, Green Mountain Power Co., and Niagara Mohawk Power Co.) of their experience with wind, and a comprehensive look at the environmental impacts and implications of wind energy development. The workshop will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost is $125, which includes lunch. For further information, call Janet Dodd in the AWEA office at (202) 408-8988 or call AWEA's Reservation Service at (800) 487-4832 weekdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EDT. When making reservations, please identify yourself as a participant in the AWEA Fundamentals Workshop in Boston, May 5. UCS STUDY EXPLORES MIDWEST RENEWABLES IN DEPTH The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), a leading environmental organization, recently published a major study, Powering the Midwest: Renewable Electricity for the Economy and the Environment, which concluded that wind energy is among renewable energy technologies holding great promise for the region. This is one of a series of articles reprinting excerpts from the report, by permission of UCS. Overview: The Midwest Renewable Electricity Project Although studies like America's Energy Choices are suggestive of renewable energy's promise, they provide little guidance to state and city planners, utility managers, independent energy developers, and others who have a central role in developing new energy sources. It is one thing to say that windpower could provide a certain amount of energy throughout the country by 2030, and quite another to identify promising areas in particular states and counties for windpower development, and to determine the cost of such development and its implications for electric utility transmission capacity and reliability. Without this sort of information, developing renewable energy in the Midwest and elsewhere will be a difficult, slow process. We initiated this study with the hope of providing guidance to people who make decisions about the renewable resources and technologies available in their local area. To limit the project's scope and permit greater attention to detail, we decided to look at one region of the country and one energy sector--electric utilities. We chose the Midwest both because this region is so heavily dependent on coal and because its renewable resources are widely underappreciated. We hoped to answer such questions as: How much energy could each state reasonably expect to obtain from these energy sources, and at what cost? Where are the resources most likely to be developed first? And what policies will most effectively promote their development? . . . We chose to focus on the electric utility sector because this is where we feel some of the best opportunities to expand renewable energy use in the next decade or two will arise. Compared to other energy sectors, such as transportation or buildings, the utility sector is highly centralized and amenable to influence through state-level regulatory and legislative processes. Utility companies are highly visible and often very responsive to public concerns about the cost and environmental impact of power generation. And some of the most prominent success stories in the renewable energy industry have been in large-scale utility operation. We focused on three categories of renewable sources that we believe offer the most promise of success in the next two decades. They are: - Utility-scale wind turbines similar to those now operating in California. - Biomass resources--including energy crops and forestry, agricultural, and municipal solid wastes--and associated power plant technologies. - Distributed (small-scale) power sources, namely small wind turbines and photovoltaic (solar) systems. We recognize that these are not the only choices. In particular, solar thermal electric generation may play a significant role in some parts of the Midwest; fuel cells powered by biofuels could prove both efficient and cost-effective; and it is possible that hot dry rock, a geothermal technology, could eventually make a contribution. But we preferred to delve into a few areas rather than touch on many. Design of the Study We approached this analysis with four basic objectives in mind. First, we wanted to collect and refine renewable resource data on as high a level of geographic detail as possible, with the goal of helping utilities, energy planners, independent developers, and others identify opportunities for renewable energy development in their local areas. To do this, we created a geographic information system, or GIS, which contains several different databases, including renewable resources, land uses, vegetation cover, terrain elevation, and locations of utility transmission lines. This system is capable of presenting and analyzing some types of information on a 1 km x 1 km grid scale. Among other analyses, we used the GIS to: - Refine existing wind resource maps to account for local variations in terrain and vegetation cover. - Estimate the costs of interconnecting windfarms with the existing transmission grid. - Identify counties with an especially high density of agricultural residues or idle cropland suitable for energy production. - Provide detailed maps and cost-supply curves showing the renewable energy potential in each state. As far as we know, this capability is unique in the field of renewable resource assessment. Second, we wanted to evaluate renewable energy sources in ways that reveal their worth to utility customers more accurately than traditional analytical models. Most comparisons of the costs of renewable and fossil fuel sources are grossly oversimplified. They ignore, for example, the pollution impacts of fossil fuel sources and risks associated with fuel price volatility, environmental regulation, construction lead times, and other uncertainties--which in many cases make renewable sources more attractive. We propose a new standard of cost assessment that takes explicit account of these factors . . . We also discuss the benefits of using small-scale, dispersed renewable sources to reduce the costs of delivering power to consumers through transmission lines. Third, we wanted to answer what is perhaps the most commonly asked question about renewable energy: what happens when the sun goes down or the wind stops? Conventional wisdom holds that naturally fluctuating solar and wind power can be reliable only in combination with costly energy storage or fossil fuel backup. But through statistical analysis we show that a substantial amount of a utility's power could come from sunlight or wind without sacrificing reliability. Our analysis uses as a model the Northern States Power Company, a large, privately-owned utility serving Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. Finally, we wanted to identify the institutional, regulatory, and legislative barriers that inhibit renewable energy development, and suggest steps to remove them. Since policies and practices vary widely through the region, we surveyed the legislative and regulatory environment for renewable electricity sources in each state. As part of an effort to understand and highlight the societal benefits of renewable energy sources, we also created a model that calculates, on a state-by-state basis, the net jobs and income that could be generated by investment in renewable energy technologies. [Copies of the executive summary of Powering the Midwest are available for $3 from Union of Concerned Scientists, 26 Church Street, Cambridge, MA 02238, USA, phone (617) 547-5552, fax (617) 864-9405. Copies of the entire study are available for $18 from the same source. [Next: Overview: Principal Findings] INSURANCE INDUSTRY REACTS TO CLIMATE CHANGE, STUDY SAYS While governments and scientists debate the likelihood of global warming and climate change, the insurance industry--always attuned to risk--is beginning to hedge its bets, according to a recent-released report by the environmental group Greenpeace. The report, entitled Climate Change and the Insurance Industry: Solidarity Among the Risk Community, is summarized in an Inter Press Service (IPS) story by Judith Perera on the electronic network EcoNet. According to the article, insurance companies are increasingly declining to provide coverage in areas which are prone to climate-related disasters. After turning steady profits from 1966 through 1987, when there were few major damaging storms, Lloyds of London, the world's largest insurer, suffered losses averaging about $2 billion annually from 1988 through 1992. The number of windstorms inflicting damages of over $1 billion was zero between 1966 and 1987, the report said, but 15 such events have occurred in the last five years, with last year's Hurricane Andrew topping the list at $20 billion. Hurricanes of increasing frequency and severity are generally believed to be one of the potential effects of global warming. The report urges the insurance industry to become more active in reducing the risk of climate change, by lobbying governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and by helping to "[transform] the oil and coal companies of today into the total energy companies of tomorrow" by such actions as strategic use of its substantial investment capital. TAYLOR WOODROW UNIT WINS KIRKBY MOOR CONTRACT Taylor Woodrow Construction Northern, a division of British construction giant Taylor Woodrow, has won a #5 million (US $7.5 million) contract to build a 4.8-MW windfarm on Kirkby Moor in Cumbria, according to the Financial Times. The Kirkby Moor project, which will involve the installation of 12 400-kW turbines, is a joint venture between Taylor Woodrow Construction Holdings and the utilities National Power and South Wales Electricity. It will supply enough power for 4,500 homes and displace the emission of 12,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually. The windfarm is expected to be completed this summer. FRANCE SETS 500 MW GOAL FOR WIND ENERGY BY 2005 France, one of the world's last bulwarks of nuclear power, has set a target of 500 MW of wind generation by the year 2005. While still modest in scale, the goal by France's new agency for energy and the environment, ADEME, represents a substantial commitment by a nation that generates 75 percent of its electricity with nuclear, and is the largest national goal of any country other than Denmark, the Netherlands, and Germany. (The United States currently has approximately 1,500 MW of installed wind capacity.) France currently operates only 600 kW of wind equipment (equivalent to two modern utility-scale turbines), but expects to reach 5 MW by the end of 1993 and 12 MW by the end of 1994, including a 4-MW wind project in Normandy near a nuclear reprocessing plant. ADEME expects the 500 MW of wind capacity to generate 1.2 billion kWh per year, about twice that now produced near Palm Springs, Calif., and equivalent to the amount generated in California's Tehachapi Pass. -------------- Since 1974, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has represented wind energy as a technology that is increasingly economically and technically viable and that will play a major role in providing clean energy for growing electricity needs throughout the world. AWEA offers an Individual membership designed for those who are interested in actively promoting the development of wind energy at the federal, state or local levels, or who have a personal interest in the use of wind turbines for their home, farm or business. The benefits of an Individual membership include a monthly newsletter, the _Windletter_ (hard copy only), which keeps members in touch with association news and activities. In addition, the _Windletter_ features a recap of the most significant industry news of the month and special columns on small wind systems and company profiles. Other benefits include the opportunity to purchase wind energy publications at a discount, reduced conference registration fees, and the opportunity to be part of a national network of advocates working to create a renewable energy future. To join AWEA as an Individual member, send a $35 check ($45 outside North America) (U.S. dollars only) to the address below. AWEA also accepts Visa and MasterCard. Please include a note with your name and mailing address. American Wind Energy Association 777 North Capitol Street, NE, Suite 805 Washington, DC 20002, USA For additional information, call (202) 408-8988