Welwind Energy International Corp.(fka WWEI)

[Awro]

Wind power is one of the fastest-growing forms of new power generation in the United States. The nation’s total wind power generating capacity increased by 50% in 2008, and new wind power installations constituted 42% of all new electric power installations. This growth is the result of many drivers, including increased economic competitiveness and favorable state policies such as Renewable Portfolio Standards. However, new wind power installations provide more than cost-competitive electricity. Wind power brings economic development to rural regions, reduces water consumption in the electric power sector, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by displacing fossil fuels.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind Powering America Program is committed to educating state-level policy makers and other stakeholders about the economic, CO2 emissions, and water conservation impacts of wind power.
Although construction and operation of 1,000 MW of wind power is a significant effort, seven states have already reached the 1,000-MW mark.
http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/pdfs/economic_development/2009/nc_wind_benefits_factsheet.pdf


Obama's 'moonshot' for renewable energy.
Interior boss Ken Salazar issued his first secretarial order Wednesday, a "moonshot for energy independence" that propels solar, wind, geothermal and biomass projects ahead of oil and gas development.
"For the last administration, renewable energy just was not a priority," Salazar said during a telephone news conference.
Not so for the Obama administration. With Salazar's declaration, the production, development and delivery of large-scale alternative-energy projects vault to the top of Interior's to-do list.
One Interior agency, the Bureau of Land Management, already has estimated that Western wind-project developers could build on 20.6 million acres. More than 25 million acres could go to solar development and geothermal potential covers more than 40 million acres. Wind- and wave-energy projects are possible on both coasts and in the Gulf of Mexico.
Salazar said the broad environmental impact studies the Bush administration completed for geothermal and wind development may undergo revisions to reflect the new renewable-energy focus.
Interior has set up an energy and climate-change task force to measure renewable potential on public lands across the nation. The panel has been working since Jan. 21.
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11891417


The U.S. Interior Department on Wednesday said it has created a special task force to speed the development of renewable energy projects on federal lands.
The department will have to coordinate its efforts with other government agencies involved with energy and electricity transmission policy, including the Energy Department and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE52A64Q20090311


Stimulus bill should aid wind industry.
James Walker, president of the American Wind Energy Association, about how the federal stimulus bill should help the U.S. wind energy industry and Michigan's efforts to grow renewable energy:
In the past, the government would apply the tax credit, which you could take over 10 years. Now they're providing you a way to take it in the first year, and you can get it in cash, rather than having to take it off your tax return. And that's all designed to really accelerate the recovery in these areas. It will take us a small step backward and then it'll be in the same growth trajectory, which is 30, 40, 50 percent growth per year.
We're very hopeful that by the end of this year, there's a chance that the United States of America for the first time ever will have a rational, science-based, economically viable long-range policy for renewable energy development.
http://www.mlive.com/businessreview/annarbor/index.ssf/2009/03/walker_stimulus_bill_should_ai.html


World water supplies may be severely stressed in coming decades because of global climate change linked to the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil. The U.S. West is one of the places that has the most to lose with water scarcity, but many other regions around the world will face similar challenges.
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idINTRE52A1X820090311


The first wind turbine with an ATS hybrid tower has been completed. After the concrete tower had been erected end of 2008, the Siemens steel tower segment has now also been installed at the Grevenbroich wind test site in North-Rhine Westphalia.
The pilot project has now been completed with the installation of the nacelle, a 2.3MW system from Siemens - and the rotor with a diameter of 93 meters. The tower combines a lower segment consisting of long, narrow pre-cast ATS concrete components and an upper segment made of conventional steel elements. Altogether, the turbine measures 180 meters with a hub height at 133 meters.
Compared to widespread hub heights of 100 meters, ATS' system could help turbines yield 20% more energy.
http://www.windtech-international.com/content/view/2260/1/