Summary: As tax credits expire for wind energy, the ability to compete with established energy sources is critical. All wind turbine manufacturers are examining their next generation turbines with an eye towards reducing their cost, increasing energy production, and improving reliability. Because the drive train accounts for such a large part of the rotor nacelle assembly cost, it has become a prime target for design change. Drive train innovations which reduce cost, increase energy...

Summary: Renewable energy sources have been regarded as the most promising means to solve the energy and environmental issues we face nowadays. How to integrate renewable energy into smart grids presents many challenging problems in control and power electronics. A well-integrated smart grid provides the backbone for the high-level functions of smart grids, such as wide-area control, communication, information, marketing and security. In this talk, an overview of the enabling technologies...

Summary: More than 30% of US energy and 90% of oil consumption are used for roadway transportation. Hybridization and electrification of vehicles on roadways are considered as major strategies for reducing dependence on oil and greenhouse gas and meeting the aggressive fuel economy standards. Hybridization of conventional internal combustion engine vehicles with motors run on electricity from batteries can significantly improve fuel efficiency while electrocution allows switch of the fuel to...

Summary: Transitioning to a sustainable low-carbon energy system poses one of the great challenges of the 21st century. The Energy Innovation Series brings leaders from government, law, finance, industry, and academia to discuss key aspects of this challenge and some of the innovative approaches and solutions being fashioned across a range of sectors. During academic year 2012-13, the series will focus on the changing energy mix in the United States and abroad, the implications of shale gas...

Wind energy is recognized worldwide as cost-effective and environmentally friendly and is among the world's fastest-growing sources of electrical energy. Despite the amazing growth in global wind power installations in recent years, science and engineering challenges still exist. Megawatt wind turbines are large, flexible structures that operate in uncertain, time-varying wind and weather conditions and lend themselves nicely to advanced control solutions. Advanced controllers can help...

Community college program trains future wind power technicians Soon, 44-year-old Brad Clark will begin his second career, 300 feet off the ground. "About a year ago, I got laid off from my position in high tech," explains Clark. "I'm an engineer by education and training, and once I got laid off, I had to think, what do I want to do? What's going to be a business that is going to be around? So I was part of a government retraining program." For more Science Nation, go to...

Summary: As the coal-reliant countries of the world have been increasingly forced to consider reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to mitigate climate change, carbon capture and storage (CCS) has emerged as a technology with critically important political influence. Visions of so-called "clean" coal-fired power plants that will not emit CO2 into the atmosphere have provided powerful motivation for large public and private investments in CCS. The scale of CO2 emission reductions deemed...

Robert Gramlich is Senior Vice President of Public Policy for the American Wind Energy Association, the national trade association of approximately 2,500 entities involved in all aspects of wind energy production, based in Washington D.C. Rob joined AWEA in 2005 and now leads the association’s strategic initiatives related to federal and state legislation, industry information and analysis, and regulatory policy. He has published articles on wind integration, carbon taxes, market power...

Summary: Diesel generators are the traditional means by which people generate electricity in remote locations. Throughout the world, there are many thousands of off-grid communities, industrial sites, and government facilities relying entirely on diesel generated electricity. At $4/gallon, the fuel component alone of diesel-generated electricity is high, about $0.30/kWh. Some remote locations pay over $8/gallon or $0.60/kWh. With diesel fuel prices projected to rise even higher in the long...

Offshore wind power can contribute extensively to a clean, robust, and diversified U.S. energy portfolio. Capturing the Nation's large and inexhaustible offshore wind resource has the potential to mitigate climate change, improve the environment, increase energy security, and stimulate the U.S. economy. This seminar provides a broad understanding of the global offshore wind industry today and the associated technology challenges, economics, permitting procedures, and potential risks and...