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Wind Research at MIT Wind energy is a clean, renewable and relatively inexpensive source of energy. Current costs at good wind sites are generally competitive with conventionally produced electricity. Wind energy production has expanded rapidly in the past several years: installed capacity in 2006 was almost 4.5 times greater than in 2000. Rapid technology development has enabled these prices and market growth. There are, however, several impediments to truly large-scale deployment, including intermittency, the location of high-quality wind resources far from large demand centers and public opposition to siting of wind generation facilities. Also, while wind energy is assumed to be environmentally benign, the environmental impacts of extremely large-scale deployment sufficient to meet a significant percentage of our power demand have not yet been modeled or analyzed adequately. Advances in energy-storage technologies can address intermittency issues. The modernization of the power network and increased efficiency of the grid will enable the integration and transmission of wind energy over longer distances. Public opposition to facility siting can be addressed, in part, through development of novel wind power technologies, for example, giant wind turbines mounted on floating platforms moored far from coastlines in water 30-100 meters deep. Such systems could take advantage of substantial offshore wind resources without obstructing ocean views. Finally, additional research in materials could enhance blade strength and reliability. The MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) is the response by MIT to the need for new global supplies of affordable, sustainable energy to power the world and will address the science, technology, policy, and systems design required to meet the global energy challenge. For more information, please see the MITEI website at http://web.mit.edu/mitei/ This survey by MIT’s Industrial Liaison Program captures research and information related to wind energy dated between 2008 and January 2010. For more information, please contact MIT’s Industrial Liaison Program at +1-617-253-2691.

WIND ENERGY RESEARCH ....................................................................................................................................4 PITFALLS OF MODELING WIND POWER USING MARKOV CHAINS ...............................................................................4 ENHANCED TORUS GENERATOR ................................................................................................................................4 OFFSHORE RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEM FOR GENERATION AND STORAGE ..............................................................4 THE DEVELOPMENT OF FLOATING WIND TURBINE SYSTEMS ......................................................................................5 PAPER: “FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES: RESPONSES IN A SEASTATE PARETO OPTIMAL DESIGNS AND ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT” ...........................................................................................................................................5 SYSTEMS ANALYSIS FOR OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY TECHNOLOGY ............................................................................6 ECONOMICS OF WIND POWER GENERATION IN THE UNITED STATES ..........................................................................6

CAMPUS GROUPS & ORGANIZATIONS ..............................................................................................................7 ANALYSIS GROUP FOR REGIONAL ELECTRICITY ALTERNATIVES (AGREA) ...............................................................7

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WRIGHT BROTHERS WIND TUNNEL (WBWT) ............................................................................................................7 MIT WINDWEEK POSTERS (APRIL 2009) & RELATED STUDENT ACTIVITIES ......................................8

GLOBAL WIND POWER ADVANCE: NATIONAL POLICIES ENABLING GROWTH AT SCALE ...........................................8 PITFALLS OF MODELING WIND POWER USING MARKOV CHAINS ...............................................................................8 ECONOMICS OF WIND POWER GENERATION IN THE UNITED STATES ..........................................................................8 SYSTEMS ANALYSIS FOR OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY TECHNOLOGY ............................................................................9 SHAPING THE DEMAND SIDE .......................................................................................................................................9 ARE THERE SOLUTIONS TO OVERCOME THE PROBLEMS OF “DOUBLE HANDLING” IN THE US WIND LOGISTICS BUSINESS? .................................................................................................................................................................10

2009 MIT ENERGY NIGHT STUDENT PRESENTATIONS ..............................................................................10 DEVELOPMENT OF FLOATING WIND TURBINES .........................................................................................................10 USE OF CORK COMPOSITE IN WIND TURBINE BLADE CONSTRUCTION ......................................................................11 INTEGRATION AT SCALE: DANISH AND SPANISH WIND POWER DEVELOPMENT .......................................................11

RELATED NEWS AND GROUPS ...........................................................................................................................11 MIT NEWS: “BLOWIN' IN THE WIND: STUDENTS BRING WIND-SPEED MONITORING EQUIPMENT TO CAMPUS TO

EVALUATE POTENTIAL SITES FOR A WIND TURBINE” ..................................................................................................11 Wind Energy Group at MIT ..................................................................................................................................12 Project Full Breeze ...............................................................................................................................................12

“ENERGY TRANSITIONS AND TRANSFORMATIONS” ...................................................................................................12

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WIND ENERGY RESEARCH

PITFALLS OF MODELING WIND POWER USING MARKOV CHAINS Principal Investigator: Prof. James L Kirtley Jr., Professor of Electrical Engineering, http://web.mit.edu/kirtley/www/ Date: 07/09 An increased penetration of wind turbines have given rise to a need for wind speed/power models that generate realistic synthetic data. Such data, for example, might be used in simulations to size energy storage or spinning reserve. In much literature, Markov chains have been proposed as an acceptable method to generate synthetic wind data, but we have observed that the autocorrelation plots of wind speeds generated by Markov chains are often inaccurate. Research describes when using Markov chains is appropriate and demonstrates the gross underestimation of storage requirements that occurs at short time steps. We found that Markov chains should not be used for time steps shorter than 15 to 40 minutes, depending on the order of the Markov chain and the number of wind power states. This result implies that Markov chains are of limited use as synthetic data generators for small microgrid models and other applications requiring short simulation time steps. New algorithms for generating synthetic wind data at shorter time steps must be developed.

ENHANCED TORUS GENERATOR Principal Investigator: Prof. James L Kirtley Jr., Professor of Electrical Engineering, http://web.mit.edu/kirtley/www/ Date: 03/09 This is a novel hybrid of a permanent magnet generator and doubly fed machine intended to improve the efficiency and power density of low speed machines for use as direct drive or intermediate speed wind turbine generators.

OFFSHORE RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEM FOR GENERATION AND STORAGE Principal Investigator: Prof. Alexander H Slocum, Neil and Jane Pappalardo Professor of Mechanical Engineering; MacVicar Faculty Fellow, http://meche.mit.edu/people/?id=80 Date: 09/08 This project will work on designs for far-offshore windmills with a built-in energy storage system to provide on-demand power. The system would use water pumped inside a huge concrete base as storage for energy produced by the wind turbine, and the platform could also be connected to wave or current generating systems.

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THE DEVELOPMENT OF FLOATING WIND TURBINE SYSTEMS Principal Investigator: Prof. Paul Sclavounos, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, http://meche.mit.edu/people/?id=76 Entry Date: 07/09 Due to the steadier and stronger wind, and the long distance from residential area, the offshore wind farm has been considered as an ideal alternative energy solution. A floating wind turbine system is being considered as a key solution to make this offshore wind farm feasible in economic viewpoint. This research is focusing on an optimal design of the Spar buoy / TLP type floating wind turbines running at a shallow / intermediate water depth. Nacelle acceleration, static and dynamic tensions on catenaries, the maximum tension at the anchors on seafloor are considered as design performances, and a stochastic analysis method has been used to evaluate those quantities based on sea state spectral density functions. The performance at a 100 year hurricane condition is being defined as a limiting case, and a linear wave theory has been the most fundamental theory applied for the present analysis.

PAPER: “FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES: RESPONSES IN A SEASTATE PARETO OPTIMAL DESIGNS AND ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT” Prof. Paul Sclavounos, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, http://meche.mit.edu:16080/people/index.html?id=76 Laboratory for Ship and Platform Flows: http://web.mit.edu/flowlab/ Oct 2007, Working paper Wind is the fastest growing renewable energy source, increasing at an annual rate of 25% with a worldwide installed capacity of 74 GW in 2007. The vast majority of wind power is generated from onshore wind farms. Their growth is however limited by the lack of inexpensive land near major population centers and the visual pollution caused by large wind turbines. Wind energy generated from offshore wind farms is the next frontier. Large sea areas with stronger and steadier winds are available for wind farm development and 5MW wind turbine towers located 20 miles from the coastline are invisible. Current offshore wind turbines are supported by monopoles driven into the seafloor at coastal sites a few miles from shore and in water depths of 10-15m. The primary impediment to their growth is visual pollution and the prohibitive cost of seafloor mounted monopoles in larger water depths. This paper presents a fully coupled dynamic analysis of floating wind turbines that enables a parametric design study of floating wind turbine concepts and mooring systems. More … http://web.mit.edu/flowlab/pdf/Floating_Offshore_Wind_Turbines.pdf

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SYSTEMS ANALYSIS FOR OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY TECHNOLOGY Principal Investigator: Prof. Kenneth A Oye, Associate Professor of Political Science and Engineering Systems, http://esd.mit.edu/Faculty_Pages/oye/oye.htm Other Investigator: Prof. Merritt Roe Smith, Leverett and William Cutten Professor of the History of Technology, http://web.mit.edu/history/www/smith/smith.htm Entry Date: 07/09 Despite a huge amount of experimentation in conceptual designs for wind electricity conversion systems (WECS), the de facto standard in the industry for large-scale commercial applications involves a horizontal-axis turbine design oriented upwind for operation with 3-blades. Beyond this, the drivetrain usually consists of a planetary gearbox connecting the low speed shaft of the rotor speed to the high speed shaft of an induction generator. Though the industry has settled on a certain de facto standard, a huge number of conceptual designs are possible for performing the fundamental task of converting the mechanical energy in the wind into electricity. In moving to the offshore environment, most applications are still consistent with the dominant design described above. There has been some discussion of modifications that may be possible or necessary given the new design environment offshore, but the vast majority of the 11 +GW of installed offshore in Europe today employ a relatively conservative extension of onshore technology. This analysis presents the steps for evaluating different conceptual designs according to the different pertinent to land-based versus marine environments. The use of multi-attribute tradespace exploration (MATE), commonly applied to aerospace applications, is suggested as an appropriate systems analysis methodology for investigating WECS system architecture for on and offshore applications.

ECONOMICS OF WIND POWER GENERATION IN THE UNITED STATES Principal Investigator: Dr. John E Parsons, Executive Director, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research and the Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change; Senior Lecturer, Sloan School of Management, http://www.mit.edu/~jparsons/ Date: 07/09 As concerns over greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion increase, wind energy, which emits no greenhouse gases directly, is becoming a lucrative alternative due to technological maturity and low costs relative to other renewable resources. Based on 2007-2008 data for costs of power generation technologies, bus bar levelized costs of new utility-scale wind installations in the US, land-based wind farms in particular, are approaching those of new intermediate and peak load fossil fuel-fired power stations even without subsidies or carbon pricing. Aside from their increasing competitiveness with coal- or gas-fired generators, wind farms can be expected to deliver macroeconomic benefits as well. Expanding the share of wind energy from one percent to 20 percent of US electricity production by 2030, as stipulated by the US Department of Energy in their report 20% Wind Energy by 2030, will add over half a million jobs through engineering, construction, and plant operations as well as induced economic activity. Cost should not impede wind power deployment in the near to medium term barring a prolonged period of low prices for coal or gas, with or without policies favorable for wind developers. Therefore, future expansion of wind power will be determined largely by electricity transmission capacity, readiness of grid power storage technologies, and additional non-cost factors.

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CAMPUS GROUPS & ORGANIZATIONS

ANALYSIS GROUP FOR REGIONAL ELECTRICITY ALTERNATIVES (AGREA) Principal Investigator: Stephen R Connors, Head, Analysis Group for Regional Energy Alternatives (AGREA); Director, AGS Energy Flagship Program, http://web.mit.edu/connorsr/www/bio.html Formed in 1987, AGREA conducts scenario analysis on regional energy infrastructures, responding to the needs, concerns, and interests of local stakeholders. AGREA researchers have lent their talents to projects focused identifying robust strategies aimed at reducing pollutant emissions in Mexico City; modernizing the Chinese power sector (CETP); helping Scandinavia identify pathways to a sustainable energy future (TRANSES); and helping decision-makers understand the dynamics of solar (EPA) and offshore windpower (OWC). Research activities have included: TRANSES - Transition to Sustainable Energy Services in Northern Europe; Offshore Wind Collaborative - Pilot Research Project—Economic and Environmental Performance of Offshore Wind in the Northeast More… http://web.mit.edu/agrea/

WRIGHT BROTHERS WIND TUNNEL (WBWT) Director: Prof. Mark Drela, Terry L Kohler Professor of Fluid Dynamics, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Director, Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel, http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/people/drela.html Since its opening in September 1938, The Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel has played a major role in the development of aerospace, civil engineering and architectural systems. In recent years, faculty research interests generated long-range studies of unsteady airfoil flow fields, jet engine inlet-vortex behavior, aeroelastic tests of unducted propeller fans, and panel methods for tunnel wall interaction effects. Industrial testing has ranged over auxiliary propulsion burner units, helicopter antenna pods, and in-flight trailing cables, as well as new concepts for roofing attachments, a variety of stationary and vehicle mounted ground antenna configurations, the aeroelastic dynamics of airport control tower configurations for the Federal Aviation Authority, and the less anticipated live tests in Olympic ski gear, astronauts’ space suits for tare evaluations related to underwater simulations of weightless space activity, racing bicycles, subway station entrances, and Olympic rowing shells for oarlock system drag comparisons… More … http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/www/labs/WBWT/

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MIT WINDWEEK POSTERS (APRIL 2009) & RELATED STUDENT ACTIVITIES

http://blogs.mit.edu/CS/blogs/altoids/archive/2009/03/17/69701.aspx

GLOBAL WIND POWER ADVANCE: NATIONAL POLICIES ENABLING GROWTH AT SCALE Student: Kathy Araujo, Department of Urban Studies and Planning As conventional approaches to energy use and production become increasingly difficult to sustain, policymakers are at crossroads, worldwide. Key choices with potentially long-term consequences must be made regarding the energy pathway that each country will take. Wind power, if used effectively, can contribute to more sustainable energy strategies. However, in order to tap the many benefits of wind power, government decision-makers must position policies, which are conducive to renewable energy integration into sustainable markets. This comparative research of wind power diffusion and advance in countries with substantial wind potential finds that the more sophisticated feed-in tariffs and policy frameworks with a performance-based focus, like binding targets or quotas, are much more likely to support the growth of wind power and the development of wind turbine markets. Brazil, China, Denmark, India, Germany, Spain, and the United States are considered for the period 1995 to the present.

PITFALLS OF MODELING WIND POWER USING MARKOV CHAINS Student: Kevin Brokish Faculty Advisor : Prof. James Kirtley An increased penetration of wind turbines have given rise to a need for wind speed/power models that generate realistic synthetic data. Such data, for example, might be used in simulations to size energy storage or spinning reserve. In much literature, Markov chains have been proposed as an acceptable method to generate synthetic wind data, but we have observed that the autocorrelation plots of wind speeds generated by Markov chains are often inaccurate. This paper describes when using Markov chains is appropriate and demonstrates the gross underestimation of storage requirements that occurs at short time steps. We found that Markov chains should not be used for time steps shorter than 15 to 40 minutes, depending on the order of the Markov chain and the number of wind power states. This result implies that Markov chains are of limited use as synthetic data generators for small microgrid models and other applications requiring short simulation time steps. New algorithms for generating synthetic wind data at shorter time steps must be developed.

ECONOMICS OF WIND POWER GENERATION IN THE UNITED STATES Student: Yangbo Du, Economics As concerns over greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion increase, wind energy, which emits no greenhouse gases directly, is becoming a lucrative alternative due to technological maturity and low costs relative to other renewable resources. Based on 2007-2008 data for costs of power generation technologies, bus bar levelized costs of new utility-scale wind installations in the US, land-based wind farms in particular, are approaching those of new intermediate and peak load fossil fuel-fired power stations even without subsidies or carbon pricing. Aside from their increasing competitiveness with coal- or gas-fired generators, wind farms can be expected to

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deliver macroeconomic benefits as well. Expanding the share of wind energy from one percent to 20 percent of US electricity production by 2030, as stipulated by the US Department of Energy in their report 20% Wind Energy by 2030, will add over half a million jobs through engineering, construction, and plant operations as well as induced economic activity. Cost should not impede wind power deployment in the near to medium term barring a prolonged period of low prices for coal or gas, with or without policies favorable for wind developers. Therefore, future expansion of wind power will be determined largely by electricity transmission capacity, readiness of grid power storage technologies, and additional non-cost factors.

SYSTEMS ANALYSIS FOR OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY TECHNOLOGY Student: Katherine Dykes, Engineering Systems Division Despite a huge amount of experimentation in conceptual designs for wind electricity conversion systems (WECS), the de facto standard in the industry for large-scale commercial applications involves a horizontal-axis turbine design oriented upwind for operation with 3-blades. Beyond this, the drivetrain usually consists of a planetary gearbox connecting the low speed shaft of the rotor speed to the high speed shaft of an induction generator. Though the industry has settled on a certain de facto standard, a huge number of conceptual designs are possible for performing the fundamental task of converting the mechanical energy in the wind into electricity. In moving to the offshore environment, most applications are still consistent with the dominant design described above. There has been some discussion of modifications that may be possible or necessary given the new design environment offshore, but the vast majority of the 11 +GW of installed offshore in Europe today employ a relatively conservative extension of onshore technology. This analysis presents the steps for evaluating different conceptual designs according to the different pertinent to land-based versus marine environments. The use of multi-attribute tradespace exploration (MATE), commonly applied to aerospace applications, is suggested as an appropriate systems analysis methodology for investigating WECS system architecture for on and offshore applications.

SHAPING THE DEMAND SIDE Student: Daniel Livengood, Engineering Systems Division Whether onshore or offshore, increasing the penetration of electricity generated by wind resources adds a weather-dependent dynamic to the supply-and-demand balancing act on the electric grid. Wind, as well as other weather-dependent renewable sources of electricity, would best be balanced by long-term, large-scale electricity storage technologies, however these technologies are currently and for the foreseeable future cost-prohibitive. Our research looks at how the developing smart grid could send signals to electricity consumers (with our focus on residential and small business consumers) to enable them to better manage their electricity usage so that the grid operates as efficiently and effectively as possible, especially with the increasing penetration of electricity generated by weather-dependent renewable sources. The signals envisioned would most likely include but are not limited to time-differentiated pricing of electricity. Again, with long-term, large-scale electricity storage currently cost-prohibitive, balancing the supply and demand on the grid must come either from dispatchable (and typically non-renewable) energy sources or from signals shaping the demand curve to more closely match the supply curve. Ultimately, our research aims to illustrate that higher penetrations of wind and other weather-dependent electricity sources could be supported with a more flexible and shapeable demand curve by encouraging energy efficiency and responsive demand investments,

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all while striving to provide the same (or better) welfare that electricity consumers have come to expect.

ARE THERE SOLUTIONS TO OVERCOME THE PROBLEMS OF “DOUBLE HANDLING” IN THE US WIND LOGISTICS BUSINESS? Students: Gavin McCallum, Forrest Funnell, S Harris, Sloan School of Management The U.S. wind market in 2008 was a $16b industry and is set for unprecedented growth over the next 20 years. The traditional logistics operations in wind cannot cope with the increasing complexity and scale of the supply chain, and as result, wind project developers frequently overspend their budgets in large part due to “double handling” of key components. Rather than moving each component once, the components need to be moved and stored somewhere until the padmount is ready for delivery, which incurs additional costs such as temporary storage area construction, secondary transportation and additional crane rental and labor costs. Our research into wind logistics has concluded that double handling is an unavoidable problem in the US wind business and one that will get worse before it gets better as turbines get bigger, average wind farm size increases and get built in more remote places and the OEM supply chain remains fragmented. Out of this research has emerged a MIT start up venture which plans to develop storage sites at key hubs in the US wind market and then offer just in time transportation to the exact wind turbine location. By doing firms can better control their wind project schedules and reduce their costs and minimize the impact of double handling. Over time we would add inspection services and warehousing facilities for spare parts and seek to develop services for the offshore wind sector.

2009 MIT ENERGY NIGHT STUDENT PRESENTATIONS

http://energynight.mit.edu/

DEVELOPMENT OF FLOATING WIND TURBINES http://energynight.mit.edu/presenters-1/wind-development-of-floating-wind-turbines Student: Sungho Lee, http://web.mit.edu/flowlab/ Due to the steadier and stronger wind, and the long distance from residential area, the offshore wind farm has been considered as an ideal alternative energy solution. A floating wind turbine system is being considered as a key solution to make this offshore wind farm feasible in economic viewpoint. This research is focusing on an optimal design of the spar buoy floating wind turbines running at a shallow / intermediate water depth. Nacelle acceleration, static and dynamic tensions on catenaries, the maximum tension at the anchors on seafloor are considered as design performances, and a stochastic analysis method has been used to evaluate those quantities based on sea state spectral density functions. The performance at a 100-year hurricane condition is being defined as a limiting case, and a linear wave theory has been the fundamental theory applied for the present analysis…

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USE OF CORK COMPOSITE IN WIND TURBINE BLADE CONSTRUCTION http://energynight.mit.edu/presenters-1/wind-use-of-cork-composite-in-wind-turbine-blade-construction Student: Sarah Reed, cadlab.mit.edu Cork, a renewable material that can be harvested from the Cork Oak every 9-10 years for 200 years, is lightweight, thermally and acoustically insulating, and resistant to rot. These properties are similar to those of Balsa Wood, a material commonly used in wind turbine blades. For these reasons, an exploration into the use of cork composite in wind turbine blades has been conducted. Research began with materials testing on cork/epoxy composite samples. Following promising results from the materials testing, work began in June 2009 on prototype construction.

INTEGRATION AT SCALE: DANISH AND SPANISH WIND POWER DEVELOPMENT http://energynight.mit.edu/presenters-1/wind-wind-power-integration-at-scale Student: Kathy Araujo, MIT Industrial Performance Center Wind power has emerged increasingly as a viable means to sustainably realign energy pathways in regions with good wind resource. Countries like Denmark and Spain are among notable leaders that utilize substantial amounts of wind power. Lessons gained in these countries can be leveraged to inform decision-makers in areas, yet to tap such wind resource. This research focuses specifically upon innovations in support mechanisms and power systems, enabling significant integration of wind in Denmark and Spain from the late 1970s to the present. Findings reveal an important interplay of critical adaptations and provide insights on better practices.

RELATED NEWS AND GROUPS

MIT NEWS: “BLOWIN' IN THE WIND: STUDENTS BRING WIND-SPEED MONITORING EQUIPMENT TO CAMPUS TO EVALUATE POTENTIAL SITES FOR A WIND TURBINE” David L. Chandler, MIT News Office, November 5, 2009 http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/windmill.html MIT students and staff worked together last month to install wind-monitoring equipment on a lighting post in the west campus athletic fields to evaluate whether to erect a wind turbine there in the spring. The planned turbine, a Skystream 3.7 with a rated output of 2.4 kilowatts, about enough to power an average home, is a gift from Philip Deutch as a tribute to his father, Institute Professor John Deutch. In addition to providing some power for lighting on the Briggs Field, the turbine would provide a teaching and research tool for MIT students. Already, the spring-semester class Projects in Energy plans to use the new windmill as part of its wind resource component…. Graduate student in engineering systems Katherine Dykes, vice-president of the MIT Energy Club and founder of the Wind Energy Group, says that wind monitoring equipment for site evaluation would usually use its own free-standing tower, but the athletics department were concerned that the guy wires needed to support such a tower would interfere with sport activities in the area. The solution was to make use of a light pole already in place.

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More… http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/windmill.html

Wind Energy Group at MIT MIT Wind Energy Group recognizes that important changes are underway for wind power and aims to provide opportunities for MIT to learn, educate and discuss advances in wind power through unique interaction with members of industry, government, community groups and academia… http://sites.google.com/site/windenergymit/wind-research-at-mit

Project Full Breeze During the 2009-2010 school year, a wind power project-oriented group of graduate students associated with the Wind Energy Group is working with Facilities, Walk the Talk, donors, members of industry and other wind power-interested groups to conduct wind resource measurements on the MIT campus with the goal of installing one or more wind turbines on campus… More at http://sites.google.com/site/windenergymit/campus-wind-turbine-project

“ENERGY TRANSITIONS AND TRANSFORMATIONS” By Stephen R. Connors and David H. Marks MIT Faculty Newsletter, Vol. XXI, No. 5, Summer 2009 http://web.mit.edu/fnl/volume/215/connors_marks.html This brief “op-ed” outlines some of the energy challenges and solutions that we have been conducting research on for over the past eight years – both at home and abroad – that simultaneously address the “substantial and sustained” reductions in both greenhouse gas as called for by world leaders (e.g., 80% by 2050) as well as other environmental threats, and energy security especially as it pertains to imported fossil fuels. Note that this is not just a supply oriented technology view, nor just ways of increasing efficiency to reduce demand. Rather, we focus on integrated strategies that can provide substantial emissions reductions at large scale and in time. Thus a great deal of emphasis is focused on matching the dynamics of energy demands and supplies, and the role of large-scale demonstrations to gain consumer and industry confidence regarding innovative management options. This piece focuses on key aspects of how we might transform the domestic U.S. energy market and the need for energy security, robust availability, and markets to bring about efficient use. The United States, as well as many regions of the world, needs to protect itself economically and environmentally by substantially reducing fossil fuel consumption, especially imported fuels subject to increasingly volatile world energy markets. A strategy to transform a nation’s or region’s energy supply and demand infrastructure can be separated into three complementary components: Aggressive End-Use Efficiency – Move aggressively to improve the efficiency of energy services, especially with new technologies that substitute information for energy (e.g., smart houses, grids, roads, etc.). An aggressive end-use efficiency strategy reduces the demand for energy and extends the usefulness of the energy delivery infrastructure.

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Diversify Domestically – Greatly diversify the energy resources tapped by the energy sector to meet domestic energy needs. A large component of this diversification is a shift away from reliance on global fuel markets/supply-chains, to domestic energy resources comprised of both renewable and conventional carbon-free supplies. Modernize Energy Networks – Modernize energy infrastructures by which those energy resources/supplies are transformed and delivered to consumers. This has near-, medium, and long-term components as we consider investments in the high-voltage grid to accept remote wind and/or clean coal, and the development of smart, local, microgrids capable of handling dynamic loads (demand response) and distributed generation and electricity storage. Analogous investments to improve the logistics of alternative fuel production and distribution will also be required. More at: http://web.mit.edu/fnl/volume/215/connors_marks.html