An Iowa State University team is now working to develop strategies and controllers that would reenergize power grids dominated by wind power. When electric grids go down, there’s no way to restore them – ‘blackstart’ them – with power from wind turbines. In Iowa, wind turbines now produce 55% of the state’s electricity. It used […]

Researchers have reported to the American Physical Society that as wind energy scales up, researchers better able to study the fluid dynamics challenges. Twenty years ago, wind energy was mostly a niche industry that contributed less than 1% to the total electricity production in the United States. Wind has since emerged as a serious contender […]

University of Cambridge researchers have devised a new material that mimics the wing structure of owls which could help make wind turbines, computer fans and even planes much quieter. Early wind tunnel tests of the coating have shown a substantial reduction in noise without any noticeable effect on aerodynamics. Because wind turbines are heavily braked […]

Researchers at Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft have built a new type of steel blade for wind turbines formed from a 1.0 mm steel sheet and featuring integrated, folded reinforcement. Today’s wind turbines use very large rotor blades made with fiber-reinforced plastics that are almost impossible to recycle. But steel blades recycling ability exceeds 90 percent. Plus they cost […]

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