Wind on the Wires1 - Smart Grid (R) Evolution: Electric Power Struggles - page 134

North America. In North America in the 1850's, wind pumps became a key technology
which enabled European settlers to move westward, using the pumps to draw water from
deep underground aquifers for farming and ranching (Galbraith and Price 2013 ) . In the
mid-1800's, wind pumps also became a crucial transportation technology. The railways
used larger wind-driven pumps to store water along the railway tracks for steam engines
(Musgrove 2010 ).
6.2.2 Creating Electricity from Wind
Unlike grinding grain or pumping water, both of which require a slow, steadily turning
rotor, generating electricity from wind requires a rapidly spinning rotor to drive the
generator. In the late 1880's wind power was first used to generate electricity almost
simultaneously in Europe and the United States. In 1887 James Blyth, a university
professor from Glasgow, Scotland set up a small turbine near his holiday cottage (Price
2013 ) ; in 1888, electricity pioneer Charles Brush installed the first turbine to power the
lights in his mansion in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States (Scientific American 1890 ) .
While these two inventors did not appear to know each other, the use of windmills to
generate electricity in isolated locations spread. Windmills connected to generators were
used to power lighthouses in France and many rural farms in North America, for example.
However, generating electricity from wind posed several technical challenges.
For one, managing variable wind speed proved difficult and the battery storage banks
used by these early wind turbines to store electricity often failed. Danish wind turbine
advances helped to overcome challenges in managing variable wind speeds. Spurred by
the energy shortages in World Wars I and II, Danish engineers worked to improve turbine
function through better gear box design and controls.
In the 1950's and 1960's, low global energy prices stalled further development of wind
turbines, although pollution from coal-fired power plants spurred some cursory interest
in alternative energy and wind development in the 1960s. It was not until after the 1973
Oil Crisis and the accompanying fourfold increase in the price of oil that investment in
alternative energy technology development significantly increased (Musgrove 2010 ) .
In the United States, Denmark, and Germany, large national-level investments supported
wind power research. Wind turbine development benefited from parallel advancements in
materials, aerodynamics, and structural engineering. As is the case with all technology
research and development, not all experiments were successful, but research teams made
significant advancements in turbine design (Heymann 1998 ). From 1975 to 1988 the
United States spent $427.4 million on wind power research and development (R&D) to
improve turbine technology, Germany invested $103.3 million, and Denmark supported