Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
In the U.S. federal sector, the National Science Foundation (NSF), under their new “Re-
search Applied to National Needs” (RANN) program, had been examining the overall long-
term issues of energy supply, and had concluded (along with others) that renewable energy
sources could have a major role in the future. However, individual views of that future varied
enormously. The NSF was initially given the responsibility and a small budget for a federal
research program on renewable energy. That program included solar energy, of which wind
energy was considered to be a constituent part. The NSF, without any laboratories of its own,
turned to the NASA Lewis Research Center (now the Glenn Research Center) in Cleveland,
Ohio, for technical and management assistance [Thomas 1982].
This was the start of the NASA/DOE wind turbine research program that continued for
over 20 years. This program resulted in the design, construction, and testing of 12 medium-
and large-scale horizontal-axis wind turbines, supported by an extensive series of research
and technology projects. NASA-related wind energy publications eventually totaled approx-
imately 620 citations by over 500 authors and co-authors [Spera 1995].
The irst step undertaken was the sponsorship of a Wind Energy Workshop by NSF and
NASA-Lewis in 1973 [Savino 1973], to which were invited all those who had any prior or
current interest in wind power. Pioneers from the 1930s -- such as Marcellus Jacobs,
Palmer Putnam, and Beauchamp Smith from this country; and Ulrich Hütter and Arthur
Stodhart from Europe -- and a younger generation of wind power developers presented
papers and recommended research needs. In 1974 the Swedish government hosted a second
international wind energy workshop [Ljungström 1974]. Similar conferences and work-
shops, held in different countries, became annual events. The Wind Workshop Proceedings
from these annual conferences, supplemented by those from more specialized meetings, form
a detailed record of the technical development of wind power from the mid-1970s until today
[see Appendix B].
Just prior to the 1974 Stockholm workshop, it was discovered that not all of the
experimental wind turbines of the 1940-1960 era had been dismantled or destroyed. To
everyone's surprise, the Danish Gedser wind turbine was found to still exist. With a
modest expenditure under a U.S./Danish bi-lateral agreement, the Gedser machine was later
refurbished and retested. Data were used to validate new computer codes in the U.S. for
predicting aerodynamic and structural dynamic performance. At the same time, the Gedser
tests stimulated renewed interest in wind power in Denmark.
The U.S. Federal Wind Energy Program
In 1974, following recommendations from that irst workshop, NSF and NASA drew
up an initial wind energy research plan, although with little optimism that signiicant
funding would be forthcoming. The shock of the Arab oil embargo a few months later,
however, ensured rapid growth in research funds not only in the U. S. but worldwide. In
1975 the NSF program was absorbed into the newly-formed Energy Research and Develop-
ment Administration (ERDA). The core of ERDA was the Atomic Energy Commission, and
government-owned/contractor-operated national laboratories were selected to operate ele-
ments of the wind program. In 1977, ERDA was combined with other Federal organizations
to form the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was also asked to add its expertise in
farm machinery applications which led to the continuing involvement of the USDA
Agricultural Research Service at Bushland, Texas. Thus, while research was undertaken,
supported, and reported in the literature by several agencies and laboratories, that work was
all part of a single integrated program.
The initial federal plan envisioned research and technology projects closely coupled
with the design and testing of experimental wind turbines that would incorporate
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