Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 24
Emergence of Wind Energy:
James F. Manwell
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Massachusetts,
Amherst, Massachusetts 01002, USA
manwell@ecs.umass.edu
Although wind energy had a long history in the United States, by
the 1960s it appeared that wind energy was no longer relevant.
At that time fossil fuels were cheap and plentiful and nuclear
power was “too cheap to meter”. Unnoticed by many, however, the
seeds for wind energy's renaissance were already germinating.
As of 1956, M. K. Hubbert was already predicting that oil's days
were numbered. With the publication of Rachel Carson's topic
Silent
Spring
in 1962 many people became aware of the environmental
consequences of industrial development. By 1970, the first Earth
Day reflected the beginning of the new awareness. As it turned
out the University of Massachusetts in Amherst (UMass) provided
one the fields where some of these seeds took root.
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