Wind Turbines to Become Part of Paris’ Picturesque Skyline

The historic skyline of Paris will soon look a bit different after the addition of a few small wind turbines, which will be installed to take advantage of strong winds that pass through such high points as Montmartre.

From Reuters:

“We are not talking of big models like those we see in the countryside. We are in Paris and we musn’t disfigure the landscape,” Denis Baupin, a deputy mayor in charge of sustainable development, told Le Parisien newspaper.

The turbines in Paris will produce electricity which will be sold to the state-owned utility EDF or directly used in the buildings where they will be installed, Baupin said.

Baupin said the city’s authorities were also studying setting up water turbines under the capital’s bridges of the Seine river.

“The first tests will start in 2011 or 2012,” he said.

With Parisians so eager to preserve the beauty of their city, you can bet that this will end up a great example of how wind power can be implemented in a subtle way. If it works in Paris, it can work in virtually any other city in the world that gets a reasonable amount of wind – and that will be a great way to put a sock in the mouths of NIMBY complainers.

Link [Reuters]
Photo credit: Flickr user Rahims

Great Green Job of the Week: Engineer of Mechanical Systems at Vestas Wind Technology

Vestas offers you challenging career opportunities in a global environment. As the world leader in modern energy, our wind turbines reduce CO2 emissions by millions of tons each year. Our employees, representing 56 nationalities, are eager to welcome new colleagues to our rapidly growing organization. Care to join us?

As our Engineer, Mechanical Systems you will be a part of Vestas Americas Technology Group, and provide mechanical engineering expertise in support of sales, service, installation and product development of wind turbines.

Location: Portland, Oregon

Responsibilities and Tasks

As part of Vestas Americas Technology Group, provide mechanical engineering expertise in support of sales, service, installation and product development of wind turbines.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Completes continuous improvement projects to analyze and resolve field failures of mechanical systems/components for wind turbine generators. Includes root cause analysis, development of immediate corrective actions, design of permanent solution and implementation.
• Respond to technical inquiries from service personnel, project managers, and outside customers.
• Provides required engineering support during and after the installation of wind turbines
• Conducts studies to assess failure modes and effects and develop time to failure models.
• Prepares and maintains necessary drawings, specifications, and documents for project installations, and continuous improvement projects.
• Coordinates/participates with Vestas Research & Development in Denmark as required for ongoing product development and reliability projects.
• Utilizes mechanical engineering expertise and knowledge of wind turbine systems to provide technical support of sales.
• Provides ongoing technical support for in-service wind turbines as needed.
• Solid field and manufacturing trouble shooting skills

Qualifications and Work Experience

• Bachelors or Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering required
• Minimum of 5 years experience with industrial mechanical components and hydraulic systems.
• Experience or strong familiarity with root cause analysis for mechanical system failures required.
• Strong interpersonal and organizational skills required.
• Project management or other relative leadership experience.
• Proficient in AutoCAD, and/or ProE. Strong computer skills in all MS Office software.
• Six Sigma and reliability engineering experience preferred

Vestas offers a competitive salary and one of the most comprehensive benefits plans in the industry, including fully paid healthcare premiums for the employee and all eligible dependents, four weeks accrued vacation per year, five sick days per year and a generous 401(k) plan.

For consideration please email resume to careersinwind@vestas.com with the title Engineer, Mechanical Systems in the subject line.

Souring Economy Snags Pickens’ Wind Energy Plan

Even billionaires are being affected by the current state of the economy, as evidenced by the fact that T. Boone Pickens has been forced to delay his massive wind energy project in Texas. A drop in natural gas prices and the tightening credit market have led Pickens to believe now isn’t the right time to get started on the project.

From CNN Money:

“With natural gas prices where they are, you can’t kick off a wind project, you’re not economical.” Pickens said Tuesday at a news conference in Arizona.

But Pickens, who has spent millions over the last few months promoting his “Pickens Plan” to wean the United States off foreign oil by switching to wind and natural gas, said natural gas and oil prices will rise again in less than a year, and characterized the setback as temporary.

A spokesman for Mesa Power, Pickens’ company that is building the Texas wind farm, laid the blame more on the credit markets.

“The capital markets are problematic for everyone and…may lead us to scale back a bit,” Jay Rosser, a spokesman for Mesa, said in a statement. “But we are still going forward with our wind business.”

Picken’s wind farm in Texas, known as the Pampa Wind Project, would have been the largest wind farm in the world, generating enough electricity to power 1.3 million homes. It’s not grinding to a complete halt, however – a spokesman for Pickens says turbines are still being purchased for the first phase of the project, which will generate 1,000 megawatts of power.  Pickens remains confident that once this economic downturn is over, wind energy will continue to rise in demand.

It’s frightening to see how many important projects are being put on hold right now, just when we need them the most. This economic crisis has the potential to stall crucial action on renewable energy and global warming, if we let it. Hopefully, many projects will still be moving forward.  Time will tell.

Link [CNN Money]
Photo credit: Zimbio

Great Green Job of the Week: Wind Power Project Engineer at Global Energy Concepts

Global Energy Concepts (GES) is seeking a Wind Power Project Engineer to work in either Lowell, Massachusetts or Seattle, Washington. Global Energy Concepts (GEC) is one of the leading wind energy consulting firms in the U.S. As a result of an increasing demand for their services worldwide, GES is recruiting talented individuals to join their dedicated team of 90+ engineers, analysts, scientists, and support staff.

Position Overview:

We have a current opening for a Wind Power Project Engineer (IE02).  Participate in and lead due diligence assessments of proposed and existing wind power facilities for potential investors.

Responsibilities:

Responsibilities include reviewing and assessing technical risk in commercial contracts for the supply of wind turbines and operation and maintenance services, evaluating historic project energy and equipment availability data, evaluating projected operations and maintenance costs over the facility life, assessing turbine suitability to a particular site, and coordinating team inputs to reports.

Other responsibilities include assessing and reporting on conditions at existing projects, visiting and evaluating proposed sites for projects in development, and helping with other assigned tasks. A successful candidate will be able to communicate with clients on the impacts of various terms and risks of the contracts and site conditions. Some overnight travel is required.

Qualifications:

B.S. in Engineering or related field and 3 years of experience required. Demonstrated experience in the energy industry, particularly with contract review, is desired. Experience with wind turbine technology and pro forma model review are also desired. Excellent oral/written communication skills and computer skills required. The ability to write clear and accurate reports is essential.

Compensation: Our compensation package reflects the respect we have for our employees as well as the company’s commitment to a renewable lifestyle.

Benefits include medical, dental, vision, flexible holidays, 401(k) match, support for green purchases or heath club memberships, charitable contribution match, and public transportation subsidies.

To Apply:

Please email your cover letter and resume as a single e-mail attachment in either PDF or Microsoft Word 2003 format. Both the file name and e-mail subject line must adhere to the following format: Job Code, Job Title, Last Name, First Name. The job code is IE02.  Submissions not adhering to these requirements will not be reviewed.

Due to the large volume of resumes we receive we are unable to respond to telephone inquiries.

Link [Green Dream Jobs] + [GES]

Danish Isle Runs Completely on Renewable Energy

Imagine going from gluttonous consumption of fossil fuels to completely running on renewable energy within a decade. Sounds great, but it simply can’t be done. I mean, that’s what we’ve been told for years.

Oh, wait. It can. Look at that. Huh.

From The New Yorker, via Gizmodo:

For the past decade or so, Samsø has been the site of an unlikely social movement. When it began, in the late nineteen-nineties, the island’s forty-three hundred inhabitants had what might be described as a conventional attitude toward energy: as long as it continued to arrive, they weren’t much interested in it. Most Samsingers heated their houses with oil, which was brought in on tankers. They used electricity imported from the mainland via cable, much of which was generated by burning coal. As a result, each Samsinger put into the atmosphere, on average, nearly eleven tons of carbon dioxide annually.

Then, quite deliberately, the residents of the island set about changing this. They formed energy coöperatives and organized seminars on wind power. They removed their furnaces and replaced them with heat pumps. By 2001, fossil-fuel use on Samsø had been cut in half. By 2003, instead of importing electricity, the island was exporting it, and by 2005 it was producing from renewable sources more energy than it was using.

This is a great example for the rest of the world – what can be done when a community decides to come together to change for the better. It CAN be done, and sooner than most people think. So many people view a shift from fossil fuels to alternative energies as such a huge change that it will be incredibly difficult and even painful to accomplish. It will be tough, sure, but isn’t it worth it? And looking at the beautiful pictures of Samsø, I don’t think anyone can say that the scenery has suffered.

Link [The New Yorker] via [Gizmodo]
Photo credit: Joachim Ladefoged

Conservative Hypocrite McCain Delivers Climate Change Speech at Foreign Wind Company

Oh, the irony. John McCain and his handlers are working (but not too hard) at making him look somewhat progressive on climate change to independent and thus far uncommitted voters. They’re trying to maintain a balance between pleasing the hard line conservative base and appealing to young people hip to the global warming crisis and the need for alternative energy. Too bad the setting they chose for his climate change speech only underlined the fact that he’s not the candidate that will actually do anything about it.

Gristmill has it:

Conservative presidential candidate Sen. John McCain chose a clever but ultimately hypocritical location for his big climate speech. I hope the media aren’t fooled by his ironic choice of wind turbine company Vestas as the backdrop, but I have little doubt they will run enticing photos and videos of wind turbines. McCain, however, does not deserve to be linked to such images.

I would title the speech “Not the man for the job” (see “No climate for old men”).

Let’s be clear: Conservatives like John McCain, or more accurately, conservatives including John McCain, are the main reason McCain has to go to a Danish wind turbine manufacturer to give a climate speech. With the major government investments in wind in the 1970s, the United States was poised to be a dominant player in what was clearly going to be one of the biggest job-creating industries of the next hundred years. But conservatives repeatedly gutted the wind budget, then opposed efforts by progressives to increase it, and repeatedly blocked efforts to extend the wind power tax credit.

Mr. McCain, you’re making this too easy. As Gristmill points out, you didn’t even show up for the vote that would have extended the wind power production tax credit, which would have shifted money from subsidies away from the oil industry. You’ve also opposed, on more than one occasion, a renewable electricity standard that would have set a minimum requirement for utilities to generate some of their power from alternative sources, including wind. These examples are just a small fraction of your record. Tsk, tsk. Try harder next time, old man.

Link [Gristmill]
Photo credit: Flickr user marcn

The Ultimate in Green Booze: French Returning to Shipping Wine by Sailboat

When French vineyards decided they wanted to reduce their carbon footprint, they thought backwards instead of forwards: they’re going back to a shipping method they last used in the 1800’s. Some vintners are choosing sailboats to transport their most eco-friendly wines.

From The Guardian:

Later this month 60,000 bottles from Languedoc will be shipped to Ireland in a 19th-century barque, saving 18,375lb of carbon. Further voyages to Bristol, Manchester and even Canada are planned soon afterwards.

The three-mast barque Belem, which was launched in 1896, the last French merchant sailing vessel to be built, will sail into Dublin following a voyage from Bordeaux that should last about four days. The wines will be delivered to Bordeaux by barge using the Canal du Midi and Canal du Garonne, which run across southern France from Sète in the east, via Béziers in Languedoc. Each bottle will be labelled: ‘Carried by sailing ship, a better deal for the planet.’ Although the whole process will end up taking up to a week longer than a flight, it is estimated it will save 4.9oz of carbon per bottle.

Frederic Albert, founder of the shipping company Compagnie de Transport Maritime à la Voile (CTMV), said: ‘My idea was to do something for the planet and something for the wines of Languedoc. One of my grandfathers was a wine-maker and one was a sailor.’

Smart move! Not only is it a great eco-friendly way to ship wine, it increases visibility of these vineyards because of the great story. What makes this even cooler is that ships will return to France bearing an equal tonnage of crushed glass for recycling into wine bottles. The vineyards have chosen their best, most sustainably produced wines for the sailboat voyage, because they want their eco-conscious consumers to get the full ‘green wine’ experience. Despite all this trouble, the wines will remain fairly cheap – €7 to €20 a bottle.

I’m a bit of a wino and a history dork, so the idea of my Beaujolais coming across the Atlantic on a romantic sailboat voyage makes me want to drink even more of it. Hey, we’ve got to make it worth their time and investment, right? A round of red for everyone!

Link [The Guardian]
Photo credit: Flickr user Kables