WIND BIZ STILL BUZZING

Wind power reports brisk business despite recession
Katherine Harmon, April 17, 2009 (Scientific American)

"The breezes of good fortune have been blowing through the wind power business according to the American Wind Energy Association's (AWEA) annual report…

"Despite a slowing economy and a precipitous drop in oil prices last year, the industry reports a 70 percent jump in jobs (to 85,000 employees)…as well as a doubling of demand for small wind turbines (those that can power up to 100 kilowatts – the size used for homes and small buildings)."

Wind is becoming a bigger part of many states' power generation. (click to enlarge)

"A total of 8,545 megawatts of wind power came on line last year, but the estimates for this year are… (due in part to tougher credit) …5,000 new megawatts.

"The industry organization still expects to report fairly robust numbers for the first quarter of 2009, says Kathy Belyeu, AWEA's manager of industry information. But, she cautions that the numbers might be misleading because many of the projects were simply held over from 2008… "