The wind power story : a century of innovation that reshaped the global energy landscape / Brandon N. Owens

Includes bibliographical references and index

The wind power pioneers -- The age of small wind -- The birth of big wind -- Wind power's giant leap -- Wind power in the wake of war -- Wind power's invisible solution -- The French connection -- Germany's timeless beauty -- Wind power's silent decade -- America's next moonshot -- Denmark reinvents wind power -- The wind king -- The California wind rush -- Germany's giant -- Spain's wind power miracle -- Europe sails ahead -- Reigniting American wind power -- India's wind power path -- China's wind power surge -- The globalization of wind power

This book takes readers on a journey through the history of wind power in order to show how the technology evolved over the course of the twentieth century and where it may be headed in the twenty-first century. It introduces and examines broad themes such as government funding of wind power, the role of fossil fuels in wind power development, and the importance of entrepreneurs in wind power development. It also discusses the lessons learned from wind power technology innovation and makes them relevant to the understanding of wind power today and in the future. Spanning the entire history of wind power (1888-2018), The Wind Power Story: A Century of Innovation that Reshaped the Global Energy Landscape provides balanced coverage of each decade as well as the important wind power technology innovations that occurred during that time. Compelling from the first page to the last, it offers chapters covering the pioneers of wind power; the age of small wind; wind power in the wake of war; wind power's use across Europe; government-funded research programs; how Denmark reinvented wind power in the 1970s; the California Wind Rush of the 1980s; wind power's rise in Spain; America's wind power starting in the 1990s; India's wind power path; the wind power surge in China; the globalization of wind power; and much more. In addition, this text: -Spans the entire global history of wind power, while weaving together both the historical context and the technical details of wind power innovation -Provides historical context for wind power developments and explains the evolution of wind turbine technology in an easy-to-understand manner -Discusses the policy, technology, and market evolution of wind power in commonly understood language -Offers a review of the surrounding power technology, policy, and market environment throughout the history of wind power.--Back cover