WIND ENERGY COMES OF AGE - CALIFORNIA AND DENMARK

Man has long sought to harness the wind, but not since the wind was used to sail the world's seas and pump water from the low-lands of northern Europe has wind energy been used on such a grand scale as now found in California. Wind energy has once again come of age. The wind industry's tremendous growth during the 1980s has pushed the technology beyond that of merely another 'alternative'. Wind's success in California and Denmark demonstrates that the technology works, that it can produce sizable amounts of electricity, and that it is economically competitive. Though it suffered severe growing pains, and struggled through a stormy adolescence, wind energy is now ready to take its place among conventional resources. This paper examines how wind energy has come of age in California.