$5 Million to Help with Energy Research
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Published 1-18-2008
Unfortunately for Wyomingites, wind is an all-too-common occurrence. However, the frustration of dealing with never-ending gusts may pay off with a clean energy solution.
Last fall, BP America donated $5 million for energy research to the University of Wyoming, with $2 million set aside to establish a center dedicated to wind-energy research in the College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS). UW’s School of Energy Resources (SER) will use the center to study how nature’s power can be used to benefit the state and the nation.
The State of Wyoming will match the funds to provide research resources and, according to SER Director Mark Northam, the gift was the boost needed to continue important research.
“The gift from BP got us over the hump,” Northam said in a UW news release. “We now have the funding to build a state-of-the-art laboratory and to hire faculty with complementary skills to put together a program dedicated exclusively to wind-energy research.”
Since the gift was given to the university last September, a wind-energy faculty position was created within SER, according to Jonathan Naughton, associate professor of mechanical engineering.
The United States trails behind other countries in wind-energy research and technology. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) believes 20 percent of the country’s energy could be produced through wind power by 2030, according to a recent UW news release. Germany is currently the world’s leader in wind power, with five percent of the country’s electricity generated from wind turbines. By 2010, however, Spain plans to generate 15 percent of the country’s electricity from wind. The US currently receives less than one percent of its power from wind.
Wind energy is created when large-scale turbines transform the kinetic energy of the wind into electrical energy. Considered a cleaner and more affordable option, wind energy has become an increasingly popular alternative to coal, natural gas and other traditional energy sources.
A UW news release was used when writing this story with permission from above quoted individuals.
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