A few days ago we wrote about Sauer’s WindCharger, a new, small wind generation turbine that is attracting a great deal of interest from potential distributors.
Small wind is the equivalent of rooftop solar generation. Small turbines are designed be set up on top of office towers, airports, shopping malls as well as residences.
As interest in it grows, so does manufacturing of the nearly 8,000 small parts necessary to assemble a small wind turbine. This, in turn, creates manufacturing jobs.
Area Development magazine, a trade publication focused on site and facility planning, wrote that small wind turbine manufacturing is driving job creation in some areas of the United States.
“Manufacturers of small wind turbines are knocking some of the rust off the Rust Belt. For example, Windspire Energy, founded in 2005 as Mariah Power, is producing small, low-cost silent wind turbines in Manistee, Michigan, at a former automotive parts factoryâ€, the publication wrote.
What’s more, besides the current 30 employees, there are plans to increase personnel to more than 120 people over the next three tears. Priority will be given to those made unemployed by the auto industry.
The article said that former auto plants in states such as Michigan, Indiana and Ohio are “prime candidates†to produce small wind turbine parts. Many other types of hardware industries such as iron foundries and control device makers will be able to supply wind turbine manufacturers as well.
This is good news for the country. Half of the components used to manufacture wind turbines in the U.S. are also made in the United States, up from 25 per cent in 2004.
Besides the Midwest, the article mentions manufacturing plants of small wind turbines in California (WePOWER and AeroVironment) and Colorado (New Millennium Wind Energy).
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Renewable energy production is a true triple-bottom line element that should be supported. It offers safe, replenishible, and environmentally-responsible sources of energy. Many elements for solar, wind, and geothermal energy production are best sourced locally – thereby supporting local and regional economies. There is also a growing effort to train unemployed and underemployed residents in the green trade, offering them opportunities in this growing field.