December 2007 | On Our Radar
Bay Area Winds of Change
This past summer, a London architect submitted a design for the new San Francisco Transbay Transit Center that included an energy-generating wind turbine at the top of an enormous skyscraper. The design was responding to a stipulation by the Transbay Joint Powers Authority that all proposals implement technologies leveraging the area’s unique solar and wind conditions. But it was also the latest acknowledgement of what local windsurfers and sailors have known for decades: this place is dirty with wind. From a San Francisco start-up to Berkeley city government, area groups looking for ways to cut energy costs and reduce oil consumption are turning their attention to wind power.
If You Build it, They Will Come
San Francisco resident Todd Pelham started tinkering with the idea of creating personal wind turbines when he couldn’t find one to buy for his home in blustery Bernal Heights. His company, Blue Green Pacific, is developing seven-foot tall turbines that can be installed on top of private homes and generate 200 to 500 kilowatts annually, depending on wind conditions. The company hopes to start making them available next year (bluegreenpacific.com).
Berkeley Blows
In June, Berkeley became the first city in the country to power of one its public buildings from wind energy. The Shorebird Park Nature Center near the Berkeley Marina installed a 40-foot tall wind turbine which is expected to generate 60 to 80 percent of the building’s energy needs.
HIY (Harness it Yourself)
A handful of residents in rural areas around the state who have at least an acre of land on their hands are taking their cues from the windmills on top of Altamont Pass and acquiring similar wind turbines, which look like old-fashioned airplane propellers stuck on top of giant lollipop sticks.
As much as we love wind power, it isn’t a silver bullet for energy woes. A Blue Green Pacific system costs as much as $5,000, and even more to install, though rebates from the California Energy Commission’s renewable energy rebate program can soften the blow. Still, it can take as much as a decade for savings from reduced consumption from the grid to make back the initial investment in a wind system. Solar systems can take just as long, though, so for residents with less sun but a commitment to going green, wind could be the answer.
For more information on the state’s energy rebate program, see consumerenergycenter.org/erprebate
— E.B. Boyd
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