Wind Powered EVs
By Remy Chevalier
January 22, 2000 - A few weeks ago I inherited a report from the American Wind Energy Association published in October of ’99 titled: “ Wind Force 10: A Blueprint to Achieve 10% of the World’s Electricity from Wind Power by 2020.” The study was released at the Financial Times World Renewable Energy Conference in Brussels, Belgium, and commissioned from the international wind energy consulting firm BTM Consult by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), the Danish Forum for Energy and Development, and Greenpeace.
Wind Force 10 envisions the installation of 1.2 million megawatts (MW) of wind energy capacity worldwide by 2020 (one MW supplies about as much electricity as 250 average American homes use). In the process, 1.7 million jobs would be created and global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) would be reduced by more than 10 billion metric tons. Wind Force 10 comes just months after the U.S. Department of Energy unveiled its own wind energy development plan, Wind Powering America, which calls for 5% of U.S. electricity demand to be supplied by wind by 2020. The DOE plan would result in $60 billion in capital investment in rural America over the next 20 years and the creation of 80,000 jobs. For more information, see http://www.eren.doe.gov/windpoweringarmerica.com
What does this mean for the EV industry? There have been few stories in the alternative energy press about EVs running off wind generated electricity, except of course for a couple articles in Home Power magazine. So I called Tom Gray, EWEA director of communications, and asked him about it. With the help of Bob Wing, a past editor at EV News, we posted a message on both the EV Discussion List and the Wind Energy Association List asking members if they knew of any wind powered EVs. Below is a collection of the responses we've received so far.
From: Malcom Brown malbrown@mediaone.net
Hello from Hull, Mass. I have been driving Solectrias for 1.5 years now, part of the Commonwealth of Mass.'s program of EV testing in commuter situations. I am working hard on getting each of two wind turbines set up in this municipality:
1. A replacement for the 40KW Enertech that used to operate at the town High School -- likely a 150KW Nordex or 250 Vestas, or something in that range. There is a good chance the town will be putting out a RFP on this within 2 months now. This turbine would be operated by Hull Municipal Light Plant, and be located several miles from where my 220V SCI-brand charger is installed (in my garage). So only a fraction of its output (feasibility report specs say the town's entire street lighting load will be carried by the new turbine), -- would charge my Solectria. (The batteries in the Solectria I'm now driving, by the way, are NiMH in type, last year's Solectria was lead-acid.)
2. A 1KW microturbine between my house and my garage, where I now have my anemometer mounted.
So you see, only if you count two 'virtual' wind turbines as equal to one actual (each of the above 2 is likely to require another year of work) -- can I claim to charge my Solectria by windpower.
Let me know si tout cela vous interesse.
Malcolm Brown 126 Atlantic Av, Hull
From: Brian Matheny ws3f@norfolk-county.com
I will soon contribute to AllEnergy's ReGen power option which includes landfill gas, solar and soon wind. I live in Massachusetts, which allows choosing your power supplier, but in order to keep costs down their arrangement doesn't involve switching. I will buy 2 'blocks' of power per year; each block is 2000 kwhr, for a total of 4000 kwhr to be generated in a year. $6/month/block in addition to my regular power bill. Complicated, but my EV will be charged primarily with renewable energy.
30,100+ EV miles since 5/97! Renewable energy charging, soon!
http://www.ncounty.net/users/ws3f/ws3f.htm
From: William Glickman billglic@juno.com
Brian, That sounds like you are buying 4000 kilowatt hours a year for $144 or just 3.6 cents per kilowatt hour which is very cheap compared to others (10 cents per kwhr in CT). How does your regular power bill fit in to the grand scheme? Do you pay any additional distribution costs for the AllEnergy Regen power? How does your regular bill account for the AllEnergy Regen power? How much energy do you use in a typical year? Is AllEnergy Regen available for CT? How can I contact AllEnergy Regen? Later,
Bill Glickman, Glastonbury, CT
1979 ElectraVan 108V dc
1969 VW EV 36V dc
1970 GE Elec-trak 36V dc Prototype E10
From: Bentham Paulos bpaulos@terracom.net
The most prominent wind-charged EV I know of is at the Berkeley office of the Union of Concerned Scientists. Don Aitken has an EV-1 charged with 100% wind from the Green Mountain Company.
Don is at donaldaitken@earthlink.net and (510) 843-1872 x308.
Bentham Paulos
Energy Consulting and Writing
417 North Seventh Street, Madison, WI 53704
bpaulos@terracom.net
(608) 241-9351 Fax: (413) 556-0392
http://www.terracom.net/~bpaulos
From: "Canadian Electric Vehicles Ltd." canev@islandnet.com
We have a customer in Ontario Canada that runs his house and charges his electric Geo Metro car from a BIG windmill: http://www.solwind.on.ca We converted the car for him two years ago.Randy Holmquist
Canadian Electric Vehicles Ltd. 7647 Superior RD Lantzville
British Columbia, Canada V0R-2H0
(250) 390-3364 Fax: (250) 390-1166
canev@islandnet.com
The ICE age is over!
http://www.islandnet.com/~canev
Dealers for: Auburn & Curtis controllers, Sevcon, Watermaster, Canpulse,
CEV power steering kits, Ceramic heaters and "Might-E Truck"
From: David G. Hawkins thehawkeye@earthlink.net
Dear Remy Chevalier,
I just read the post on the EVDL. I recently discovered your Electrifying Times newspaper at a recent Denver EV Council meeting which gave out some old copies of it. My wife and I are charging our recently purchased and upgraded RX-7 EV on the grid, however, we pay an additional charge for "green" power that our electric coop recently made available to its members. Currently, 100% of this "green" power is being generated on a wind farm in Wyoming. The wind power is sold in monthly blocks of 100 Kwh for an additional charge of $2.75 per block, with a maximum of 3 blocks per month made available with a "three year commitment period for consumers to volunteer to purchase" this power. We pay $0.0581 per Kwh normally (in addition to the $6.25 monthly facility charge), so this brings the price up to $0.0856 per Kwh for wind power here. I hope this information helps those considering a truly zero emission EV ride.
When I first got the RX-7 on the road, our local town paper was excited about it and printed a picture and caption. A nearby city did a nice story about how a former "gearhead" could enjoy an EV (I'm a progressive redneck!). I'm very interested in spreading the EV gospel, so please contact me at the email address or phone number below if you would like more information on our EV, charged with wind power. Still thinking and sleeping EVs on the polluted front range,
Dave Hawkins
Lyons, CO
(303) 823-5145
thehawkeye@earthlink.net
1979 Mazda RX-7 EV (recently upgraded to 144V of pure fun!)
1989 Chevy S10 Ext. Cab (conversion progress on-hold for house remodeling)
From: Chris Meier ChrisM@pptvision.com
Don't forget to ask the Home Power people
http://www.homepower.comI haven't! I’m hoping this is just the beginning. If you are reading this and have anymore information or ideas on the topic, please don’t hesitate to send them to me at:
Remy Chevalier remyc@prodigy.net or by snail mail in care of the:
Environmental Library Fund, 25 Newtown Turnpike, Weston, CT 06883.
Thanks to:Bruce {EVangel} Parmenter, EV Discussion List manager
BruceDP@iname.com
Bob Wing, Media Correspondent, EV Consultant
(415) 669-7402 Fax: 415-669-7407
POB 277, Inverness CA 94937-0277
bwing@svn.netWind Energy Association's WindNet list:
http://www.egroups.com/list/awea-windnetTom Gray, AWEA (802) 649-2112
122 C St., NW, 4th floor, Washington DC 20001
(202) 383-2500 Fax: (202) 383-2505
http://www.awea.org
