The Wind Power Story: A Century of Innovation that Reshaped the Global Energy Landscape 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

Brandon Owens has taken what is at its core a technological and economics story and made it interesting reading by introducing the reader to the individuals and events that played a key role in the development of wind power. For example, readers learn about Johannes Juul of Denmark who was a student of Poul La Cour (the Danish Edison) and advanced wind power technology to “the point where economic competitiveness at the 200-kW scale could be achieved through mass production” (p. 97). Readers also gain an understanding of how events like World War II (WWII) and the 1973 OPEC Oil Embargo influenced the development of wind power technology. An example of the former is the Smith-Putnam wind turbine whose completion was rushed by the onset of WWII. While the wind turbine operated at 700 kW of constant frequency power in the transmission system, which was the first time this had been accomplished at this scale, the onset of the war pressured the innovators to select a site in Vermont to locate the wind turbine before amble wind resource data were available. This led to the wind power system being installed at “Grandpa’s Knob”, which turned out to be an area with average wind speeds below the original estimate of 7 m/s, thereby increasing the cost of the wind-generated electricity over the original estimate since wind speed is a critical determinant of the output of a wind turbine.Brandon Owens' book will also be a valuable resource for readers interested in the process of technological innovation: i.e., how ideas (like generating electricity from wind power) become realities (like 587 GW of wind power installed around the world in 2018). The Story of Wind Power documents in detail that innovation is not a linear process in which an idea is researched in a laboratory, demonstrated in an actual environment, and then deployed in a commercial market. Rather, it is a non-linear process where unexpected events and commercial failures provide key insights that are critical to new R&D pathways that lead to the technology’s ultimate commercial success. In fact, the wind power story ends where it begins with researchers investigating whether batteries and electrolysis can solve the intermittency challenge of wind power.The readers of this book will also learn that technological innovation and the story of wind power are not simply American stories. Rather they are international in scope and innovators in Denmark, Germany, France, Russia, India and China all made key contributions to the technological advances associated with wind turbines and wind resource measurements. Owens does a very good job of documenting the technological advances that were made in these countries and how they collectively enabled wind power to become a dominant source of electricity in the world today.What is perhaps most unique about Brandon Owens’ book is that it is both a technological story, which might be of interest to a retiree who wants to learn more about wind power, and an in-depth technological document that a professor from MIT might use in a class on energy technologies. Mr. Owens does this by clearly defining technological and economic terms and calculations, so that a novice of wind technology does not feel overwhelmed by the terminology, while not shying away from in-depth discussions about stall, turbine blades, tower heights, rotational speed, avoided cost, capacity factors, the “Betz Limit”, etc., which a MIT professor would expect to see in a document intended for use in college courses. In short, whether you want a book to read while sitting by the pool or need an in-depth technological account of wind power, The Wind Power Story will not disappoint you.

There are two problems with this book; the title and the price. Everything else is brilliant. I am a 30+ year veteran of the renewable energy industry, and I know many of the characters in this book. The Wind Power Story must be one of the best-written books I have ever read on the subject. The research is impeccable; the events and personalities are accurately described. I know because I was there. The book is NOT some dry evolution of the wind industry. The book brings together countless events from around the planet in a rollercoaster ride through the history of the industry. What the title misses is this is not just a story about the history of the wind industry, this is also about the history of the entire renewable energy industry and the movement from centralized utility monopolies that had no concerns over environmental impacts to where we are today. That is a more distributed much cleaner power grid. One short story from the book; in the 1960s the wind industry was non-existent. Despite the research that had been done in the U.S. and Europe, there seemed no hope for the future for Wind to complete with large coal, large hydro and nuclear power plants. The mantra of the time was the “solution to pollution was dilution.” That all changed with Rachael Carson’s book “Silent Spring.” In the next decade the people rose up, and the world changed forever. This movement, along with the oil embargo sparked new life into the industry. It also sparked life in solar PV which at the time was only used in satellites. If you can afford it, read it!! This is not a book that should be sold just to the academic world. I hope someday it is made affordable for everyone.

This book is extremely well-researched and written in such a way that I really had a hard time putting it down (which seems crazy for a technology-history book, but it’s true). Owens is a great writer and the subject comes to life through the dramatic ups and downs of wind power as it has competed with other technologies and its own physical limitations at various stages. Very much recommend this book.

This well-researched and well told origin and development story of wind power is inspiring, informative, and desperately needed in this time of dramatic climate change. It is exciting to see wind power is competitive and leading the way to a fossil free future despite continued resistance from industrial and political interests. Highly recommend.

The information in the book on wind power is excellent. Up to date on current trends in wind power. Only problems I found were there were some repetitions that could be skipped and some spelling mistakes. Over all I recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of wind power over the last hundred years