Wind Energy Comes of Age is the most thorough assessment ever published of the technology, economics, and politics of generating electricity with wind. It provides an up-to-date status report on the modern wind industry worldwide. Written by Paul Gipe, one of America's leading wind energy experts, this book chronicles wind energy's remarkable progress from its rebirth during the 1970s through a troubled adolescence in California's mountain passes in the 1980s to its maturation on the plains of northern Europe in the 1990s. Gipe argues in a readable and engaging style that wind is no longer an alternative source of energy. He cites improvements in the performance, reliability, and cost effectiveness of modern wind turbines to support his contention that wind energy has come of age as a commercial technology. Unlike other books on the subject, which focus on technology alone, Wind Energy Comes of Age critically examines a host of issues that will determine the future of this renewable resource, including: * Wind energy's environmental benefits * The design of wind turbines "as if people matter" * Wind energy's impact on people and the environment * Aesthetics and public acceptance * Wind energy's potential * Centrally directed vs. market-oriented R & D * Wind energy's role in electric utilities Wind Energy Comes of Age is extensively illustrated with more than 170 original line drawings, photographs, and charts. An annotated bibliography, tables of technical data, maps of wind resources, and a virtually exhaustive list of manufacturers, governmental agencies, and private organizations working with the wind further enhance the book's value as a reference. Not since the classic works of Putnam in 1948 or Golding in 1955 has there been a book on wind energy of this scope. For those interested in the burgeoning wind energy field--engineers, researchers, environmentalists, policy specialists, and community leaders--Wind Energy Comes of Age is an essential resource. Written by Paul Gipe, one of America's leading wind energy experts, Wind Energy Comes of Age is a comprehensive guide to the technology, economics, and politics of wind energy. Gipe has brought together information available nowhere else about American and European experience with wind energy. This landmark work is an indispensable reference source for engineers, researchers, environmentalists, planners, policy specialists, and community leaders who deal with this fast-growing field. "A pragmatism born of meticulous research and wide field experience has made Paul Gipe one of windpower's most astute critics and most credible friends. He backs his exuberant chronicle with an insider's knowledge of the difficult process by which wind power has finally become practical. This is one of the best accounts of the rise of a technology I've ever seen."--Jay Baldwin, Whole Earth Review "The wind energy field has waited a long time for a well-written, informative reference book like Paul Gipe's, Wind Energy Comes of Age. This book is a must-have for developers in need of technical or economic information, politicians who want to know both sides of the wind energy story, technicians who want a reliable reference and others interested in a well-rounded introduction to wind energy."--Torgny Mo?ller, Publisher, Windpower Monthly "This book will make a major contribution to the development of wind energy in a responsible manner."--Neil Kelley, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Wind Technology Division "For industry insiders as well as newcomers to the field, this book will be a valuable tool for understanding the development of wind power thus far."--Birger Madsen, Danish wind energy pioneer