wind power

Statoil selected the name “Empire Wind” for its offshore wind site located off the southern coast of Long Island, New York. The company also recently stepped into solar power in Brazil.

The top US wind power official told the offshore upstream sector that it can help build “smaller, leaner, and cheaper" wind turbine farms.

Tyer Wind in Tunisia developed a wind turbine that mimics the flapping motion of hummingbirds' wings. Rated power output is 1 kW, using two carbon-fiber wings, each 5.25-ft long. At rated power, it operates at 450 rpm. The machine is currently undergoing open air/real conditions testing.

Compared to oil in the ground, the sun looks like a limitless energy source. Making comparisons of the two by calculating the equivalent of barrels of reserves for a solar project seems like an odd notion, but experts say it can and should be done.

Wind power via floating turbines could be used to pump oil from remote offshore fields in the way windmills were once used to pump water from wells in arid West Texas.