Iowa State University launched what it hopes will be a long-term initiative in alternative energy technologies by hosting the First ISU Wind Energy Symposium in the College of Engineering’s Howe Hall on December 9, 2008.
More than 220 participants registered for the event, according to symposium organizers. Besides Iowa State faculty, students, and staff, attendees for the daylong program included representatives of state agencies, farmers’ groups interested in leveraging public and private investment in wind farm expansion in Iowa, and venture capitalists exploring opportunities in the burgeoning wind energy industry.
According to the Global Wind Energy Council, the use of wind technologies to produce electricity has grown more than fivefold since the beginning of this decade, with annual worldwide production approaching 100 gigawatts of power by 2008. The United States leads the world in total power generated from wind, and Iowa is currently the third-largest producer of wind energy in the United States, behind Texas and California.
The annual symposium, Narasimhan observed, will be an ongoing effort to build and sustain strong profiles for both the university and the state as the nation and world address a host of interrelated environmental, economic, and energy challenges.
“With renewed interest in this area with a new administration coming in, and talk of a green economy,” Narasimhan adds, “this was very timely for us to do.”