Reaping the Wind: How Mechanical Wizards, Visionaries, and Profiteers Helped Shape Our Energy Future (Hardcover)

by Peter Asmus (Author) "I hear the day is this coming Monday," blurted somebody into my phone answering machine, the surly voice edged with a New York jeer..." (more)
Key Phrases: wind power conference, wind farming, wind resource area, Altamont Pass, United States, Palm Springs (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

From the solitary windmill standing sentry over a rural homestead to the sleek machinery of a modern wind farm, windmills are a powerful symbol of self-reliance and human ingenuity. Once the province of backyard tinkerers and eccentric inventors, they have over the past two decades entered the mainstream to be embraced by environmentalists, venture capitalists, and policymakers alike. But reaching that point wasn't easy.

In Reaping the Wind, journalist Peter Asmus tells the fascinating and convoluted history of commercial wind power in the United States. He introduces readers to maverick scientists and technologists who labored in obscurity, to entrepreneurs and visionary capitalists who believed that a centuries-old idea could be made feasible in the modern world, and to enterprising financial advisers and investors who sought to exploit the last great tax shelter in federal history. Beginning with the early pioneers, from William Heronemus, a former U.S. Navy captain who dreamt of huge floating wind farms off the coast of New England, to the $40 million success story of Jim Dehlsen of Zond, he offers an animated narrative that profiles the colorful cast of characters involved with the development of the American wind power industry.

Reaping the Wind is both engaging and instructive, with information about the technologies and policies that drive the industry and give it promise interwoven with the human story of the struggle to develop-against great odds-reliable, clean energy from a source as unpredictable and seemingly uncontrollable as the wind. Anyone interested in renewable energy or the human and political drama behind the development of new technologies will find the book an engrossing and enlightening read.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 267 pages
• Publisher: Island Press; 1 edition (December 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559637072
• ISBN-13: 978-1559637077
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,102,822 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to Clean the Air and Reduce Energy Costs, February 25, 2001

By	Mike Jacobs (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

Peter Asmus is a sensitive, and involved, observer of the 20-year struggle to make wind energy a valuable energy resource. This book describes the soaring victories and crashing defeats, with the personalities of the people adding more than enough color and life. Here are the words of one wind industry promoter who made the transition from dreamer to bank-financed developer without losing his pony-tail: "Kudos, and more kudos. You cut through all of our industry's bulls--t with wit and candor, and injected living, breathing humanity into a story of technology. Injecting your own personality, as well. Despite the obvious that no one can ever tell the true story as it happened, you have done a remarkable job in bringing the wind industry's evolution to life, and the future of American, no, global, society, rests in your readers' understanding of the lessons from your brilliant history of our industry." Wind energy is now harnessed with modern machines in 23 states of the US. As we teeter on the edge of another energy crisis, this books describes what some people are doing about to improve the health and security of all people. The beauty of this book is its invitation for everyone to choose the direction for the future.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Blow-By-Blow Account Of Wind Engineering Pioneers, July 7, 2002

By	Bruce Boatner (Eagle, Idaho USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

You've got to really want to know about the history of wind power to take on this book. The author does an exceptional job of chronicalling all the characters and woodsy folklore of the wind power industry for the last three decades or so. It's a narrow subject, but for anyone interested in how we got where we are in the field of renewable energy, this is it. (Why do they call it "renewable"? Forest products are renewable, but wind?). A couple of pictures would have been fun. By and large a very unique book.

3.0 out of 5 stars Adequate overview of early windpower industry., November 13, 2002

By A Customer

The author did a good job of explaining how the wind energy industry in America got it's start in California, the start-up troubles, and the key issues important to making wind energy a viable alternative energy source. On the downside, I thought the book included too much information, and sometimes left the reader wondering how certain sideline stories fit in with the rest of the book. There were so many people mentioned & referenced, that I couldn't keep up with who did what when.