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Preliminary Program available! >>
Register by June 1 for the best prices. On-line Registration now available! >>
ASES Store On-line
Books, Movies, T-shirts, Gifts
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Employment Opportunities
New Openings posted May 14, 2007!!
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Recruiting Tour Organizers NOW!
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IREC Small Wind E-Newsletter
The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) publishes a free quarterly newsletter on Small Wind Energy, edited by Larry Sherwood. Articles include updates on incentives, upcoming events, and media coverage on small wind.
View or subscribe >>
Send news, including pictures and items you’d like to see highlighted in the next newsletter to Larry@irecusa.org
Corporate ASES Membership Drive
Now, when you bring in a new ASES Business Member, you also help your Division. During March, the ASES Board authorized a way to boost ASES that also specifically benefits your ASES Division. A Division that brings in a new Business Member shall share the first year’s dues with ASES on a 50/50 basis (up to $250). These funds will be used for Division activities, as determined by Division members. So, please reach out to companies or organizations that should be ASES members. The Business Membership form can be accessed here >>. Make sure you note your name at the bottom of the form as the Recruiter.
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Contents
Welcome to the new ASES Small Wind Division!
We are thrilled to offer the first-ever ASES Small Wind Division newsletter and appreciate the support provided by the ASES Board and staff in launching this new membership division.
Our proposed primary Division goals are to advance and promote small wind, also referred to as “distributed wind turbines” or DWT, as key to global energy sustainability. Small wind turbines or DWT are defined as less than 1.5 MW in capacity installed either off-grid or on the customer side of the meter and therefore designed to primarily supply electricity for on-site use, or owned by a public entity and sited with five or less turbines at one location.
 Together, we will encourage each other to:
- Overcome barriers and enhance drivers to build the DWT market
- Advocate public policy that advances DWT technology and deployment
- Assess and communicate information about aspects of DWT technology and markets at annual ASES conference and throughout the year
We encourage you to join in our efforts! Membership in the Small Wind Division is open to any ASES Professional member in good standing who shares the aims as specified in the Division bylaws.
For more information, contact: Small Wind Division Chair Trudy Forsyth or Small Wind Division Vice Chair Heather Rhoads-Weaver.
Small Wind Division Annual Meeting
Members of the new ASES Small Wind Division will conduct our first annual meeting during the upcoming Annual Solar Conference in Cleveland, Ohio on Monday, July 9, from 5:00 to 6:00.
The meeting will be followed by the ASES banquet, with $25 tickets including one free drink per attendee paid by Southwest Windpower.
At the meeting we will: 
- Get updates from Division members regarding activities in their areas of expertise, their States, etc.
- Discuss the new ASES Business Membership drive that develops funds for the Division, and hear a report on how much has been raised so far.
- Discuss specific areas of interest to Small Wind Division members, and how to best use the Division budget during the coming year.
- Create a working group to develop Technical Forums of interest to the Small Wind Division for next year’s ASES Conference.
- Generate a list of reviewers noting their areas of competence for next year’s review of Conference abstracts/papers.
- Select a Small Wind Division representative for the 2007 Technical Review Committee.
- Discuss how ASES and the Small Wind Division can further support its members.
- Adopt bylaws and elect Small Wind Division officers (Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary/Treasurer), Executive Committee members (Newsletter Editor, Representative or Liaison on the ASES Board of Directors, Nominating Committee Chair, Audit Committee Chair), and Committee members for the coming year.
If you cannot attend, please volunteer yourself as a reviewer or volunteer your name as an officer nominee by contacting Trudy Forsyth |
May/June 2007 Features
Breaking the Oil Addiction
Addressing the Oil Crisis in the U.S.
By Paul Notari
READ MORE >>>
Counterpoint: The Peak Oil Tango
By Steve Andrews and Randy Udall
READ MORE >>
Renewable Hydrogen:
A Long-Term Sustainable Solution
By Julia Thomas, Howard Brown and Paula Pitchford
READ MORE >>>
Synthetic Fuels:
Toward More Sustainable Options?
By Peter J.A. Tijm
READ MORE >>>
Cellulosic Ethanol:
Answer to the Biofuels Challenges?
By Frank Kreith, P.E.
READ MORE >>>
Plug-In Hybrids:
Pollution-Free Transport on the Horizon
By Roger Duncan
READ MORE >>>
Solar Water-Heating Resurgence Ahead?
By Les Nelson
READ MORE >>>
Case History:
Independent Living in Louisiana
By Sandy and Denice Petit
READ MORE >>>
Busting Myths, Leading Transition
By Hermann Scheer, Ph.D.
READ MORE >>
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Small Wind Activities at Annual ASES Conference 
SOLAR 2007 features several small wind activities, including:
- Several tour sites in the Cleveland area featuring wind turbines, Saturday and Sunday July 7-8
- A full-day workshop on “Small Wind Power for Homes, Farms, Business, and Schools” Sunday, July 8
- “Bringing ‘Solar Convection’ Technology into the Mainstream: Small Wind Turbine Installer Forum,” 10:30 – Noon Monday, July 9
- Technical Session on Wind Power Markets and Trends including presentations on “U.S. Distributed Wind Installation Trends,” “North American Certification for Small Wind Turbines: Establishing a Consumer-Friendly Rating System,” and “How to Build a Small Wind Energy Business: Lessons from California” 2:00 – 3:30 pm Monday, July 9
- Presentation on Wind and Solar Power at the Great Lakes Science Center during Forum on “The Importance of Demonstration Projects in Providing Education and Awareness of Renewable Energy to the Public” 2:00 – 3:30 pm Monday, July 9
- First annual meeting of the new ASES Small Wind Division, 5:00 to 6:00, followed by the banquet with drinks sponsored by Southwest Windpower
- “Seeing is Believing: Going Mainstream with Small Wind” Forum 10:30 – Noon Tuesday, July 10
- Forum on Community Wind and the USDA Farm Bill, 4:00 – 5:30 pm Tuesday, July 10
- Forum including status report on Small Wind Certification Corporation, “Quality Assessment for Renewable Energy Practitioners, Products & Services: Update & Trends on Certification Activities,” 4:00 – 5:30 pm Wednesday, July 11
- And numerous other presentations, posters and exhibits by researchers, retailers, and manufacturers of small wind systems!
More SOLAR 2007 Program details >>
Update from AWEA Small Wind Advocate
 Efforts to advance a federal Investment Tax Credit for small wind systems are making headway, with more than 35 cosponsors including House Ways & Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY).
Introduced by Senators Ken Salazar (D-CO), Gordon Smith (R-OR), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), and Larry Craig (R-ID), and Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Tom Cole (R-OK), the “Rural Wind Energy Development Act” that would provide $1,500 per ½ kilowatt of capacity for homeowners, small businesses, and farmers to purchase small wind systems rated at 100 kilowatts and below. The bill would make the credit available for 5 years with no cap on the amount of the credit granted per system, and provide for:
- Carry-over of credit: In the event that using this credit puts the consumer’s taxable income below the minimum threshold, this provision allows the unusable excess credit to be carried over to the next tax year. This essentially allows a consumer with a low annual income to take full advantage of the credit, and is also known as an Alternative Minimum Tax exemption.
- Accelerated Depreciation: If the turbine is used for a business, the owner can take an accelerated depreciation of 3 years on this equipment instead of the standard 5 years.
For more information and to contact your members of Congress in support of the bills (S. 673 and H.R. 1772), visit www.awea.org/legislative/#SW
Some other ideas for advocating small wind legislation:
- Sign up for your Senators’ and Representative’s e-mail lists to keep up-to-date on events such as town hall meetings near your home. This is a great way to express your position in person. Visit www.congress.org to find out who your members of Congress are and to link to their sites.
- If you have a business involving small wind turbines, or have a turbine installed on your property…
- Invite your members of Congress to tour your facility/property
- Post a link on your company (or personal) Web site to AWEA’s Wind Action Alert Web page: http://capwiz.com/windenergy/home/
- Learn talking points for this bill by reading our 1-page small wind factsheet at http://www.awea.org/legislative/pdf/Small_Wind_Fact_Sheet.pdf
- Request a hard copy of AWEA’s Advocacy Guide – a complete instructional guide for those interested in advocating wind energy legislation. Simply reply to this e-mail and ask for a copy. Supplies are limited.
- Plug in to AWEA’s Legislative Grassroots network by signing up at http://www.awea.org/takeaction/
- Check the progress on the bills, and the responsiveness of your members of Congress, by searching for bill numbers “S. 673” and “H.R. 1772” at http://thomas.loc.gov
Contact AWEA Small Wind Advocate Ron Stimmel at rstimmel@awea.org for further information.
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