Visible winds: The production of new visibilities of wind energy inWest Germany, 1973–1991

Abstract

The use of energy from wind has a multi-faceted relationship to visibility. Between 1973 and 1991, various actors in the West German environmental movement made assertions about the visibility of renewable sources of power, but wind energy took on a particular prominence. In this article, the question of how different actors have used knowledge and the materiality of wind turbines for competing purposes is explored. Environmentalists attempted to create visible signs of a valid alternative energy future by tinkering with small, decentralized wind turbines, while the Federal Republic of Germany's Ministry of Research and established energy providers used the failure of the statesubsidized large-scale wind-energy project GROWIAN to criticize renewables and brand their application as misguided. In both cases, actors created new wind energy visibilities to convey their conflicting interests-pitting those advocating a new, environmentally friendly energy system against those who sought consolidation of the large-scale fossil-nuclear energy system.

Study on engineering and aesthetic design in shape determination of wind turbine

“…During the same period in Germany, with the support of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, a 3 MW GROWIAN large-scale wind turbine featuring a two-blade downwind configuration was developed. The significance and accomplishments of this development have been presented by Pulczynski (1991) and Hesse (2021). In Canada, research on the development of large vertical-axis wind turbines, capable of reaching outputs of 4 MW, has been reported by Templin and Rangi (1983) and Benmeddour et al (2010).…”