Well, the big World Energy Conference held in Detroit
September 23-27 has come and gone and, as predicted
(see “Energy News: Wind Generator Design, Solar Components, and Heat Pump Benefits“), it was a political
boondoggle. The real action in the field for the
month of September and the city of Detroit took place a
genuine meeting of the American Wind Energy Association was
held in the basement of one of the Motor City’s police
stations.
Marcellus Jacobs was there, and Henry Clews and Big
Bill Delp and Solomon Kagin and Great Lakes Windpower and
Dyna Technology and Roha Tower and North Wind and Sun
Structures and 21st Century Living and Geoffrey Gerhard and
Wind Works and Soleq and Windlight Alaska and Creative
Electronics and a whole bunch of other folks and companies
who already are–or soon will be–well known for
their efforts in harnessing moving masses of air.
Al O’Shea (whose merry–and dang capable–crew at
Environmental Energies, Inc. put the affair together) was
elected president of the new organization and Real Gas and
Electric Company’s Solomon Kagin is AWEA’s first vice
president. Susan Lee Gerhard (West Wind) was named
secretary and the treasurer of the wind power group is
Nancy Horning of Environmental Energies, Inc. Bill Delp, Al
O’Shea, Chuck Pipher and Charles Leverich make up the
American Wind Energy Association’s board of directors.
Is the new organization dynamic? Well, when the WEC
goldbricks arrived in Detroit to talk about energy they were greeted bya working,
wind-powered, lighted billboard erected by AWEAer Al
O’Shea and the Environmental Energies, Inc. gang. I’d say
that was dynamic, wouldn’t you?