rgy reNe wABLe
Manufacturing diversity
when the great Recession of 2008–09 hit, ontario’s
manufacturing sector really got hammered. But now
renewable energy is giving at least one canadian com-
pany hope for the future.
canadian auto parts maker Linamar and german
company ncB Lohmann have formed a partnership to
build and develop wind turbine components for custom-
ers in north america.
the deal is a big win for Linamar, which says the
growing market for wind power in north america pres-
ents a huge opportunity to expand its business.
ceo Linda hasenfratz says the United States alone is
expected to install 15 billion to 16 billion watts of wind
power every year over the next 20 years, according to
the canadian Press. She says this means the industry
will need $4.5 billion worth of machinery a year.
Linamar said it will make the wind turbine components
such as gearbox housings, planetary carriers, bearing
housings, and torque arms for large turbines at its guelph
manufacturing plant.
Google takes to the air
ever since google changed the way people search the
internet, it’s been a company worth watching. So when
google announces that it’s making an investment…
well, the business world should take note.
in may, the california-based company invested in a
utility-scale renewable energy project—two wind farms
in north dakota close to the canadian border. Between
the two, they will generate 69. 5 megawatts of electri-
city. that’s enough to power more than 55,000 homes.
the investment was $38.8 million—peanuts for a
firm with a market cap in the neighbourhood of $150
billion. But the importance is that it signals google’s
intention to “accelerate the deployment of renewable
energy—in a way that makes good business sense,
too,” says Rick needham, google’s green business
operations manager.
while no one has a crystal ball, google is clearly look-
ing towards the future, not to mention the bottom line.
“to reach a clean-energy future, we need three
things: effective policy, innovative technology, and
smart capital,” needham wrote in a blog. on the smart
capital issue, “we’ve been looking at investments in
renewable energy projects…that can accelerate the
deployment of the latest clean-energy technology
while providing attractive returns to google and more
capital for developers to build additional projects.”
needham says the company is excited about its first
wind project investment because some of the latest
wind turbine technology and control systems are used
to provide one of the lowest-cost sources of renewable
energy to the local grid.
“the turbines can continuously adjust the individ-
ual blade pitch angles to achieve optimal efficiency,”
he wrote. they also use larger blades with 15 per cent
more swept area than earlier generations, allowing
capture of even more wind energy for each turbine.
google is a big proponent of renewable power,
and this is not the first time the company has made an
investment in clean energy. Solar panels cover the roof
of googleplex, the company’s headquarters.
