Tuesday, March 7, 2017
World Leading Wind Technology Closer Than You Think
I’ve written often here about our state’s innovative energy policies and our efforts to reduce our production of harmful emissions in energy generation. This morning, I visited a facility in Charlestown that is unsurpassed in the country for testing wind turbine blades for on-shore and off-shore wind power.
This testing site is managed by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, a publicly funded agency with a mission of accelerating clean energy technologies and Massachusetts companies.
The Wind Technology Testing Center has analyzed dozens of turbine blades, some up to 300 feet long, to examine stability and design properties. Their pioneering work has attracted academics, entrepreneurs, and policy makers and it’s helping shape our state’s role as a world leader in clean energy.
In addition to the natural resource benefits of renewable energy we have also experienced a growth of high-quality research and development, manufacturing, and installation jobs and long-term economic growth. The 2016 Massachusetts Clean Energy Industry Report showed jobs in the clean energy industry have grown by 75 percent since 2010, and the clean energy sector now employs more than 100,000 workers in the state.
They say, “what comes around goes around” and for massive wind turbines capable of generating clean and renewable energy it’s important to all of us that the turbines continue to go around for years to come. My visit today showed me that the research conducted at the Charlestown Wind Technology Testing Center is cutting edge and leading the way.
