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Jun 22
2010
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Podcast: General Compression - Taking the Variability Out of Wind EnergyPosted by Publisher in R&D, Product Development, Environment, Clean Energy, Carbon   |
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In this interview with David Marcus, the Founder and President of General Compression, we discuss the challenges in the wind energy market that gave rise to their groundbreaking new product - on demand wind energy. In essence what GC's product does is take excess energy generated at wind farms when the wind is blowing 
hard, and stores that energy underground in salt domes in the form of compressed air. When the wind slows down and the wind farm is generating less than the required amount of electricity, General Compression's turbines release the compressed air and turn it into electricity and ensure a consistent amount of power is delivered to the grid. This solution has the potential to address the largest challenge the Wind Energy industry faces - the variability of energy production. The secret sauce in their technology is an isothermal compressor/expander, which provides the ability to keep the air from heating up when compressed and getting cold when released, thereby making the process much more round-trip efficient. The major advance of this technology is that no fuel is required to turn the compressed air into power
If you are interested in wind and want to learn about the ins and outs of the real world governmental, technological, and utility and transmission-driven scenarios affecting the wind industry (not to mention learn about an exciting new technology, that is going to change the game), this interview is a must listen.
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