Editors Desk

New Year, New Challenges

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I hope everyone has recovered from 2016 and is ready to tackle a new year still filled with promise about wind.

To help keep those thoughts positive, our January issue of Wind Systems has informative articles from energy experts who have their fingers on the pulse of the industry.

A contentious U.S. presidential election had some in the industry worried about what the direction of wind would be, but the CEO of EnergiaWorks has shared his thoughts on the fate of renewable energy during a Trump administration. It’s good news.

Our inFocus topics for January — bolting and torque, as well as wind measurement —are also here to help you better understand, well, the nuts and bolts of the industry.

Torkworx shares an article about improving joint integrity, and AIMCO presents its insights about bolting technology advancements.

Our company profile is with ITH Engineering. One of the main goals of this tooling and hardware manufacturer is striving to make bolting maintenance a thing of the past with maintenance-free hardware. The company also works on bolted joint design and engineering.

Wind measurement is — for obvious reasons — an important subject when it comes to the wind industry. It’s also an area that has changed quite a bit in how wind measurements are actually taken.

In our Conversation, we chat with Philip Beck with Wind Measurement International on the aspects of wind measurement and the tools used to accomplish that task.

The technology that goes into constructing a wind turbine is always changing as new innovations step up to make a turbine better, stronger, and more economical.

In Crosswinds, we talk with Taylor Devices. The company is using applications it created for NASA and the space program to keep wind turbines, as well as tall buildings and bridges, from succumbing to the effects of seismic activity and wind excitation.

The company’s damping technology takes the energy created from these events and transfers it into heat energy, keeping it from potentially damaging a structure. The bottom line of this technology is to lower repair costs — which keeps that bottom line healthier.

So, as we enter a new year and face new challenges, at least we know wind is not going anywhere anytime soon.

Renewable energy isn’t just our future anymore, it’s our present.

And as always, thanks for reading!