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The Rural Voice, 1990-11, Page 30CANADIAN CO-OPERATIVE WOOL GROWERS LIMITED ACCEPTING WOOL CLIPS ON CONSIGNMENT * Skirted Fleeces * Well Packed Sacks For more information contact: RIPLEY WOOL DEPOT John Farrell R.R. 3, Ripley, Ontario 519-395-5757 USED BUILDING MATERIALS • Wood & steel beams • Steel pipe — 20% off • Windows & doors • Fluorescent lights, 8 ft. & 4 ft. Large Quantity USED STEEL Open web steel joists 20 ft. long I -Beam up to 30 ft. long Good Used Lumber: 2x4,2x6,2x8 Used fir 3 x 6, 3 x 8, 4 x 8 plank For Information and Demolition Quotes Call ITp N"=EtWAY •77—,� DURHAM ONT. LIMITED 1-800-265-3062 519-369-3203 Warehouse and Sales Yard Located 5 Km South of Durham on Hwy. 6 26 THE RURAL VOICE steam power ushered in the Industrial Revolution. In this century, they were displaced when rural electrification became common in the 30s and early 40s. Until then, wind machines for pumping water or generating electricity were a common sight in Canadian farming communities, but energy supplied over long distances by a power company simply is much cheaper, more plentiful, and more reliable than wind -generated electricity. During the energy crunch in 1973, the world learned of the effects of unreliable sources of energy. Re- search funds were diverted into the exploration of renewable resources such as wind and solar energy. Sev- eral interesting projects were under- taken, and many of these experiments were directed to converting wind energy into electrical energy. Consequently, new types of wind generators were explored. One, called the Darrieus Rotor (invented in 1931 and named after its French inventor, G. J. M. E. Darrieus) was independently re -invented in the early 1970s by the National Research Council of Canada. It looks like a giant egg beater held upside down. This wind generator, or wind turbine as it is called sometimes, rotates in light winds, operates efficiently regardless of wind direction and can be mounted on the ground for easy maintenance. Small wind generators have uses wherever limited amounts of energy are required and where no power company source is available. Consequently they are utilized at remote locations for telcom- munications, marine and navigational aids, and at weather -gathering sites. Large wind turbines have been used experimentally by several utilities including Hydro Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, Ontario Hydro and the Saskatchewan Power Corporation to supplement the electricity in their grids. The world's largest Darrieus wind generator started operation in 1988 at Cap Chat, in the Gaspe. However, this was the last major wind energy project envisioned before the price of oil dropped. Predictably, funds for exploration of the wind dropped off when oil prices fell. Now that these prices have risen again with the Middle East crisis, there may be a renewed interest in wind research. In the meantime, our electrical requirements continue to increase, bringing the day closer when we will have to mine the wind instead of coal, gas, and oil. Furthermore, people are becoming more and more concerned about the toxicity of by-products which result from the use of fossil fuels and uranium as sources of energy. The resulting health and environmental concerns cannot easily be overlooked. In the meantime, while the clock keeps ticking, research will find solutions to the limitations of modern wind machines. However, it will probably take another energy crunch to make wind generators financially viable.0 The Darrieus Rotor was independently re -invented in the early 1970s by the National Research Council of Canada.