The concept of the portable wind turbine was created by Uprise Energy founders John and Jonathan Knight during the time of the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster. The need for a “Green” alternative energy source which protects the environment from potential devastating disasters was a driving force behind the idea. This idea combined with their expertise in airfoil design gathered momentum and led to the development of our portable wind turbine / IoT device.
For more details about the beginnings of the company please click here.
Today I was thinking about the multitude of reports submitted recently by various scientific organizations on the topic of climate change. The reports all unanimously state in very definitive terms that 1) climate change is caused by man and 2) that we are officially in a crisis which if not corrected soon will cause irreparable damage to the planet (and the life on it). The most notable of these are publications endorsed by vast collaborations of experts. For example, this article published in BioScience, Volume 70, Issue 1, January 2020, Pages 8–12.
There are, of course, people who deny the validity of reports supported by over 11,000 scientists in over 153 countries, and cite conspiracy theories to explain their point of view. However, for the purpose of this blog entry I will be embracing the assumption that the scientists are the authority on the subject.
The authors of the reports study the impact of climate change not just by looking at the shift in the rate of change of the Earth’s surface temperature, but by also studying deforestation, glacial reduction, dead zones in the ocean, methane production, global population growth, reduction in wild animal population, and the impact of our reliance on fossil fuel.
In addition to recent scientific research papers, the Paris Climate Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It deals with greenhouse-gas-emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance. It was originally signed in 2016. It sets a goal of “net zero carbon emissions” by 2050. Achieving this goal will require tremendous changes to the way we operate as society in general, and will be the result of a cumulative effort by everyone on the planet.
Today Uprise Energy produces portable wind turbines that generate reliable, affordable clean energy both on or off-grid. The low cost energy makes the system attractive for net-metering applications, however, the real competitive advantage happens at the grid’s edge and beyond, especially when used as an alternative to diesel generators. The mobile wind turbines also have unique capabilities that allow them to be considered for temporary power needs such as job sites, disaster relief and the like. Anytime that an Uprise wind turbine can be used as an alternative to legacy power sources, it reduces the usage of fossil fuels and in turn reduces the production of greenhouse gasses.
Visualization courtesy of https://www.dpack.co.uk/
The graphic above shows the drastic increase in greenhouse gas emissions which occurred at the time of the industrial revolution and ever since. It also shows an interesting very rapid increase in emissions from China starting around the year 2000.
Our team has estimated that by using one of our portable wind turbines rather than a diesel generator providing the same amount of power, you can save $1,000,000 of fuel and remove 2,000,000 pounds of carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions over the lifetime of the turbine.
Usage of one Uprise Energy turbine may amount to a small impact to the massive change that is needed globally, but the way to reach the goal is going to be a cumulative effort of small changes. Utilizing one of our portable wind turbines also provides the benefits of the turbine being portable, being able to be set up in one hour, providing enough power to support 15 average US Homes, and provide cellular, satellite, and Wi-Fi communications if needed.
Having thousands of turbines deployed worldwide will be our contribution to net zero carbon emissions by 2050. What will yours be?