National Wind Technology Center - National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Some Facts from the NREL website:
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) National Wind Technology Center (NWTC), located at the base of the foothills just south of Boulder, Colorado, is the nation's premier wind energy technology research facility. Built in 1993, the center provides an ideal environment for the development of advanced wind energy technologies. The goal of the research conducted at the center is to help industry reduce the cost of energy so that wind can compete with traditional energy sources, providing a clean, renewable alternative for our nation's energy needs.

Some Facts about this panorama's theme:
What better example of the theme "Atmosphere" than man's begining attempts to harvest the Earth's awesome power through these enormous machines? This giant head awaits installation to its body that already reachs up to the sky. These are physical metaphors for our human endeavor to find smarter ways of harmonizing with the Earth. Close - but still so far. With great effort, we can lift our heads up from the dust, reach into the atmosphere, and share the great power that the Earth constantly surrounds us with.

Some Facts about this panorama:
What you see here is a 3-bladed head awaiting assembly to its turbine base. This base has been attached to different blade assemblies over time. This current blade assembly is a new configuration being tested for efficiency. It will be lifted by 3 cranes and attached to its base during a 6-hour process. In the distance, many different wind turbine towers can be seen. This high plains area know locally as Rocky Flats provides predictable wind patterns ideal for testing these machines.

To learn more about the NWTC, please visit the links below:

About NREL Wind Power Research
http://www.nrel.gov/wind/
About the National Wind Technology Center
http://www.nrel.gov/wind/nwtc.html
Video Tour of the Facility
http://www.nrel.gov/wind/nwtc_video.html
To see some other panoramas produced at this facility, please visit this page:
http://www.photosurveyor.com/panos/198/

USA-Canada / USA-Colorado

Lat: 39° 54' 38.88" N
Long: 106° 14' 19.56" W

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Precision is: Medium. Nearby, but not to the last decimal.

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