AWEA

Global energy giant General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) continues to grow its fleet of wind turbines.

After being passed by the House of Representatives late last night, U.S. President Obama has signed into law the compromise tax bill which includes a one year extension to the renewable energy cash grant program.

U.S.-based solar, wind, geothermal and biomass trade associations have stated that American renewable energy projects will slow down if Congress does not extend a federal grant program which is due to expire next month.

The U.S. wind industry only installed 395 megawatts (MW) in the third quarter for 2010, experiencing its worst quarter since 2007.

With the decline of domestic auto manufacturing, steelworkers in the U.S. have looked to renewable energy, particularly manufacturing wind turbines, to create new domestic jobs.

The American Wind Energy Association, or AWEA, recently issued a report showing that small wind (i.e., less than 101 kilowatts per unit) grew a remarkable 15 percent last year.

Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently completed testing of the wind manufacturer’s massive 85,000-pound wind turbine drive train.

In this third part of my Q&A with AWEA's executive director Denise Bode, we discuss industry expansion and environmental problems.

This is Part II of my three-part interview with American Wind Energy Association's executive director Denise Bode. In this part Bode discusses policy, a national Renewable Energy Standard (RES), and how wind matches up against other renewables.

This is my first part of a three-part interview with Denise Bode, the Chief Executive Officer of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), the national trade association of the U.S. wind energy industry.

ROBERT GLUCK: Please tell our readers a little bit about your background.