While wind energy has been a very promising energy source with unprecedented growth in the last few years. Unfortunately, that growth has led to a shortage of the parts needed to make the turbines and keep them turning.
This article on the Renewable Energy Access web page features American Wind Energy Association Communications Editor Carl Levesque answering what is causing the problem. It boils down to the huge demand for parts and raw materials common to other industries:
(Y)ou need parts and raw materials to assemble turbines, and the shortage—both in the U.S. and worldwide—is largely due to a shortage in components, as the Wall Street Journal article correctly explained. It’s important to remember that many of the parts and materials used by the industry are also used by other industries.
“The global market is more than just turbines,” said Clipper Windpower Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations Robert Gates during a panel discussion at AWEA’s WINDPOWER 2007 Conference & Exhibition, which took place in June in Los Angeles, California. “We’re competing against the basic industrial capacity of the world.”
Levesque points out that the industry is very demanding of the level of quality, and good parts can’t be rushed. But he says the future is still bright… the parts just need to catch up with the demand.
Most people would agree, one of the smartest places in the country (and on the Earth, for that matter) is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology… better known as MIT. Well, the school is more than just smart… it’s green!
In April, the Biodiesel@MIT student group won a $25,000 grant through the Ecomagination Challenge sponsored my mtvU and GE, allowing them to purchase a biodiesel processor. The processor will convert used vegetable oil from dining halls into biodiesel fuel that eliminates sulfur dioxide emissions and produces 68 percent less carbon dioxide than petroleum-based alternatives, according to the group’s Ecomagination proposal.
With the slogan “Fueling America, Feeding the World,”
As the 
The state of Alabama and the city of Montgomery (AL) have teamed up to produce biodiesel from used cooking oil for the city’s and the state agriculture department’s trucks.
Indiana Senator Richard Lugar will give the keynote address September 15 at the official opening of the 
The newest ethanol facility to mark its grand opening is uniquely designed to maximize efficiency and produce both food and fuel from the same corn kernel. 
This new generation ethanol facility features a mill in the front of the plant that separates the corn kernel into fiber, protein and starches. This technique enables increased utilization of the starch within the kernel. The resulting higher quality starches will be used for food products while the lower quality starches will be used to produce ethanol. 
Visitors to the Minnesota State Fair (now through Sept. 3rd) are able to take in an exhibit featuring wind energy.