Page 2 RAIN August/September 1978 RAIN Just a simple bridge. . . ... but not the kind of bridges we build. These bridges in China were built to last a thousJnd years-and they havc. Immense stone slabs spanning more than 70 feet, using almost 100 percent of the ultimate strength of the material. Expensive to build-but built Just once a millenium. Incredibly cheaper and wiser in the long run than bridges like ours that need repainting. repaving, repair and replacement several times a century. A wisdom that has experienced the ultimate cost of things and chosen wl"ll. Every society gains a different kind of wisdom when it has been around a while. The wisdom to survive, to sustain itsel f sim ply, to reach towards meaningful and rewarding life for itself and its people. We're starting to find that wisdom. RAIN tr,ies to help and share that search. WIND Harnessing the Wind for Home Energy, Dermot McGuigan, 1978, 134 pp., $4.95 from: Garden Way Publishing Charlotte, VT 05445 Planning a Wind Powered Generating System, Henry Clews, 1977, 46 pp., $2.00 from: Enertech Corporation Box 420 Norwich, VT 05055 Just as I'd recommend three "best books" for passive solar home builders, David Wright's Natural Solar Architecture, Malcolm Wells' Underground Designs, and Bruce Anderson's The Solar i-fome Book, the two above are probably the best for less on residential aeolian electricity until the U.S. DOE finally gets off their duff and publishes Jack Park and Dick Schwind's Wind Power for Homes, Farms, and Small Industry, the very bcst manual on the topic. Frankly, the latter has been so long in coming that the Wind Energy Branch deserves your harassment ... why don't you just ask for a cupy under the 1974 Freedom of Information Act and send your senator and congressional representatives a copy of your letter to DOE with a note asking them to speed up DOE in sending you the book? - LJ CORRECTION: The American Wind Energy Association (AWEi\) Washington DC uffice is at 1717 K St., N.W., 20036, not at 1717 Cunnccticut Ave., as incorrectly printed in the June '77 RAI,\'. My apologies for any returned mail. Their office phone is 202/466-464l. You should write them if you're into wind, as they have four classes of membership ranging from $10 to $500 annual dues and commensurate benefits. At a time when both small and large wind energy systems arc being increasingly mentioned as one of the most promising, near-term energy technologies for Americ;l, it is vital that we promote it vigorously in the nation's capital and contribute our ideas as to huw and how fast it should be tapped. AWEA is doing an excellent job and deserves your support. End of commercial. - LJ RETRACTION: A pro'gram to purchase and evaluate small wind energy conversion systems (SWECS) is not being pre- C pared by Jay Kulp of Asplundh Em'ironmental Services (AES) for the Department of Energy (DOE) as reported in the June issue of RAIN. DOE has not approved any program for the purchase or evaluation of these systems. Please excuse our error. Our apologies to AES and DOE. - 1.J
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz