The marketplace is littered with the remains of companies that
have tried to make a success of vertical axis wind turbines
(VAWTs). So much so that conventional wisdom has it that
something must be wrong with the technology itself; otherwise,
there would be successful companies in this space. But let's
review some history. During World War II, Western nations spent
vast amounts of money improving the design of propellers for
aircraft, while VAWTs got nothing. Much of the money for
propeller development went to large companies. Some of these
companies took the technology and made large windmills. So we
have a situation where a well-funded technology was adapted by
well-funded companies. It should not be a surprise that these
have been successful. In general, the wind industry has been
successful primarily due to subsidies. Since large companies pay
lobbying groups to support these subsidies, these companies have
continued to do well. Compare this to the largely unfunded or
underfunded small groups, which lack