A Breath Of Fresh Air For Shipping  

The NY Times' "Green Inc" blog has a post on one boom area for shipping - moving wind turbines around - Ports Welcome Wind Shipments.

Ports, like most businesses, have suffered badly in the recent downturn. At the Port of Long Beach, shipping volume is off 10 percent from last year – and unwanted cars are stacking up on the docks, as my colleague Matt Richtel reported last week.

For some ports, there is a bright spot: wind turbines. The wind business, although slowed by the credit crisis and economic gloom, is continuing to expand. That guarantees a steady stream of imports, since many wind-turbine parts are still manufactured abroad, despite the recent proliferation of factories here.

The Port of Duluth has had nearly a ninefold increase in wind-related freight shipments (by weight) since 2005, according to a story from The Star Tribune in Minneapolis. The Sacramento Bee notes that the Port of Sacramento, too, experienced a wind boom this summer. The port manager says that some visitors mistake the turbines for missiles.

Which are the luckiest ports? According to a wind industry newsletter published in March, ports at Longview and Vancouver in Washington, as well as in Stockton, Calif., are among the “busiest with importing wind industry products” on the West Coast.

On the Gulf, Corpus Christi and Beaumont, Tex., are seeing a good deal of activity, as are ports along the Great Lakes.