Thumbing their noses at the financial crisis, investors breathe new life into the Indian wind market; new subsidies are poised to take effect, and industry insiders see an upswing in the offing.

The Indian energy supply system has risen from a few thousands of kW capacity in the early fifties to 1,47,402 MW and is growing by the year. However the capacity is unable to keep pace with the growth in demand. The Indian wind energy sector is on the growth path aiming to achieve an installed capacity of about 15,000 MW by 2010.

India has been one of the enthusiastic proponents of the need for product certification with regard to wind turbines ever since the technology made its way into the country. One one hand it could be attributed to the influence of Danish turbines which got installed in large numbers as wll as the fact that Denmark was at the forefront in certification of wind turbines.

China's wind industry is booming. But manufacturing capacity growth is out stripping the market. The competition is squeezing margins; international providers are falling behind as national champions pull ahead.

A vast supply of energy is racing around the planet far above the surface. Erik Vance meets the engineers trying to bring the power of high-altitude wind down to earth.