If you’re driving anywhere between Iowa and upstate New York this week, honk if you like wind! One of the giant blades — nearly half a football field in length — that powers GE’s 1.5-megawatt line of wind turbines is making a cross-country journey on the back of a flatbed truck as it winds its way from the factory to GE’s Schenectady plant, where it will be put on permanent display. To kick-off GE’s version of a summer road trip, a launch event was held at TPI Composites, which makes the blades for GE at its Newton, Iowa factory, to highlight the critical importance that wind can — and will — play in the country’s energy future. The video below shows how the 12,000-pound blades are made — and underscores just how massive the turbines are, as each blade represents just one-half of a turbine’s total spin-diameter. U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk can be heard first in the video, followed by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

Blade runners

Sen. Grassley, who gave delegations representing several dozen foreign countries a tour of TPI, told GE Reports that when it comes to wind, “I like to say it’s good, good, good. It’s good for the environment. It’s good for good-paying jobs in places where we have factories like this or places where we are maintaining or installing — and that’s rural America. And it’s good for national security — you’re less dependent on foreign sources of energy. And so everything about it is just good, good, good.”

Noting the 325 workers that TPI employs, Grassley said: “If you had told me 15 years ago that the wind energy production tax credit I authored would create such a dynamic industry for Iowa, I wouldn’t have believed you.” According to the Pew Center on the States, in the decade preceding 2007, the growth in clean jobs in Iowa outpaced overall job growth by over 22 percent. The state’s current wind power generation ranks second in the nation, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

TPI’s COO Wayne Monie said that the Newton facility may expand to 500 employees by 2010 — but also stressed that if the market for wind technologies in the U.S. is to remain strong, strong federal renewable energy standards — which would increase the amount of renewable energy that power grids must use — are needed.

Later in the week, we’ll update you on the wind blade’s journey (and let you know if any of that honking was because someone got stuck behind us in a tight curve!)

* Read “GE’s giant wind turbines set to debut in Sweden”
* Watch a video of a GE turbine going on a mountain climb
* Learn details about GE’s wind turbines
* Read about the investment in TPI made by GE’s investment arm