Given Houston's status as the centre of the North American oil and gas industry, it might be surprising for some to learn that the US state also has more wind turbine capacity than any other. As of March this year, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (Ercot) – the independent system operator (ISO) that serves 75% of the state – boasted 12,569 megawatts (MW) of installed wind capacity. That figure, which is expected to nearly double by 2017, is more than twice the total in the second-ranked