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There’s a new term for attempting to own the wind: ventography

As wind power grows, nations are laying claim to the energy source

Nations interested in wind energy are trying to "own" the resource.

Nations racing to develop renewable energy are fighting for control over the wind.

Justin Paget/DigitalVision/Getty Images

By Sujata Gupta

Wind ownership is up for grabs.

As an unpaid intern at an energy company in England, Emilia Groupp spent two years creating wind maps for renewable energy development. Colleagues told Groupp to ignore wind blowing across British borders, saying things like, “Oh we don’t want French wind,” recalls Groupp, an anthropologist of energy at Stanford University.