Reich.Loomis.fall.2009.energywiki

 Wind Power One of the many problems facing the world today is global warming. Global warming is the gradual increase of the earth’s surface temperature. This gradual increase, however slight it may seem, can lead to a disastrous result for the inhabitants of the world further into the future. The increase in temperature can cause severe draughts, catastrophic flooding along with other severe weather changes all over the planet. Some people say that the earth’s temperature is changing because of all the green house gases being dumped into the atmosphere, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a group of 600 leading climate scientists from 40 nations, says it is “very likely” (more than a 90 percent chance) that humans are causing a global temperature change that will reach between 3.2 and 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of this century, others say this is not true but that there is another variable in the equation, those opposed include Richard Linzen from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who said “ there is no substantive basis for predictions of sizeable global warming due to observed increases in minor greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and chlorofluorocarbons.” Although there is disagreement on how and why the earth’s temperature is rising basically everyone agrees that it is.
 * What is the problem at hand? **

 **What is the driving force?**

Some of the more major causes of global warming are believed to be too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causing the layers of the atmosphere to deteriorate, the sun which directly heats up the earth and changes in earth’s natural plant life such as trees and other organisms that take in carbon dioxide and convert it into oxygen. These three are connected to cause a major problem for the ozone layer in the atmosphere and life on earth.
 * What are people currently doing or not doing to solve the problem? **

Many solutions have been put forth to solve global warming. The question is whether we will be able to stop it, or slow it down. The main solutions would be increasing energy efficiency, decreasing the use of fossil fuels and increasing the use of natural energy like solar power, wind power, etc. Also, solving the problem of deforestation, which counts for about 20 percent of annual CO2 emissions due to human activities. There are dozens of technologies available that would help, but the main problem is, of course, money. Most of the more efficient technologies cost money, which governments either are unwilling to pay, or cannot afford. Polluting technology is also a large industry in itself, and again, governments corporations will need to shift away from this industry if we are ever to solve this problem.

 Wind power all starts with the sun. When the sun heats up a certain area of land, the air around that land mass absorbs some of that heat. At a certain temperature, that hotter air begins to rise very quickly because a given volume of hot air is lighter than an equal volume of cooler air. Faster-moving air particles exert more pressure than slower-moving particles, so it takes fewer of them to maintain the normal air pressure at a given elevation. When that lighter hot air suddenly rises, cooler air flows quickly in to fill the gap the hot air leaves behind. That air rushing in to fill the gap is wind. If you place an object like a rotor blade in the path of that wind, the wind will push on it, transferring some of its own energy of motion to the blade. This is how a wind turbine captures energy from the wind, through the winds kinetic energy. The blades are connected to a drive shaft inside the nacelle on top of the tower. The blades catch the air, like a sail on a sail boat, then the blades spin which also spins the drive shaft which is connected to a generator that creates electricity.
 *  How it works? **

The turbine has a weather station that indicates the wind speed and wind direction. That information is sent to the turbine’s computer, which tells the nacelle and blades to face the wind, (which can turn 360 degrees). The electricity is carried in cables from the generator down the inside of the tower, then to the site’s substation where it can be used for the paying customers in the region.
 * Determine the amount of CO2 it produces or inhibits **

CO2 Emissions: Wind vs. Trees
Wind turbines are extremely effective at reducing emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the leading greenhouse gas.  A single 750-kilowatt (kW) wind turbine, typical of those now being installed in power plants around the world, produces roughly 2 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity annually. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> Based on the U.S. average fuel mix, approximately 1.5 pounds of CO2 is emitted for every kWh generated. This means that an average wind turbine prevents the emission of <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> **2 million kWh x 1.5 pounds CO2/kWh =** **3 million pounds of CO2 =1500 tons of CO2 each year.**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> According to **//Our Ecological Footprint//,** (Wackemagel & Rees, 1996), a forest absorbs approximately 3 tons of CO2 per acre of trees per year. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> **//Thus, a single 750kW wind turbine prevents as much carbon dioxide from being emitted each year as could be absorbed by 500 acres of forest.//** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> And the roughly 3 billion kWh that are produced each year by California's wind power plants displace CO2 emissions of 4.5 billion pounds (2.25 million tons), or as much as could be absorbed by a forest covering more than 1100 square miles. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">( [])

=**<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">2006 Wind Installations Offset More Than 40 Million Tons of CO2 **= <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">by Worldwatch Institute on July 25, 2007 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> ** WASHINGTON, D.C.— ** The 15,200 megawatts of new wind turbines installed worldwide last year will generate enough clean electricity annually to offset the carbon dioxide emissions of 23 average-sized U.S. coal-fired power plants, according to a new Vital Signs Update from the Worldwatch Institute. The 43 million tons of carbon dioxide displaced in 2006 is equivalent to the emissions of 7,200 megawatts of coal-fired power plants, or nearly 8 million passenger cars.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> "Wind power is on track to soon play a major role in reducing fossil fuel dependence and slowing the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere," according to Worldwatch Senior Researcher Janet Sawin. "Already, the 43 million tons of carbon dioxide displaced by the new wind plants installed last year equaled more than 5 percent of the year’s growth in global emissions. If the wind market quadruples over the next nine years—a highly plausible scenario—wind power could be reducing global emissions growth by 20 percent in 2015." <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> ( [] <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">) <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore;">o <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The use of wind turbines does not generate pollution or radioactive waste like most other forms of electricity generation do. Their construction and installation has less environmental impact as well. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore;">o <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Wind power may be used to provide electricity to individual homes or other facilities on a self-reliant basis, with no need for fuel or other materials to be supplied. If a natural disaster severs power lines, residents with windmills will not lose their supply of electricity. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore;">o <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Wind can also generate power for large numbers of people, using larger turbines connected to an electrical grid. This allows individuals to take advantage of some of their benefits without personally owning or maintaining the equipment. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore;">o <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Another one of its advantages is that this type of power generation does not consume any non-renewable resources, like coal, natural gas, or oil. Thus, it won't contribute to their eventual depletion, nor does it promote environmental harm brought about by obtaining these resources.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Disadvantages vs. Advantages **
 * __<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">ADVANTAGES __**

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore;">o <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Some people consider the turbines to have an undesirable appearance, especially when there are very tall units and/or large groups of them. The same could be said for coal or nuclear power plants, but these are concentrated into a smaller number of facilities. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore;">o <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Another of the disadvantages is that they can be damaged in thunderstorms, partially because of their tall, thin shape. The website of the National Lightning Safety Institute indicates that most damage to wind turbines is caused by lightening. This is more of a problem in warmer parts of the world, where they are frequent. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore;">o <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The blades of wind turbines can hit birds who attempt to fly between them. However, it should be kept in mind that birds are also affected by the disadvantages of other power generation methods, especially pollution. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore;">o <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Some turbines produce noise; according to a white paper issued by the University of Massachusetts at Amherst Renewable Energy Research Laboratory, noise varies from one turbine to the next, and is more likely to be problematic when the wind speed is low.
 * __<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">DISADVANTAGES __**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Most people are all for wind turbines all over the country because of what they have to offer for the environment but others disapprove of their usage mostly for the reasons above.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The potential new look for Nantucket Sound if the plan for the offshore wind turbines goes into affect. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The survey of Cape residents that alleges 57% support for the project is based entirely on visual simulations, which significantly understate its true visual impact. The survey showed that 74% would oppose the project if they believed it was highly visible.

**<span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">" ****<span style="color: #4d4d4d; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The developer of a proposed "wind farm" off the Massachusetts coast dodged a bullet recently when Congressional leaders removed a provision from a Coast Guard reauthorization bill that would have granted Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) veto power over the project. ** **<span style="color: #4d4d4d; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Although the project recently overcame a political hurdle, financial and economic ones remain. Despite high oil and gas prices, questions remain about the financial viability of the wind power project. **  ** " ** **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> ([]) ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> The four candidates running for Senator Kennedy’s seat believe Nantucket Sound is the only viable site for offshore development and that the industrial scale wind plant would create jobs and lower energy costs. They also believe that 86% of MA citizens are in favor of the project, so opposition to Cape Wind would cost them the nomination**.**
 * Romney opposes developer Jim Gordon's Cape Wind project, which would erect 130 giant electricity-generating wind turbines in Nantucket Sound. Romney has said he would veto the plan if given the chance. **
 * Cape Wind needs permits from 17 federal and state agencies, under the National Environmental Policy Act and the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act, before construction may begin. Company plans call for operation to begin in 2009. **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Wind turbines are relatively new; they were recently commercialized and mass produced. Thus, the world has not adopted the concept of installing wind turbines as mass energy suppliers. Also they are extremely expensive considering their energy output**.** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">As you can see from this table wind turbines are putting out more energy year by year and they have a bright future and will be used more than ever seen before.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Why don’t wind turbines supply most of the world’s energy? **
 * || **<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">1981 ** || **<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">1985 ** || **<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">1990 ** || **<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">1996 ** || **<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">1999 ** || **<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">2000 ** ||
 * **<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Rotor (meters) ** || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">10 || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">17 || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">27 || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">40 || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">50 || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">71 ||
 * **<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Rating (KW) ** || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">25 || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">100 || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">225 || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">550 || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">750 || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">1,650 ||
 * **<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Annual MWh ** || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">45 || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">220 || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">550 || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">1,480 || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">2,200 || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">5,600 ||
 * **<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Annual MWh ** || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">45 || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">220 || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">550 || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">1,480 || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">2,200 || <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">5,600 ||
 * This article further explains why wind turbines are not being used to their full potential **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">We can use wind power on a larger scale but we need to make them a better in almost every aspect if they want to appeal to the masses. We would need to make all the wind turbines more efficient so they can generate more energy that can be used to power the planet. A new wind turbine blade design that researchers at Sandia National Laboratories developed in partnership with Knight & Carver (K&C) of San Diego promises to be more efficient than current designs. It should significantly reduce the cost-of-energy of wind turbines at low-wind-speed sites. We also need to make them cheaper to purchase and install, in some parts of the world if a household or a company purchases a wind turbine they can sell back the electricity and get reductions on their taxes. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">" //// Technologically advanced wind machines like the Eggbeater windmill and Vertical Shaft Turbine are extremely efficient. ////<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">" ( //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">[])
 * " Wind farms make the landscape an eyesore – coupled with the noise, that’s why people do not like them close to where they live and protest vigorously when one is to be sited close to their home. They also kill birds. **
 * These turbine constructions are so massive that they need 1,000 tons of concrete to hold them in the ground. They also need a lot of road infrastructure for maintenance. In general, turbines are sited in some of our most naturally beautiful areas. How stupid is destroying a beautiful landscape for environmentalism? It doesn’t make sense." ****<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> ( **[|**http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/why-wind-power-wont-work.aspx**]**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">). **
 * How to use wind power on a larger scale? **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">A lot of people all over the globe use wind turbines, either for future profit or green solutions. Companies and families can both profit from wind turbines by selling back the extra electricity to the electric company or even save money by supplying their own electricity.As I had said before the government also cuts you taxes when using green solutions such as wind turbines. "Home wind turbines have seen sales spike in recent years, because of soaring energy costs, earth-friendly attitudes and financial incentives from the government." ([]If a company “goes green”that means more costumers because people would recognize that company for supporting a healthier environment so they would buy that companies product over the not green product.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Who uses it and why? **

[|Carbon reduction scheme]