Wind+Energy!


 * 1. What is the problem at hand? **Oil is the fundamental building block of the industrial economy. The industries, businesses, homes and cities have been built with the assumption that oil will be readily available at affordable prices for generations. In fact today oil still provides more than 97% of the fuel for our transportation fleets, barely different than a generation ago. Few experts expect that figure to change by more than a few percentage points during the next several years. Oil use continues to grow steadily in the United States and around the world.

http://www.worldwatch.org/brain/images/press/news/vs05-world_oil.jpg

Because our world’s oil supply is nonrenewable and is considered a major factor in "global warming," more than 85% of Americans say oil dependence is a serious problem.

** 2. What is the driving force of the problem? **

The driving force of the problem is that many of the oil industries are not slowing up in drilling for oil and obtaining the most they can get. The reasoning behind this is because the demand for oil is so high that in order to compensate for the high gas prices, they must drill faster, and more, in order to satisfy the consumer. Because we depend so completely on oil, we devote extraordinary political and military resources to securing it, at staggering cost. We empower oil-exporting nations that are considered our enemies. This does not only end up as a bad thing for the future, but also in the short-comings. An example of this is like the oil-spill in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil does not agree with wildlife. It sticks to animal skin and fur and can disrupt their reproductive systems. Fish are also affected as the oil gets into their fins and disrupts their breathing pattern. The United State’s dependence on foreign oil also leaves it vulnerable to foreign markets. If the Middle Eastern countries experience a crisis or massive inflation it will force American distributors to increase prices for American consumers. In fact between summer 2003 and summer 2006, world oil prices rose from roughly $25 per barrel to more than $78 per barrel.


 * 3. What are people currently doing or not doing to solve the problem? **

To combat the dependence on oil, a wide array of alternative energies have been explored in recent years, including wind energy. Wind energy has various benefits to it's use which will be explored later. But to encourage it's widespread use, legislation has been passed in the United States including the following --

Under present law, an income tax credit of 2.1 cents/kilowatt-hour is allowed for the production of electricity from utility-scale wind turbines. This incentive, the renewable energy production tax credit (PTC), was created under the Energy Policy Act of 1992.

Under present law, a federal-level investment tax credit (ITC) is available to help consumers purchase small wind turbines for home, farm, or business use. Owners of small wind systems with 100 kilowatts (kW) of capacity or less can receive a credit for 30% of the total installed cost of the system.

The renewable electricity standard (RES), also known as a renewable portfolio standard (RPS), uses market mechanisms to ensure that a growing percentage of electricity is produced from renewable sources, like wind power. The RES provides a predictable, competitive market, within which renewable generators compete with each other to lower prices. RES policies currently exist in 28 U.S. states, but not at the national level.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved H.R. 2454, a comprehensive energy and climate bill, on May 21. The bill contains a provision to establish a federal policy on electric grid planning. The bill is expected to be considered by the full House of Representatives this summer.

**4. Explain how it works**


 * 1) The wind blows on the blades and makes them turn.
 * 2) The blades turns a shaft inside the nacelle (the box at the top of the turbine)
 * 3) The shaft goes into a gearbox which increases the rotation speed enough for...
 * 4) The generator, which uses magnetic fields to convert the rotational energy into electrical energy. These are similar to those found in normal power stations.
 * 5) The power output goes to a transformer, which converts the electricity coming out of the generator at around 700 Volts (V) to the right voltage for distribution system, typically 33,000 V.
 * 6) The national grid transmits the power around the country.


 * http://www.bwea.com/energy/how.html**


 * 5. determine the amount of CO2 it produces or inhibits.**

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is a product of combustion in a chemical reaction (such as from the burning of fossil fuels, exhalation of breath, fire, etc.). http://jcwinnie.biz/wordpress/imageSnag/468_pollution.jpg

Wind energy does not utilize combustion, rather it takes the kinetic energy of the wind and uses it to turn a motor.

http://energiaeoliana.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/wind-energy1.jpg

//No combustion = no CO2//

“This project represents an opportunity to add a source of clean renewable energy to our overall energy portfolio that will diversify Marblehead’s power supply and help to stabilize prices by curbing our reliance on fossil fuels to generate electricity”

Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Tim Murray


 * 6. Determine the amount of energy it can generate. **

The ability to generate electricity is measured in watts. Watts are very small units, so the terms kilowatt (kW, 1,000 watts), megawatt (MW, 1 million watts), and gigawatt (GW, 1 billion watts) are most commonly used to describe the capacity of generating units like wind turbines or other power plants.

Electricity production and consumption are most commonly measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh). A kilowatt-hour means one kilowatt (1,000 watts) of electricity produced or consumed for one hour. One 50-watt light bulb left on for 20 hours consumes one kilowatt-hour of electricity (50 watts x 20 hours = 1,000 watt-hours = 1 kilowatt-hour).

The output of a wind turbine depends on the turbine's size and the wind's speed through the rotor. Wind turbines being manufactured now have power ratings ranging from 250 watts to 5 megawatts (MW).

Wind speed is a crucial element in projecting turbine performance, and a site's wind speed is measured through wind resource assessment prior to a wind system's construction. Generally, an annual average wind speed greater than four meters per second (m/s) (9 mph) is required for small wind electric turbines (less wind is required for water-pumping operations). Utility-scale wind power plants require minimum average wind speeds of 6 m/s (13 mph).

**7. Highlight the best aspects of a residential wind turbine.**

The wind turbine typically lowers your electricity bill by 50 to 90 percent. It is not uncommon for wind turbine owners with total-electric homes to have monthly utility bills of only $8 to $15 for nine months of the year. In northern parts of the country where less air conditioning is used the bills can be very low year-round. The amount of money a small wind turbine saves you in the long run will depend upon its cost, the amount of electricity you use, the average wind speed at your site, and other factors.

http://www.oksolar.com/wind/air_industrial.htm

Wind power is a sustainable source of energy and a clean source of energy. Wind power generation produces zero carbon dioxide emissions, which is important with our concern over climate change. Wind energy is also a renewable energy, meaning it does not deplete our natural resources like coal or petroleum based products.

Generating 20% of U.S. electricity from wind would be the climate equivalent of removing 140 million vehicles from the roadways.


 * 8. describe how the critics would discuss it **

Output figures from wind developers are typically annual averages expressed in the vague figure of "number of homes provided for." Homes, however, account for only a third of all electricity use, and electricity represents only a third of all energy consumption (only a fifth in Vermont). Further, home use of electricity varies widely through the day, week, and year, but wind plants generate electricity by the whims of the wind rather than the actual needs of the grid.

On top of this uselessness, the turbines use a great deal of electricity themselves. Most of them cannot even run without input from the grid. Although they produce electricity intermittently, they consume it continuously. In every report I've seen, input from the grid is not accounted for in the figures of net output. Specifications from turbine manufacturers do not include the amount of electricity they require.

But industrial wind facilities are not just useless. They destroy the land, birds and bats, and the lives of their neighbors. Off shore, they endanger ships and boats and their low-frequency noise is likely harmful to sea mammals. They require subsidies and regulatory favors to make investment viable.

http://www.francis.edu/uploadedImages/Renewable_Energy/windandbirds.jpg


 * 9. If it doesn't make up much of the world's fuel/energy supply explain why. **

Wind power's widespread usage, particularly in the United States, has not been as large as it could be because of our history of dependence on oil. It hasn't been until recently that this large emphasis on going green and finding alternative energy that people are even considering using wind as a primary source of power.


 * 10. Explain how it could help solve some of the problems or contributes to those problems. **

Wind energy system operations do not generate air or water emissions and do not produce hazardous waste. Nor do they deplete natural resources such as coal, oil, or gas, or cause environmental damage through resource extraction and transportation, or require significant amounts of water during operation. Wind's pollution-free electricity can help reduce the environmental damage caused by power generation in the U.S. and worldwide.

Development of just 10% of the wind potential in the 10 windiest U.S. states would provide more than enough energy to displace emissions from the nation's coal-fired power plants and eliminate the nation's major source of acid rain; reduce total U.S. emissions of CO2 by almost a third; and help contain the spread of asthma and other respiratory diseases aggravated or caused by air pollution in this country.

Wind power also supplies affordable, inexhaustible energy to the economy. It also provides jobs and other sources of income. Best of all, wind powers the economy without causing pollution, generating hazardous wastes, or depleting natural resources—it has no "hidden costs." Finally, wind energy depends on a free fuel source—the wind—and so it is relatively immune to inflation.


 * 11. Explain what it would take to do your thing better or in a larger scale. **

For example, the entire transmission system of the wind-rich High Plains, which cover the central one-third of the U.S., needs to be extensively redesigned and redeveloped. At present, this system consists mostly of small distribution lines—instead, a series of new high-voltage transmission lines is needed to transmit electricity from wind plants to population centers. Such a redevelopment will be expensive, but it will also benefit consumers and national security, by making the electrical transmission system more reliable and by reducing shortages and price volatility of natural gas.

http://www.edupic.net/Images/Science/wind_turbines127.JPG

Recently the U.S. Department of Energy has announced a goal of obtaining 6% of U.S. electricity from wind by 2020--a goal that is consistent with the current rate of growth of wind energy nationwide. As public demand for clean energy grows, and as the cost of producing energy from the wind continues to decline, it is likely that wind energy will provide a growing portion of the nation's energy supply.

"So I support comprehensive legislation that would overhaul our energy taxes; signal themarket we're in this for the long run by extending for 10 years the production tax credit..." "We absolutely need the turbines."

Senator Hillary Clinton, NY


 * 12. Explain who uses that technology and why. If it isn't used very much explain that instead. **

At the end of 2009, worldwide nameplate capacity of wind-powered generators was 159.2 gigawatts (GW). Energy production was 340 TWh, which is about 2% of worldwide electricity usage; and is growing rapidly, having doubled in the past three years. Several countries have achieved relatively high levels of wind power penetration (with large governmental subsidies), such as 19% of stationary electricity production in Denmark, 13% in Spain and Portugal, and 7% in Germany and the Republic of Ireland in 2008. As of May 2009, eighty countries around the world are using wind power on a commercial basis.

http://cleantechlawandbusiness.com/cleanbeta/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Wind-Power-Onshroe.jpg


 * 13. After learning about it what would you do next to change how its used? why? **

I would actively support legislation that would expand the wind power industry and get more wind turbines in operation because it is a clean and effective alternative to conventional oil. I would also look into alternative ways of building a wind operated machines. For example FloDesign has designed a different type of wind turbine that can generate three to four times more electricity than the ones used today. http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-9945005-54.html

In this video, the company describes its turbine design, which takes a radically different approach than the rotor-based wind turbines that dominate the market now.