Afienko


 * ﻿ WIND **



(NY Times)



=﻿ = In the world today there are many problems, but from the view of many scientists fresh water and energy seem to be the biggest, most concerning. The main source of the problem is that of fossil fuels. People are constantly burning the fuels, whether to fuel their car or heat their home and it’s polluting the earth. The major issue is the finite amount of fuel. It is estimated that fossil fuels will be gone within our lifetime. Even more of a current issue is the CO2 being emitted as the fuels burn. This causes climate change which has already lead to droughts worldwide. Areas that have always had water have no more. Areas that have never had water are now drenched. This is devastating to wildlife and even humans who have grown accustomed to their habitats. Many people are aware of the issues at hand, however, they still rely on the machinery that causes the problems, such as cars and electricity. One huge breakthrough for car manufacturers was that of the hybrid, which combines the use of gas and electricity. This is appealing to all users because it is gas efficient, money saving, and for the environmentally friendly people it is less polluting than traditional cars. Also new light bulbs are being produced to use less electricity. New technologies are constantly being tested to come up with new sources of energy. Wind power, solar power and water power, also called hydro power are just a few. Wind power appears to be a nice alternative to fossil fuels, although it still has a long way to go. The following Youtube.com video is a synopsis of wind power: media type="youtube" key="0Kx3qj_oRCc?fs=1" height="385" width="480" align="left" In general wind turbines are a pretty simple contraption made up of mechanical and electrical apparatus. Blades are connected to the hub mounted on top of a turning shaft. The shaft runs through a transmission box which increases the turning speed. The high speed shaft cranks a generator which creates the power. (Ezine Articles)

The main objective is the conversion of wind power to energy, which can then be transferred to buildings, houses, and batteries. For the most part, a normal turbine has a generator size of 2MW, or 2 Megawatts an hour. Unfortunately, the generator will only create about 30% its theoretical power, which is not very efficient.

The European Union is the leading region in Wind Power. They have the highest concentration of wind power sources, providing power for an average of 30 million houses. For instance 11% of Spain, 7% of Germany and 21% of Denmark is run by wind power. In the European Union alone, the wind energy saves 91 million tones of CO2 emissions annually, which is equivalent to 46 million cars. It has been estimated that it takes a wind turbine two to three months to create enough electricity to cover its costs for its twenty year lifetime. Over the course of its life it will accrue on average 80 to 120 times more energy than it consumes. (windday)

There is a massive amount of controversy over the true efficiency of wind turbines. The source used above claimed that within a couple months the turbines would pay for themselves but as the source below claims, it would take 10 years or more before profit was even thought of.

﻿"The amount of money that a 2 MW wind turbine will generate each year will depend upon the Purchase Power Agreement that you are able to obtain. I believe at best you will get 3.7 cents a kilowatt hour. That would mean revenues per 2 MW installed of $194472 dollars per year. You would have to get almost 7 cents a kilowatt hour just to get revenues sufficient to pay back the initial investment in ten years without interest." (Goodhuewindtruth)  (Icanfixupmyhome.com) As far as aiding in the decrease of CO2 emissions wind turbines cant stack up. They may sound great but as more research is done, it is being found they actually help global warming. After scientists in Europe did a study on three of the most famous brands of home turbines, they found that in the manufactuaring process more green house gasses were created than will ever be eliminatedor saved by the turbine. It was also addressed that the turbines are far too expensive and will never save the money it costs to build, maintain and replace them. (Environmental Graffitti)

Wind turbines do not offer any extras, such as purifying water. Infact, wind turbines do not offer much of anything. It is true they do aquire electricity, but the cost asociated makes the means no longer justify the end result. Traditional coal or gas run power plants can never be shut down even with the turbines built, because wind is never constant. In order to keep enough power throughout the grids there must be a constant addition of electricity. What if, during a hot summer day in July when everyone is using thier AC, the wind suddenly dies? The turbines would no longer spin and no longer create enough electricity to meet the demand. There needs to be a back up plan in place, such as a coal plant or gasoline plant. Similiar to the way a car works, the plants would have to be constantly running inorder to stay the most efficient. More gas is burned in stop and go traffic than on the highway. Wind power does work, but a traditional plant would still be required to be running at almost full output, just in case. With the old fossil fuel plants still in operation, this defeats the purpose of wind turbines and their expensive cost, maintainence and destruction after thier twenty year anticipated life-span. Kevin Forbes, the director of the Center for the Study of Energy and Environmental Stewardship at Catholic University, has said: “Wind energy gives people a nice warm fuzzy feeling that we’re taking action on climate change.” Yet when it comes to CO2 emissions, “the reality is that it’s not doing much of anything.” (Windturbinesyndrome.com)

Using the diagram to the left, created in 2005, it is clear to see wind energy is not high on the priortiy list. There is only one simple answer for this which is the inefficiency of wind power. Too much money is needed to make wind work, but not much money is pumped back in.

In my opinion, wind power is a great idea, once it can be properlly harnessed. It is tough to say whether it is truly effective or not. The makes of turbines release statements such as the one above stating how amazing thier turbines have been tested to be. However, scientists all over the world claim its extremly expensive and inefficient. I believe with more research there will be a way to harness the wind's energy without is costing as much. I believe with other alternative fuel sources back up the wind, that green house gases can be cut down dramatically. Wind power will someday be an effective way to create electricity. (wikipedia)

Works Cited

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