dadah.simpson.energy.water.spring.2010

[| http://www.gepower.com/home/index.htm] ind Power: A revolution in Grid- Energy

In today's world, energy is consumed at alarming rates and is becoming not only a burden on the bills but a burden on the environment as well. Power plants emit obnoxious amounts of green house gasses like CO2 and are generally inefficient when it comes time to foot the bill. There has to be another way to function without putting a smog-pillow over the face of the population, slowly smothering it to death. To that, a simple and efficient answer arises in the form of a nice summer breeze: Wind Power.

Granted, that little cooling sensation won’t go as far as you would hope in providing power, but by harnessing the power emitted by the natural wind powers that circumvent the globe, we can provide energy at a massive rate for very little expense. Oh, and by the way, there are no harmful emissions either. The worst that will come of it is a few dead birds not bright enough to avoid the stationary propeller and a bit of noise for the little old lady who lives up the street.

Quite frankly, it makes little sense to scorn a solution like this on simple personal drawbacks. Let’s face it; the turbine's a lot prettier than living next to a power plant. Quieter and cleaner smelling too.

The driving force of the problem is that people worldwide depend on fossil fuels as their primary source of power. The fossil fuel deposits are being depleted at an alarming rate and experts such as ** Christophe de Margerie, CEO of Total, September 2009 ** say "We are running the risk of another oil crisis when demand outstrips supply around 2014 or 2015. There won’t be enough oil and gas by the middle of the next decade."
 * What is the Driving force of the problem **

People are currently taking steps to better themselves and the way they consume energy. On top of that, scientists the world over are coming up with alternate forms of energy. Solar power and wind power are replacing grid energy (the form of electricity produced in power plants by burning fossil fuels). Cars are now being developed to run off of biodiesel substitutes, electricity, and even hydrogen. The setbacks come from underdeveloped countries that use fossil fuels to modernize themselves, such as china, who burns coal to provide energy to their massive populous, and the Deep South that will not budge from traditional gasoline to power their ford rust boxes and motor homes.
 * What are people doing to solve the problem? **

** Explain how it works ** Wind turbines are one of today's newest answers to the oil and energy catastrophe across the country. Turbines transform the kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical or electrical energy. This energy can then be used to help power neighborhoods, businesses and the electrical energy can even be sold to utility companies. However, wind turbines are not only limited to electric power but also mechanical power. Turbines are often seen in rural areas of the country and especially on farmland. These wind turbines can be used on a farm to power machinery to grind grain, saw or even pump water among other acts of labor performed by machinery on a farm. Wind turbines are capable of producing this energy in a very simple process. The wind causes the blades on the wind turbine to turn which in result, spins a shaft. This process is turning the wind into mechanical energy. The energy can be left as mechanical or another step can be taken to produce electric energy. The shaft can be connected to a generator which will start to turn in sequence with the shaft. Once this generator begins to spin it will then convert the mechanical energy into electric energy. Once this conversion is complete the energy is then transferred to a plant or utility company and is put to use. [|http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/wind_animation.html]

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. 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 According to **//Our Ecological Footprint//,** (Wackemagel & Rees, 1996), a forest absorbs approximately 3 tons of CO2 per acre of trees per year. 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. *
 * Determine how much co2 it produces **
 * 2 million kWh x 1.5 pounds CO2/kWh = **
 * 3 million pounds of CO2 = **
 * 1500 tons of CO2 each year. **
 * 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. **

The best aspects of wind power are the efficiency, the lack of greenhouse gasses, and the perpetual power source. 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. 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. 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. 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: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Highlight the best aspects **

Critics are taking to two sides on the argument of the wind turbine. Clearly many people want this new alternative energy source that is going to help cut back on the costs of fuel across the country. However, it seems as if most critics are the population who complain about the view. A prime example is Cape Wind which will install 130 wind turbines in the Nantucket Sound. Many people have claimed this will be an obstacle for fisherman which would affect the economy but this is a false statement. The wind turbines will be located far enough from one another for plenty of room to be left open for fisherman to maneuver their boats and fish. However, for some reason the most complaints are coming from the fact that these people are complaining about the view. They are all stuck up in their multi-million dollar homes over-looking the ocean and their main concern is the obstruction of their view even though the wind turbines are going to be on the clearest of days and the closest point to the shore along the cape will appear one inch above the horizon. Isn’t the conservation of energy, jobs produced for the construction of the wind farm and the safer environment the most important element? Several critics have also been concerned about the safety of birds as well as ice flying off the blades during winter. Again, all these concerns are minimal. Ice cannot fly off the blades because they cannot rotate with the wind once they sense the unequal balance between the blades. The turbine cannot perform normally until the ice is shed or melted. Once this occurs, the ice or water would fall to the base of the turbine. Also wind turbines are the most minimal cause of deaths of birds in the country today.
 * Describe how the critics would discuss it**




 * If it already makes up a lot of the world's fuel/energy supply explain why. If it doesn't make up much of the worlds fuel/energy supply, explain why. **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> Wind power does not make up any majority of the world’s energy because of how fluctuating the wind is. In this day and age, cities need an astronomical amount of energy around the clock. A few calm days could leave cities crippled for a period of time. As result: the unreliability of the wind power makes it less than a primary contributor to energy as a whole.

Wind turbines can have a huge effect on the nation’s energy problems. Their ability to produce electrical energy efficiently will definitely support and supply communities and businesses. Currently 20% of our countries energy is supplied from wind farms. Also once the Cape Wind Project is in full swing that is going to greatly benefit all of Cape Cod and Nantucket. It is wind farms like these that need to be built more often to continue to help our nation’s energy problems. Also, wind turbines are the most environmental friendly power source our country has. They are much more efficient than nuclear, coal and natural gas power sources. Wind farms also provide job opportunities. Cape Wind is just another example as it is opening 600-1,000 jobs and 155 permanent. This is just another example as to how wind farms help the economy in America and not through the efficient energy the wind turbines create.
 * Explain how it could help solve some of the problems**

The number one factor that could help wind turbines on a large stage is the storage of electrical power. If utility companies and power plants could develop technology to help store electrical power then the wind turbines could greatly increase their 20% power production across the nation. Electrical storage would enable the windmills to power more neighborhoods and the revenue for the areas with the wind farms would also increase due to the storage. Also, getting wind farms associated with cities would be crucial. This is also where electrical storage could come in play. The power not being used for the area could be occupied by utility companies and power plants near cities. Cities consume the most electricity across the nation and incorporating wind turbines into their energy plan could save the nation a lot more money and it could become a much more power efficient country.
 * Explain what you would do to make your thing better or in a larger scale**

The number one users of this technology are power plants and utility companies. These companies use the energy produced by the wind turbines to supply electrical power to their area. One of the biggest suppliers and most well known is General Electric. GE doesn’t only supply single and/or several turbines for small or hundreds wind farms on land but also off shore. GE was recently elected by the nation’s leader in wind energy generation, NextEra Energy Resources, WindBOOST technology to enhance the output of their fleet of roughly 800 GE wind turbines. By selecting GE for this job NextEra Energy Resources will be able to produce more power without changing anything significant on the wind turbines. This technology is an example of how wind turbines can be enhanced without making any severe changes to the wind turbines themselves. NextEra Energy resources are using wind farms to produce electricity because of their efficiency and power output.
 * Explain who uses the technology and why**



In order for the wind turbines to become better there must be more turbines. That is the easiest way to make them better. The more turbines there are the more energy they will produce. Also, GE’s new technology that enhances the wind turbines could become a trademark for all turbines. If all wind turbines had this new technology it would also greatly increase their productivity and output of energy and power.
 * After learning about it what would you change to make it better? Why?**

Work Cited [] [|http://www.sextonwindpower.com/][] "Wind and CO2." //American Wind Energy Association//. 1996-2008. Web. 04 June 2010. [].