Contois.Parker.spring.wiki.2011

Wind Power One of the oldest ways to make energy - 4000 years old Nobody knows who invented wind power or when it was invented, but whoever was responsible came up with an amazing idea. One of the first methods used to create wind power was to sew together animal skins that acted as sails. Then as it was modified over time, people made the blades out of big squares of cloth. The wind would push against the squares of cloth causing them to turn and this motion was used to grind grain into flour. The first windmills probably began in A.D. 600's in Persia, which is now Iran.





Massachusetts Maritime Academy's Very Own Windmill!!!!


=What is the problem?=

A major, if not the biggest problem, that America is facing is our enrgy crisis. We are depenedent on foriegn fossil fuels and use an incredible amount of them. The prices contiune to rise and effect our economy. Meanwhile, the emmisions of buring fossil fuels are slowing killing our planet. We have depleted so many oil reserves across the globe that if we dont come up with an alternate energy source(s) we will run oursleves broke and eventually run out of the fuel all together.



= = =How it works = Why wind is formed?

With an uneven atmosphere parts are heated so some patches become warmer than others. Warm patches of air rises while others blow into replace them. Wind power works by converting kinetic into mechanical energy. A turbine is turned by the force of wind which then turns the machinery, generating power. We can use the energy of the wind by building a tower with a large propeller on top which later turns a generator. Wind power works by using a turbine to harvest the wind energy. This turbine then spins as the wind passes through. As it spins the kinetic energy is turned into electricity to power homes and businesses.

All wind turbines have a few things in common. They all stand at least 100 feet off the ground so that they can catch the rapid, consistent winds except for eggbeater turbines that harness ground winds. All other turbines have rotors and three blades making them look like big fans. As the blades spin, they connect to a generator box that produces electricity. Because wind turbines only generate electricity when the wind blows, people need to find a way to store energy to use when the wind is not blowing or use wind in connection with other fuel sources.

What is a generator? An electrical machine which produces electricity. It must be turned by a prime mover such as an internal combustion engine or in our case a turbine. It is like an electric motor in reverse. Instead of applying electricity to it to make it spin, when you spin it, it makes electricity. It does this by spinning a series of windings of fine wire called the armature inside of a fixed magnetic field by connecting them to a belt and pulley arrangement on the engine. As the armature is spun by the rotation of the belt and pulley, it gets a current and voltage generated in those windings of wire. That current and voltage will be directly proportional to the speed that the armature spins and to the strength of the magnetic field. If you spin it faster, it makes more and if you make the magnetic field stronger it makes more current. The speed of the spinning is controlled by the speed of the engine - that's why you need to rev the engine up to help charge the battery faster. The magnetic field is controlled by an electro-magnet, so by changing the amount of current supplied to the electro-magnets that make up the field you control the strength of the magnetic field. This current is referred to as the "field" current and it is controlled by the regulator in response to the electrical needs of the automobile at any given time.





=**What Are Some of the Advantages** = The advantages of wind power are that it is a clean, renewable resource, it doesn’t pollute the air, there is plenty to go around and it is cheap. Disadvantages of wind power are that there is a higher initial investment than there is with fossil fuel energy, the wind doesn’t always blow when needed, and we don’t have very good ways to store it yet. The turbines can also be noisy and birds can get killed in the rotor blades. Good sites are usually far from cities where most energy is needed. Wind is a renewable source that is constantly recycled in nature. The use of wind power helps to conserve our natural resources and maintain the beauty of our environment. We need to take advantage of our natural gifts. The result will be a lasting supply of energy for people and a healthier future for our planet. =Who uses this Technology and why? = Five countries make up 80% of the world’s wind energy supply. These countries are Germany, USA, Denmark, Spain, and India. Denmark has been using wind power since the 1890’s. Even the USA used it until the 1940’s when fossil fuel became so inexpensive. Now the USA is again making more efforts to use wind power. India ranks 5th in the world in wind power production and use. The states of Tamilnadu and Gujarat lead in the field of wind energy. India saved more than 3.7 million tons of coal by using wind power. Australian scientists have developed gyromills. Gyromills are highflying wind turbines tied to the ground by cables. They catch the energy of the jet stream. Mexico is one of the leading buyers of wind power equipment. Mexico currently is not a major user of wind power, but there have been many new programs to increase their use of wind. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is working with Mexico’s National Commission for Energy Services to promote projects. NREL’s resource mapping for wind capacity has revealed over 6000 MW of useable wind energy in the isthmus region of Oaxaca alone. Mexico’s energy regulator has approved a 250MW wind power self-supply generation project. This park would have 300 turbines and generate an estimated 876GW a year. Holland has been using windmills to move water to keep the country from flooding for many years.

=**How much CO2 does Wind Power Produce?** = Other facts: <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">A typical turbine generates 5.3 million units of electricity each year, sufficient to: <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">- Meet the average annual electricity needs of 1,000 homes <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">- Make 170 million cups of tea <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">- Run a computer for 1,620 years <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">- Prevent the emission of 2,000 tonnes of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide – equivalent to taking 667 cars off the road.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">2260 tonnes of CO2 each year is the amount CO2 produced by wind power

=**How Much Water can it Purify and How It Help Us?**= <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">A wind turbine itself does not purify water. It produces energy to power what ever there is to make the purification of the water. It can produce enough energy to run the purifier. All extra energy can be stored and used later so there will always be energy to run the purifier. Water can later be stored in a tank and also stored and a continuation of this will continue to supply clean water. ====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Wind Turbines (Wind Power Generators) of 3 and 30 kW power can solve this problem, starting from pumping the polluted water into the input pipelines and finishing by pumping of pure water into the output pipelines. The system generates pure water from totally unused sources. It provides itself with power with the help of Wind Turbine (together with solar panels in some cases), and provides the pumping and purification of water. The volume of the tank for water storage should meet the requirements of consumer and should be made in accordance with the power of energy source and volume of water purificatio<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">n. ("SRC vertical") ==== =!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Wind Power Will Reduce Our Dependence On Foreign Fuel Sources!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!=

= =﻿Why isn't it used everywhere!?= Some of the main problems are the fact that wind power is not accessiable everywhere. Only certain areas such as coastal zones recieve the wind that is needed to produce the desired effect. Also, as far as turbines in the oceans, they need to be placed where they dont effect commerce and are not visibiel from shore, meanwhile finding a shallow enough place to install them. Also, many people hate the apperence of them and consider them eyesores. =<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">WHAT DO PROPONENTS SAY? =

“With the right subsidies, wind could become a viable energy source. And, with the right subsidies, gasoline could be made free, and 2-carat diamonds could be given away in cereal boxes. How is it that wind, with a 4000-year head start, is such a small player in the energy scene? Could it be — just possibly — that the answer has something to do with physics instead of economics and politics?" -Dr. Howard Hayden, Professor Emeritus of Physics, University of Connecticut "So I support comprehensive legislation that would overhaul our energy taxes; signal the market 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 "First, there is the power of the Wind, constantly exerted over the globe.... Here is an almost incalculable power at our disposal, yet how trifling the use we make of it! It only serves to turn a few mills, blow a few vessels across the ocean, and a few trivial ends besides. What a poor compliment do we pay to our indefatigable and energetic servant!" -Henry Thoreau "In Adelie Land, Antarctica, a howling river of wind, 50 miles wide, blows off the plateau, month in and month out, at an average velocity of 50 m.p.h. As a source of power this compares favorably with 6,000 tons of water falling every second over Niagara Falls. I will not further anticipate some H. G. Wells of the future who will ring the antarctic with power-producing windmills; but the winds of the Antarctic have to be felt to be believed, and nothing is quite impossible to physicists and engineers." -Frank Debenham

=﻿WHAT DO THE CRITICS HAVE TO SAY?= "The Whinash project, by replacing energy generation from power stations burning fossil fuel, will reduce carbon dioxide emission by 178,000 tonnes a year. This is impressive, until you discover that a single jumbo jet, flying from London to Miami and back every day, releases the climate-change equivalent of 520,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. One daily connection between Britain and Florida costs three giant wind farms." -George Monbiot, visiting professor of planning at Oxford Brookes University and 1995 recipient of the United Nations Global 500 Award for outstanding environmental achievement Wind farms are "environmentally damaging money wasters whose large scale use increases power demand. The New Age dream of a world operated by wind farms will remain a dream because the laws of physics do not allow it in an industrialised world. If wind power were economic then oil tankers would be sailing ships". -Dr. Richard Courtney, internationally recognised expert on Energy and climate change

Wind power does not make up a big part of the worlds energy supply and it is becasue of all the objections it recieves. People dont want to look out there back yards and see a big wind mill spinnig around. Others say that it doesnt make up enough energy and the payoff with saved emmisions will not mkae a big enough impact.





=﻿What Miss. Parker and Mr. Contois would do....=

We feel as though wind power can and should make up far more of our energy supply than it does. The fuel to power the machines is free and all around us! Of course if the price of making the units could decrease that would beneficial, however, this technology should still be used more vastly. Any emmisions saved does make a diffrence! Giving less money to foriegn countires and creating jobs in America to make the mills will make a diffrence!

=<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**References:** = <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">"The voice of Wind and Marine Energy." //RenewableUK//. N.p., 2010. Web. 2 Jun 2011. <http://www.bwea.com/edu/calcs.html>.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">"Windpower Wind energy and Renewable energy." //Intellectual Takeout//. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Jun 2011. <http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/library/science-technology/natural-resource-management/air/wind-power-windmills-and-renewable-energy>.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">"Wind Power Quotes." //Today In Science History//. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Jun 2011. <http://www.todayinsci.com/QuotationsCategories/W_Cat/WindPower-Quotations.htm>.

<span style="color: #333333; display: block; font-family: times new roman,times,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">"Water Purification." //SRC vertical//. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Jun 2011. <http://www.eng.src-vertical.com/products/waterfier/>.