Wind farms.

Discussion in 'Science & Society' started by EmptyForceOfChi, Sep 7, 2007.

  1. EmptyForceOfChi Banned Banned

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    i was thinking of placing this in earth science, according to the wind related energy. but i want this thread to go into a more economic direction.

    firstly, about how much energy could we as a developed world actualy harness?. and would it be enough to power everything we need?. giving all the natural space and farmland we have combined. not to mention beaches, mountains and deserts etc.

    ofcourse combined with other sources of natural energy but thats for another thread. secondly, if say i were to want to start up a wind farm personaly, howmuch funding would i need with everything combined?, equipment, land, staff, research, upgrades etc.


    peace.
     
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  3. draqon Banned Banned

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    California gets 10% of its energy from wind...

    the many turbines it has got, the maintenance...is it really worth it?

    And were will I watch sunset? Underneath the turning blades...?
    And were will I enjoy the wind? Tuning to the rotor screeching everlasting...?
    And what will I eat from fields now full of wind turbines? .... or shall I eat air?
     
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  5. nietzschefan Thread Killer Valued Senior Member

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    Frankly I think all roofs should be solar paneled. That would be huge energy, there are really good high output panels nowdays.
     
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  7. EmptyForceOfChi Banned Banned

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    i agree totaly, in london we are starting to build "green estates" where it is dependant on its own energy source. solar panels on the roof, windmills and other energy saving tech.

    they will get very common in london over the comming years, i can tell its a good start.

    but this is about wind

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    peace.
     
  8. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    If you're talking about the real thing and not the scaled-down ones used at homes and on remote farms, you're looking at serious money. I'm sure there some cheaper models avaliable (just how much cheaper, I don't know) but I read in the news that one farm being installed right now will have 17 windmills that cost $1.5 million each. And I expect the availability of those cheaper ones are fading fast because the newer ones are more efficient - and efficiency IS the name of the game.
     
  9. EmptyForceOfChi Banned Banned

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    what is the main expense with a windmill when constructing one?

    peace.
     
  10. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    The material/parts.

    The tower, alternator, voltage regulator, propeller (blades) and the pitch adjusters. Upkeep is expensive as well but not nearly as much as the initial cost, of course.
     
  11. EmptyForceOfChi Banned Banned

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    is the profit made in returns a good amount? supplying energy ofcourse.


    peace.
     
  12. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    Probably nothing like you might imagine. I saw one time - about 4 or 5 years ago - that it was in the 3% to 6% range. That means it takes a LONG time to get that initial investment back. Besides enviromental and people concerns, that's the primary reason why you don't see them popping up in more locations than they are.
     
  13. Odin'Izm Procrastinator Registered Senior Member

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    Scotland is considered the best place in Europe for wind farms according to a recent survey by some German energy firm I think Enercon, I went to a conference a couple of years ago, now they or someone else placed three large turbines (2.5 MW peak…I think) in Dundee, the energy from them is sufficient...at least equivalently, it sends the energy into the grid not directly to houses.

    Now they are putting up a large off shore feild, and some more near Edinburgh and Glasgow... we will see where it all goes, I did'nt like them anyway they were very sure of everything. Solar all the way.
     
  14. dixonmassey Valued Senior Member

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    The estimates all over the Google. People (who made estimates) think that it will take 130,000 of 1MW windmills to substitute for the energy of 5% of the oil consumed. Or, 2,600,000 of huge 100 ft+ high structures. That's tens of millions of acres of land, hundreds of thousands of dead birds, lots of noise, the climate should be also affected. Not going to happen. Plus, really windy places are rather in short supply.
     
  15. milkweed Valued Senior Member

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    I recently viewed a wind power display. The technology has come a long way but is still out of grasp for many people. They had one non-intrusive tower set up. Maybe 3 stories tall (with a base that was around 6 feet by 6 feet) that would generate an estimated monthly revenue of between $30 and $120 in excess wind power at .10 kw (I am going from memory and really regret not picking up their pamplets). The variation in revenue was based on average wind speed differences across this state. It was a much more complicated system and I dont know if the computer to run it was included in the price.

    The killer part of this was the set up was between 60 and 70K (installed).

    They had a smaller unit they described as being good for a cabin or fish house type operation. I cant remember if it was 750 or 7500 dollars for the unit.

    There was no wind at the time I was viewing this display so I cannot comment on the noise generated.
     
  16. Nickelodeon Banned Banned

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    What about offshore wind farms? As long as you dont build them in shipping lanes......

    The danes have done a lot of work on this. Horns Rev looks impressive. Being offshore you can get away with much bigger structures. Some of them are large enough to have helipads on the nacelle.
     
  17. Nickelodeon Banned Banned

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  18. Stryder Keeper of "good" ideas. Valued Senior Member

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    The main problem with Electricity generation is the distance at which electricity can be delivered, the further you are away from power plants the greater the loss in overall power output since energy is lost on route (After all that's where electricity's electromagnetic field comes from, the energy transforming into this field as loss.)

    This means that it's great to put wind farms in (onshore and offshore) however there is an overall distance at which power can be distributed from those farms, where other energy producing methods would have to pick up. (Basically you have to have 'Grids', to deal with placing power generating systems at points to cover all the area in between and it's not a simple case of shifting extra energy from one farm to an area thousands of miles away because of the losses incurred)

    What you could suggest though is if everyone that had a garden or enough space had their own private wind turbine, that's lessening the loss of energy taken from the turbine and the excess can be put into the grid. Of course all those people complaining about windmills ruining their 'scenery' might of course stop that from ever happening.
     
  19. Harmonic_Subset Registered Senior Member

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