Wind farms: hot or not? 1
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24 May 2005 4:45 PM
by David Roberts -
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Treehugger has an excellent photo contest running. They want to see both the ugliest and the most attractive ... wind farms. Go check 'em out!
David Roberts is staff writer for Grist. You can follow his Twitter feed at twitter.com/drgrist.
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amazingdrx Posted 3:54 am
25 May 2005
A quick check of the annual avertage windspeed map shows that the nearly deserted region in the middle of the northern midwestern great plains is the best area for huge wind machines.
And hardly anyone will see them. The economy of scale, mass production and installation, and lack of objection to siting will more than make up for transportation losses of the power to where it is needed. In the same way that hydroelectric power from Canada is transported ..on low loss 500 kvdc lines.
I am not opposed to smaller local machines, and even small scale home units are economically viable over decades long energy savings for homeowners.
But the thing about these huge 1000 foot machines is that the power generated could come in at 2 cents per kwh independent of fuel costs, there are none for wind power.
The 500 foot blades move slowly compared to the flight of birds, and can even be padded to further reduce bird kills. A slight loss of efficiency to save birds is not a problem on this scale in the very high average wind areas.
If capital were allocated to upgrade and extend the national power grid and create a fair market in electric power that couldn't be manipulated by monopolists, the majority of power could come from these huge machines in remote sites, no more NIMBY.
For local machines where noise, bird kills, and unsightliness are prime concerns, vertical axis designs that are 2 to 3 times wider than they are high maybe the answer. The blades move slower, they are less visible, and they get around local tower height restrictions.
Enough power can still be provided even in fairly low average wind areas to power small buinesses, farms, and homes economically. The cost structure for these local machines needs to favor the investor a bit more and the power company a bit less and these applications would take off.
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