10. Environmental effects Wind power consumes no fuel, and emits no air pollution, unlike fossil fuel power sources. The energy consumed to manufacture and transport the materials used to build a wind power plant is equal to the new energy produced by the plant within a few months of operation. Danger to birds and bats has been a concern in some locations. However, studies show that the number of birds killed by wind turbines is very low. wind energy help to prevent global warming.
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12. Capacity Factor The capacity factor is used to measure the productivity of a wind turbine. A capacity factor is usually 40% to 80% for normal wind plants. The capacity factor is the actual amount produced over time divided by the power that would’ve been produced if the turbine operated at maximum output 100% of the time.
14. Wind Power and Politics 2008 Farm Bill- Title VI amends the Electrification Act of 1936 by including loans for renewable energy sources which includes wind power. Texas is the largest producer of wind energy in the USA ,and the Public Utility Officials have given permission for building billions of dollars worth of transmission lines that can transport clean electricity from West Texas to urban areas. This is the biggest investment in clean and non conventional energy in USA and 18,000 megawatts of renewable energy is enough to power more than 4 million Texas homes. The plan still needs to receive final approval. On the other side of the issue is the arguments against it. On August 6, 2009, North Carolina voted to ban wind energy in the mountain counties. They argued that the wind turbines would ruin the natural beauty of the mountains. Many people all over America share the same concerns, making it hard for wind energy to spread.
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17. How it Works Wind, you would think is not a source of power because how could it be? You cannot see wind? Well it is a source of power and when there is motion you have kinetic energy. The idea of the wind turbines is to capture the kinetic energy in the wind. When the turbines capture the wind energy their propellers start moving and this sends a direct signal to the rotor generator. From the generator the rotational energy created by the propellers of the turbine can be transferred into electricity.
18. For? Or Against? The wind turbines are a great way to provide energy today especially with the high demand of power, however, there is also some disadvantage.
19. Disadvantages of Wind Turbines 1. The strength of the wind is not constant and it varies from zero to storm force. This means that wind turbines do not produce the same amount of electricity all the time. There will be times when they produce no electricity at all.2. Many people feel that the countryside should be left untouched, without these large structures being built. The landscape should left in its natural form for everyone to enjoy.3. Wind turbines are noisy. Each one can generate the same level of noise as a family car travelling at 70 mph.4. Many people see large wind turbines as unsightly structures and not pleasant or interesting to look at. They disfigure the countryside and are generally ugly.5. When wind turbines are being manufactured some pollution is produced. Therefore wind power does produce some pollution.6. Large wind farms are needed to provide entire communities with enough electricity. For example, the largest single turbine available today can only provide enough electricity for 475 homes, when running at full capacity. How many would be needed for a town of 100 000 people?
20. Wind Turbine Syndrome The symptoms start when local turbines go into operation and resolve when the turbines are off or when the person is out of the area. The symptoms include: 1) Sleep problems: noise or physical sensations of pulsation or pressure make it hard to go to sleep and cause frequent awakening.2) Headaches which are increased in frequency or severity.3) Dizziness, unsteadiness, and nausea.4) Exhaustion, anxiety, anger, irritability, and depression.5) Problems with concentration and learning.6) Tinnitus (ringing in the ears).
21. For-Wind Turbines Not everyone near turbines have symptoms. This does not mean people are making them up; it means there are differences among people in susceptibility. These differences are known as risk factors. Defining risk factors and the proportion of people who get symptoms is the role of epidemiologic studies. These studies are under way. Chronic sleep disturbance is the most common symptom. Exhaustion, mood problems, and problems with concentration and learning are natural outcomes of poor sleep. Wind energy is economically competitive. With today’s rising coal and gas prices, new wind plants compete favorably against any new electricity generation source. Wind energy is a valuable crop of the future for farmers and ranchers. Wind farms located in rural areas generate energy that can be transmitted to load centers in urban areas via the regional utility grid. The rural areas retain the jobs, as well as land lease revenue for farmers and ranchers (as much as $4000 per turbine per year). Wind turbines are compatible with rural land uses—crops can be grown and livestock can be grazed up to the base of the turbine.2 Wind energy also provides an increased local tax base for rural areas. Prowers County, home to the Lamar project, increased its local tax base by $32 million.3 The 912 MW of new wind power installed in Texas in 2001 will deliver $13.3 million in tax revenue for schools and counties.
22. Unlike most other electricity generation sources, wind turbines don’t consume water. Irrigation and thermal electric generation account for approximately 77% of U.S. fresh water use. Conventional plants generating power from fossil and nuclear fuels use large amounts of water for cooling; wind turbines do not use water.5 That makes wind energy a great choice for drought-stricken communities in rural America. Wind energy is an indigenous, homegrown energy source that contributes to national security. The United States is the world’s largest importer of oil and natural gas, which often originate in troubled areas of the world. The Great Plains region, which has been dubbed “the Saudi Arabia of wind” because of its tremendous untapped wind energy potential, offers homegrown energy, which increases national security. Reliance on indigenous resources also reduces the balance of payments that threatens our national economic security. Because of the distributed aspect of wind energy, it is less vulnerable than large liquefied natural gas (LNG) ports or large thermoelectric power plants. Wind energy is inexhaustible and infinitely renewable. Unlike conventional fossil fuels, wind energy is renewable, abundant energy that will be available for future generations. Wind energy has many environmental benefits. Wind energy is clean energy that produces no emissions, which means it doesn’t contribute to acid rain and snow, global climate change, smog, regional haze, mercury contamination, water withdrawal, and particulate-related health effects.
23. Wind energy is the fuel of today and tomorrow. Today, wind provides competitive electricity. Tomorrow, it is likely to be the cheapest source of electricity for the distributed generation of hydrogen. Wind energy can be used in a variety of applications. Small wind turbines, alone or as part of a hybrid system, can power homes, businesses, and farms/ranches. Wind energy is perfect for remote applications, such as water pumping, ice making, powering telecommunications sites, and displacing diesel fuel in villages. Community wind projects include projects for schools, tribes, municipal utilities, and rural electric cooperatives.
24. The Side Effects of Wind Energy Shift the earth off its rotational axis and send it hurtling toward the sun in a matter of decades. Alter local and global climate by extracting kinetic energy and altering turbulent transport in the atmospheric boundary layer. Very large amounts of wind power can produce non negligible climatic change at continental scales. Turbulence generated by rotors create eddies that can enhance vertical mixing of momentum, heat, and scalars, usually leading to a warming and drying of the surface air and reduced surface sensible heat flux. The wind farm significantly slows down the wind at the turbine hub-height level.
25. Better or Worse? Wind power is the most promising alternative source of energy. Turbines could provide electricity for other energy needs. Coal with carbon sequestration emits 60- to 110-times more carbon and air pollution than wind energy, and nuclear emits about 25-times more carbon and air pollution than wind energy. Both coal and nuclear energy plants take much longer to plan, permit and construct than wind energy.
26. Best to worst electric power sources 1. Wind power 2. Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) 3. Geothermal power 4. Tidal power 5. Solar Photovoltaic (PV) 6. Wave Power 7. Hydroelectric power 8. A tie between nuclear power and coal with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS)
27. Although using the wind energy will causes some problems, wind energy is a really good nuclear energy.
28. If Cushing use the wind mills to produce the electricity. I think it can save a lot of money.
