Week 4- Wind Turbines

Modern Turbines vs Windmills

-Both harness kinetic energy in the wind to do work

-Windmills convert wind energy into torque for pumping water or grinding flour.

-Modern wind turbines spin a generator to produce electricity. This requires less torque and shaft speed. 

How a Wind Turbine Works

-Wind turbines convert kinetic energy from the blowing  wind into electricity 

-The wind pushes the blades of the turbine to rotate around a central hub 

-This rotation turns a generator that produces electricity

-The faster the generator spins the more electricity it produces

Why do Modern Wind Turbines use 3 Blades?

We looked into this and originally we thought more blades would mean more electricity but that isn't true. For example, if we used 4 blades, it is much more expensive to make and it doesn't make it any more efficient. It still produces the same amount of energy as 3 blades. Removing a blade and only having 2 brought many other risks. The blades would spin much faster which becomes dangerous. They are also louder and they often have balance issues. 3 is the perfect in-between. It's efficient while still being cost-effective. 

Problems with Wind Turbines

-Transmission Problems

-Power production is not located around major population centers

-How do we get wind energy from the wind farms to the population centers? 

-Sound and Visual impacts of Wind turbines. 

-Not in my backyard mindset.

The Future of Wind Power

-Offshore wind power places energy production much closer to major population centers

-Will use 2 blades

-Offshore wind farms have fewer impacts on their neighbors

Wind Energy Benefits

1. Wind energy is competitive

2. Wind energy creates jobs

3. Wind energy helps to diversify the National Energy Portfolio

4. Wind energy provides income to farmers as well as economic benefits to the community

5. Wind energy is an inexhaustible renewable resource

6. Wind turbines don't consume water

7. Wind energy is clean

8. Wind energy is deployed in all US regions and is widely supported

9. High levels of wind energy can be integrated with minimal cost increases while providing environmental benefits