Here in Oz a number of rural towns use wind turbines as a supplemental energy
sources. This is of course hailed as a great triumph of alternative energy.
I am all for use of wind turbines, but their use is supplemental. They cannot be
relied upon to produce base or peak load power, that capacity has to be available
through conventional means, either diesel generators or the grid. All the wind
turbines can do is reduce actual usage, which is important in itself of course.
Another issue is the fact that the largest wind turbines produce not much more than
~1 megawatt per turbine. So a thousand turbines on hill tops, coastlines, and other
windy areas would be necessary to replace one large coal or nuclear station. As wind
turbines are relatively noisy and visually intrusive, one could expect the NIMBY
reflex to come into effect quite quickly.
Jon
Glenn Morton wrote:
> There was an article in the Financial Times yesterday which bears on our
> discussion of energy. Here are some quotes:
>
> "In 2000 wind power systems had a capacity to generate electricity of
> 17.57GW, according to DKW in a new report. This figure should grow to 66.93
> GW by 2006, according to the bank's forecasts, with the US having by then
> surpassed Germany as the country with the largest amount of electricity
> generated through wind power." Peter Marsh, "Wind Power Systems poised to
> Triple over Next Five Years," Financial Times 1/23/01, p. 15
> **
> "Between 2000 and 2005 the price of electricity from wind power turbines is
> expected to drop 17 percent from $900/kW (£608/kW) of installed capacity to
> $750/kW, reflecting improvements in technology." Peter Marsh, "Wind Power
> Systems poised to Triple over Next Five Years," Financial Times 1/23/01, p.
> 15
>
> Sounds really great. Then you realize the following:
>
> "In 2000 wind power produced only about 0.2 percent of the total 3,300 GW
> world electricity generation capacity.
> "However, this figure is likely to rise to 1.42 per cent in 2005 and 3.11
> percent in 2010, according to Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. By 2020 the
> share could expand to 7 per cent, by which point wind energy could generate
> a total of some 400 GW--roughly equivalent to 10 large conventional power
> stations." Peter Marsh, "Wind Power Systems poised to Triple over Next Five
> Years," Financial Times 1/23/01, p. 15
>
> Electricity is only a small fraction of the energy that we actually use. If
> we expect wind to be a significant player in the future, we need to cover
> the earth with turbines.
>
> glenn
>
> see http://www.glenn.morton.btinternet.co.uk/dmd.htm
> for lots of creation/evolution information
> anthropology/geology/paleontology/theology\
> personal stories of struggle
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