WIND POWER

Maeve Riley

Shannon Powers

Patrick Ryan

Matt Minotti

The Basics of Wind Power

Wind power is a pollution free energy source

Wind power is the fastest growing segment of all the renewable energy sources

Wind power can be used in almost 50% of the United States

Almost 1/3 of all the worlds wind-powered electricity is produced in California

There are two types of wind turbines, the vertical

axis and the horizontal axis.

WIND TURBINES and HOW THEY WORK

The blades of wind turbines are called vanes As the vanes spin around they power other machines

called generator Inside a generator there is a large round magnet that

spins around on a pole connected to the turbine Around the magnet there are thousands of coils of wire Electrical power is produced as the magnet spins around

inside the coils of wire using this process, the average wind turbine is able to produce 1.5 Megawatts, or 1 million watts

http://www.nrel.gov/learining/re_wind.html

The origins of wind turbines Wind turbine develop from windmills, machines used to

grind grain and to pump water The first windmills were developed in Persia in between

500-900 A.D. These windmills had a vertical axis

The first windmills to appear in Western Europe had a horizontal axis

These windmills had 4 paddle like wooden blades The first use of the large windmill to generate electricity

was built in Cleveland, Ohio in 1888 by Charles F. Brush During the 1930’s, wind energy nearly disappeared

because of low oil prices and government policies favoring the construction of utility lines and fossil fuel plants

HOW IS WIND POWER USED Over the ages, wind energy has been used to: Pump water Grind corn Push sail boats down the Nile Grinding grain Provide lift for hang gliders Fly kites and, They have been used for base jumping

WHERE WIND TURBINES ARE FOUND Wind turbines can be found in oceans.

The country with the most wind turbines as of 2010 is Australia.

Wind turbines can be found anywhere there is enough room to place them and no danger to the people living there.

Preferred locations for wind turbines have sufficient, constant amounts of wind.

Some factors that limit the production of wind turbines include having to transport them to the area they are needed, and the assembling of the turbines

Advantages of using wind power

1.) Wind is free and with modern technology it can be easily harnessed.

2.) Once the wind turbine is built the energy it produces is pollution free.

3.) Wind turbines take up only a small amount of land, this means that the land below can still be used for other purposes such as farming.

4.) Many people find wind farms an interesting structure to look at.

5.) Wind turbines are a useful source of energy for rural areas that are not connected to the power grid.

6.) Wind turbines are available in a variety of sizes, so they can be used by small villages and large cities.

Disadvantages of Wind Power

The strength of the wind is not constant, which means that there will be times that the turbine produces no electricity

Some environmentalists feel that the countryside should be without these structures

Some people find wind turbines annoying because they are extremely noisy.

While wind turbines are in the manufacturing process some pollution is produced. Therefore wind power isn't completely pollution free.

The largest wind turbine in production can only provide enough electricity for 475 homes while running at full capacity. This means that an entire wind farm is needed to power one community

Wind turbine construction can be very expensive and costly to surrounding wild life.

THE COST OF WIND TURBINES! Wind turbines under 100 kilowatts generally cost $3,000-

5,000 per kilowatt of capacity. For commercial scale wind turbines the cost may range

from 1.2 million to 2.6 million. Factors that impact the cost of building a wind turbine

include the location of the project, the type of the machine and construction contacts.

Wind turbine costs have decreased over the past couple years because of a decrease of the cost of the electricity produced by the turbines.

OCEANIC WIND TURBINES

Wind turbines are more productive on the ocean because the waters more natural density requires fewer turbines to produce the same amount of power.

Three types of wind turbines have been presented by MIT. These include one that is balanced in the water by a ballast, another that is stabilized by mooring lines, and the one that is the most common today, the buoyancy stabilized wind turbine.

These turbines are shown below

EQUIPMENT NEEDED TO CAPTURE IT Wind turbines need the following parts to work correctly A rotor A generator Transmission An axis A shaft A gearbox A nacelle And a tail vane

FUN FACTS ABOUT WIND ENERGY

50% of USA territory can be used for wind energy. Although wind energy is a very continent energy

source, its not used on its full potential. In Europe wind energy can be a growing trend. Wind energy is still not used on a global scale. Wind energy can stop fossil fuel shortage. Wind energy theory was discovered in 1919 by German

physicist Albert Betz The first power generating wind turbine was constructed

right here in Ohio

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

The future for wind energy is looking bright Wind turbines are rapidly becoming more efficient

because per kilowatt costs are dropping due to less expensive equipment

This cost drop is due to the latest technological breakthroughs

Before long, we could see many small scale wind turbines popping up everywhere because they are more cost efficient

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Wind Power--An Illustrated History of Its Development." TelosNet of Colorado. Web. 09 Mar. 2012. http://telosnet.com/wind/.

"The Future of Wind Energy." Future of Wind Energy. Web. 09 Mar. 2012. http://www.fuelfromthewind.com/the_future_of_wind_energy.htm.

"Interesting Energy Facts." Wind Energy Facts -. Web. 09 Mar. 2012. http://interestingenergyfacts.blogspot.com/2008/03/wind-energy-facts.html.

"Wind Energy Basics." Wind Energy EIS Public Information Center. Web. 09 Mar. 2012. http://windeis.anl.gov/guide/basics/index.cfm.

"Advantages and Disadvantages of Wind Power." A Design and Technology Site. Web. 09 Mar. 2012. http://www.technologystudent.com/energy1/wind8.htm.

"Offshore Wind Energy." OCS Alternative Energy and Alternate Use Programmatic EIS Information Center. Web. 09 Mar. 2012. http://ocsenergy.anl.gov/guide/wind/.

"Related Information." How Much Do Wind Turbines Cost? Web. 09 Mar. 2012. http://www.windustry.org/how-much-do-wind-turbines-cost.