Wind Energy Facts

Richard asks...COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE VARIOUS FORMS OF ENERGY IN TERMS OF THEIR AVAILABILITY? their cost and their impact upon the environment. Include the alternative sources of ENERGY in your answer.WINDMILL FARMS ANSWERS: I just wish someone would bring up the actual facts on wind power.Sure, its renewable, sure, its freebasically..but do we really want to convert our beautiful landscale to these farms of ugly white windmills ? The same windmills the elitist politicians and high to do don't want in their own back yards or along the nature scenery that they have bought homes next to ? Why is it that the poor or those that are marginalized without being able to voice their opinions get the nuke plant plopped in their back yard.Not saying Nuclear energy is bad, its very efficiet and cleanBut this assualt on America's energy needs to stop. Why are eco whacko's interferring with government policy ? Why are a bunch of morons that made up an alternative energy (Ethanol) not getting their rightful kick to the curb ? This 10% solution turns to gell in cold temps.there was a report from Minnesota where school buses stopped because of this. We have reports that due to the country being forced to use this crap that boat engines are being damages since none were made to run this junk. Think people.what the hell are we initiating policy on fuels that are crap and not useful in the market ? We quadrupaled the price of Corn during this run up, as a result, more farmers planted corn to ride the boom and that sent all other commodities up since there was less supply than demand. We know that an engine running with ethanol has about 30% less power than gas, is more heavily subsidized to make it competitive (meaning a waste of our tax dollarsso driving or not, we are all paying for it) not to mention that there are alternative fuels out there that are just as good if not better that aren't made from corn at all.Why is it the safety problems of wind isn't told ? Or that the wind makes them viable for only 25% of the time ? That petroleum products are still needed for grease and maintenance ? That transmission lines have adversely effected residents living too close to the farms ? Not to mention the asthetics of an area littered by these monstrosities ?Solar is much more viable, but rather than huge farms with transmission lines, we ought to build them into roofs to supplement each home or block with them.Seems alot of questions are asked about alternative fuels and energy sources when people should be asking the obvious.Does it make Sense ? What will we have to sacrifice if we go this route ? What are we supporting an inefficient form of energy ? Because Nancy Pelosi and T Boon pickens has invested so much ? Isn't there a conflict in interest there just a little ? Look at all the time and money we have sunk into the wind power so farand what is the real value ? Less than 1% of the power we use is generated by it. At the price of those that have been medically effectedat the price of trying to force a good idea on paper down everyone's throats whether they liked it or not ? At the price of our landscapes ?At least a nuclear plant you can hide with trees.i've seen it done in Balston Spa, New York.With a solar farm, at least the sun has proven to be more useful and productive than wind.Green technology to build a building more energy efficient goes a long way too.And coal, we aren't the bastion of pollution we use to be in the 70s, we are afflicted by acid rain like back then, and technology has changed. Coal isn't the bastard child it use to be. And we are the Saudi Arabia of Coal. It is plentifulbut If Obama has his way, he will mess the USA up with his policy of cap and trademaking it almost impossible for anyone to build a new coal plant.Talk about conspiracy.the government not allowing America to drill for its own oilbuild its own coal plants.limiting new refineries.just where do the loyalties of our own government lie ? Helen asks...WIND ENERGY? Besides the fact that it can't be stored for later usage, what are some drawbacks to the harnessing and use of WINDENERGY?WINDMILL FARMS ANSWERS: The drawbacks are that it isn't appropriate everywhere(Some places are just less windy) and it isn't constant (the wind comes and goes). However, no technology is appropriate in 100% of cases. We need a mix of energy sources that are each appropriate to the bioregion in which they are being used. The awesome thing about wind power is that the best places for high amounts of constant wind are off shore areas, and the majority of the worlds population lives in costal regions. Wind and tidal energy could provide a signifigant portion of the energy portfolio of this massive wedge of the human population. No electricity can be "stored" for later use, unless you consider batteries, electrolis into hydrogen, or aquatic gravity pumps. Storage is difficult, but no more or less difficult if the energy comes from wind. Daniel asks...WHERE CAN I FIND A SMALL WIND ENERGY WINDMILL IN WESTERN MARYLAND? I keep reading about home sized windmills. The only ones the government seems to be interested in are the humongous 3 bladed giants with 100 ft wingspans, not very practical for my back yard here in Frederick Maryland.WINDMILL FARMS ANSWERS: For wind energy facts for Maryland small wind energy turbines;Go to http://www.reasonablepower.com. See:http://www.reasonablepower.com. Before you scream reverent praise for the 3 bladed "airfoil lifting" wind turbines, read this: http://www.reasonablepower.com/nice to know/Aerodynamic Characteristics from Sandia.htm Robert asks...- WHAT IS A WIND ENERGY? - WHY WIND ENERGY ECO-FRIENDLY? - WHAT ARE WIND TURBINES? HOW WERE THEY INVENTED? WHO? I have this project about WINDENERGY and we were supposed to ask and expert.my teacher wants us to get a primary source so here are the questions..- What is a WINDENERGY?- Why WINDENERGY eco-friendly?- What are WIND turbines? How were they invented? Who invented them?- How do people set up the WIND turbines?- Is WINDENERGY more efficient than other alternative resources?- Are WIND turbines loud?- Does WINDENERGY have any money costs?- How much does a WIND turbine cost?- how many WIND turbine are build here in Hawaii?- How can WINDENERGY help Hawaii?- for your opinion, what will happen to Hawaii in the future if we keep this up?- What are the pros and cons of WINDENERGY?- Is WINDENERGY cheaper than other ENERGY sources? (please compare to biomass, hydrogen, geothermal, solar, fossil fuels, and hydropower) it's okay if some are not answered but i need your answers fast.WINDMILL FARMS ANSWERS: What is a wind energy? A method of harvesting energy from the natural phenomena of wind. Why wind energy eco-friendly? Add the word "relatively". It isn't completely eco-friendly. It is considered eco-friendly solely due to the fact that you don't need to pollute continuously to operate your devices. IT isn't necessarily eco-friendly, because to build the devices requires the technology, the research and development, the resources for building, the complicated rectifier and inverter and charge controller systems. IT just looks like it is eco-friendly.because common people don't necessarily do the full cost-benefit analysis. What are wind turbines? How were they invented? Who invented them?The same thing as the classical windmill bladesjust a modern re-design. - Is wind energy more efficient than other alternative resources?Only by the means that it is just a turbine and a generator and hasn't anything to really cause an inefficiencyof course, the availability of wind resources makes it not necessarily as feasible. Ok,.I am tired of answering. Mandy asks...QUESTIONS ABOUT WIND ENERGY? i already have most of my information, but i just wanted to see if you guys could give me any additional FACTS. here are the questionsHow is ENERGY obtained from WIND?Where is WIND harvested and used?How much ENERGY does WIND rovide?What is WIND used to accomplish?History of WINDENERGY:Future of WINDENERGY:Adavantages of using WIND?Disadvantages of using WIND? thanks for all your help for our presentations, we have to have something that the rest of the class can see, feel, and take with them regarding our topic. for them to see, my group plans on buying on of those plastic windmills and demonstrating how an actualy WIND turbine rotates. im totally stuck on what to bring in for them to "feel" and "take with them". i thought about a hair dryer for feeling bc you could actually feel the air, simulating WIND. any idea though?thanks for your help!WINDMILL FARMS ANSWERS: All of these are clickable links at the american wind energy assoc web site Wind Web Tutorial Wind Energy Basics Offshore Wind Wind Energy Costs Wind Industry Statistics Wind Energy's Potential Small Wind Energy Systems Wind Energy and the Economy Wind Energy Policy Issues Wind Energy and the Environment Wind Energy Resource Guide Powered by Yahoo! 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