ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF WIND TURBINES
AND THEIR ENERGY YIELD
Editor's Note: Blake M. ('17) wrote this article for his chemistry class in response to an article he read about wind turbines.
While reading In Brooklyn, Fertile Ground for a Wind Turbine by Tatiana Schlossberg, where she talks about a Brooklyn wind turbine supplying power to a recycling plant, one quote that particularly interested me was located in the beginning of the article, when she wrote, “In less than a month of operation, the first large-scale wind turbine to be installed in New York City, standing more than 160 feet tall, has produced enough energy to power two homes for over a year, or one 20-watt light bulb for over a century.” This quote intrigued me because of the crazy and captivating facts stated such as “[it] has produced enough energy to power two homes for over a year or one 20-watt light bulb for over a century.” Those facts in cohesion made me want to figure out how much energy a wind turbine could create and what the benefits and disadvantages of using wind turbines were.
Wind turbines, once called windmills, are a type of technology used to capture the energy of wind and convert the kinetic energy that the wind creates into electricity that can be used by a power grid. The kinetic energy of wind is a direct result of the sun. The sun’s unequal heating of the atmosphere, the Earth’s varying surfaces, and the Earth’s rotation around the sun all contribute to the formation of wind.
Wind turbines are essentially the opposite of a bedroom fan. Instead of using electricity to make wind, wind turbines use the wind to make electricity. In short, the wind that is prevalent throughout the air, which can be modified by bodies of water, vegetation and differences in land, turns the blades, which spins a shaft, which is connected to a generator, which then makes electricity.
There are two main aspects that determine how much energy a wind turbine can produce. Those two aspects are wind speed and the size of the turbine. If the speed of the wind is below 10 miles per hour, the wind turbine will not be able to generate significant amounts of power that would be deemed useful. Subsequently, in situations where wind speeds are above 10 miles per hour, the amount of energy produced increases with the wind speed. Also, wind speeds increase as the height of the turbine increases. For example, “A 10 kW turbine generates 30 percent more power on a 100-foot tower than a 60-foot tower” (Graham, 2009). Conversely, a majority of wind turbines shut down with wind speeds above 25 miles per hour to avoid damage. With that being said, a mellow area with seasonal storms would most likely produce very little energy. Another aspect that determines how much energy a wind turbine can produce is the size of the turbine. As the size of turbine’s rotor blade increases, the amount of energy produced by the turbine increases. This is the case because the swept area, the area that the rotor covers, is greater. This means that there is more area for the turbine to capture wind, and therefore the turbine can produce more energy.
Methods for obtaining energy have evolved over the years from windmills in the past to large scale wind turbines, such as the one located in sunset park, as they are able to provide advantages that common energy resources are not capable of providing. I would invest in a wind turbine for Packer’s electrical grid because it would be a very efficient way to use electricity from a relatively safe and cheap source. Even though it would cost a hand full of tuitions in order to fund its erection, after a few years, it would pay for its self through not having to pay massive amounts of money that we would have formerly used on common electrical resources. With the implementation of wind turbine based electricity, we would be able to allocate the money that we used to use for common electrical resources, in other circumstances, which would add to the overall experience at Packer.
Some additional advantages to the use of wind turbines in order to supply electricity for packer are that they are a clean energy source; meaning that they don’t pollute the air like fossil fuels would from power plants. Also, they are an easily sustainable energy source, meaning that because wind is an abundant source this type of energy could be used continuously. Unfortunately, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Wind turbines could cause damage for the local wildlife and their environment because in some circumstances the rotor blades have been known to kill birds. Also, it would be difficult to even build a wind turbine in a city like Brooklyn and therefore the logistics of it existing are hard to conceive. Although there are clear disadvantages to the placement of a wind turbine and the logistics of it in a city like Brooklyn, the use of a wind turbine to provide energy for Packer, would greatly benefit the environment, Packer’s overall environment, and it would help to promote environmental safety, as the use of power plant energy has adverse effects on the ecosystem.
Wind turbines, once called windmills, are a type of technology used to capture the energy of wind and convert the kinetic energy that the wind creates into electricity that can be used by a power grid. The kinetic energy of wind is a direct result of the sun. The sun’s unequal heating of the atmosphere, the Earth’s varying surfaces, and the Earth’s rotation around the sun all contribute to the formation of wind.
Wind turbines are essentially the opposite of a bedroom fan. Instead of using electricity to make wind, wind turbines use the wind to make electricity. In short, the wind that is prevalent throughout the air, which can be modified by bodies of water, vegetation and differences in land, turns the blades, which spins a shaft, which is connected to a generator, which then makes electricity.
There are two main aspects that determine how much energy a wind turbine can produce. Those two aspects are wind speed and the size of the turbine. If the speed of the wind is below 10 miles per hour, the wind turbine will not be able to generate significant amounts of power that would be deemed useful. Subsequently, in situations where wind speeds are above 10 miles per hour, the amount of energy produced increases with the wind speed. Also, wind speeds increase as the height of the turbine increases. For example, “A 10 kW turbine generates 30 percent more power on a 100-foot tower than a 60-foot tower” (Graham, 2009). Conversely, a majority of wind turbines shut down with wind speeds above 25 miles per hour to avoid damage. With that being said, a mellow area with seasonal storms would most likely produce very little energy. Another aspect that determines how much energy a wind turbine can produce is the size of the turbine. As the size of turbine’s rotor blade increases, the amount of energy produced by the turbine increases. This is the case because the swept area, the area that the rotor covers, is greater. This means that there is more area for the turbine to capture wind, and therefore the turbine can produce more energy.
Methods for obtaining energy have evolved over the years from windmills in the past to large scale wind turbines, such as the one located in sunset park, as they are able to provide advantages that common energy resources are not capable of providing. I would invest in a wind turbine for Packer’s electrical grid because it would be a very efficient way to use electricity from a relatively safe and cheap source. Even though it would cost a hand full of tuitions in order to fund its erection, after a few years, it would pay for its self through not having to pay massive amounts of money that we would have formerly used on common electrical resources. With the implementation of wind turbine based electricity, we would be able to allocate the money that we used to use for common electrical resources, in other circumstances, which would add to the overall experience at Packer.
Some additional advantages to the use of wind turbines in order to supply electricity for packer are that they are a clean energy source; meaning that they don’t pollute the air like fossil fuels would from power plants. Also, they are an easily sustainable energy source, meaning that because wind is an abundant source this type of energy could be used continuously. Unfortunately, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Wind turbines could cause damage for the local wildlife and their environment because in some circumstances the rotor blades have been known to kill birds. Also, it would be difficult to even build a wind turbine in a city like Brooklyn and therefore the logistics of it existing are hard to conceive. Although there are clear disadvantages to the placement of a wind turbine and the logistics of it in a city like Brooklyn, the use of a wind turbine to provide energy for Packer, would greatly benefit the environment, Packer’s overall environment, and it would help to promote environmental safety, as the use of power plant energy has adverse effects on the ecosystem.
Energy.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://energy.gov/eere/wind/advantages-and-challenges-wind-energy.
Graham, S. (2009, September 14). How Much Power Will a Residential Wind Turbine Produce? Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://www.networx.com/article/how-much-power-will-a-residential-wind.com.
Schlossberg, T. (2015, January 15). In Brooklyn, Fertile Ground for a Wind Turbine. The New York Times. Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/nyregion/brooklyn-waterfront-is-fertile-ground-for-citys-first-large-scale-wind-turbine.html?_r=1.
Swept Area and Rated Power. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://www.power-talk.net/swept-area.html.
Graham, S. (2009, September 14). How Much Power Will a Residential Wind Turbine Produce? Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://www.networx.com/article/how-much-power-will-a-residential-wind.com.
Schlossberg, T. (2015, January 15). In Brooklyn, Fertile Ground for a Wind Turbine. The New York Times. Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/nyregion/brooklyn-waterfront-is-fertile-ground-for-citys-first-large-scale-wind-turbine.html?_r=1.
Swept Area and Rated Power. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://www.power-talk.net/swept-area.html.
