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My lead-in comment is tongue-in-cheek but I wanted to generate (no pun intended) a little discussion about the other alternative energy sources within the context of the one source that is poised to rule them all (nuclear). So far we are getting some good feedback! :thumbs:I wouldn't call it just hot air--wind energy is capable of serving some amount of our electricity needs, but what that amount is remains unclear.
It is a little more complicated than spin or no-spin. My understanding is that many of these wind farms are located traditionally within unhospitable regions where one doesn't exactly like to be out in the elements. Additionally, there is A LOT of manual labor in the form of climing up and down on these windmills - it is very physically demanding. I have heard for those reasons it is hard to keep an adequate supply of technicians and operators.I just can't imagine how much of a requirement there is for trained operators, it seems to me they either spin or don't.
That sounds like a good idea - is there any increase in net energy loss by generating hydrogen gas rather than converting wind energy to electricity? Without knowing anything, I would think the hydrogen gas production would be MORE energy intensive and yield less 'usable' energy at the end of the process than generating electricity via a turbine. Again - that is just my first thought without knowing much else - I am open to more informed opinions! ld-025:On the topic of how to store the energy for when the wind isn't blowing, I read an idea somewhere that made the most sense of all to me: use wind power to generate hydrogen gas for use in fuel cells.
IMHO, I think that should be a REQUIRED part of the analysis - after all energy efficiency isn't the only measuring stick when it comes to being a good environmental steward. It would be nice to see green 'offset' credits for such analysis - it would spur even more innovative approaches AND incentive for companies to subsidize alternative energy sources.I'd love to see some overall cradle-to-grave comparisons on energy efficiency, cost, and waste generation.
Yes, but that is the amount of available energy offshore of LI. I tried to find the report from a SUNY that contained the #s... I will keep looking. But with 3.6 MW turbines you only need 9000 to generate that amount of juice.Hmmm. . . according to the NYISO, the peak demand of NY was about 32,000 MW last summer. At 2.5 MW/turbine you'll need 12,800 turbines out there.
there has to be a generator running in parallel with the wind turbines to compensate for the changes in the wind turbines' output as the winds change--otherwise you'd have a brownout every time the wind dropped.
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