wind power?

4 Comments

1. Nigel P says:

   October 23, 2009 at 11:45 pm

   I have to presume you want arguments for and against wind power.
   Against – some people do not like the look of wind generators and claim they spoil the countryside – In my view in most places thay look magnificent
   Against – some people claim they are noisey – a few hundred yards away the wind in the hedges is actually noisier than a turbine
   Against – I dont want one in my backyard – NIMBYs will oppose just about anything, try putting a coal fired or nuclear station in their backyard.

   For – do not emit carbon dioxide or other pollution – yes there is some pollution involved in making concrete for the towers etc but same applies for coal, gas, nuclear power stations, they are all build using concrete and steel.

   For – once the site is decommissioned then you just take away the turbines, demolish the towers and dig up the bases – just a **little** but easier than decomissioning the site of a nuclear station
   Against – wind does not blow all the time -Yes there are problems in balancing and synchronising output from what is by nature a variable and fluctuating generation source, but hey, in the UK we have this fantastic thing called the National Grid, which is designed to do just this and the technical challenge of intigrating wind power is no greater than the technical challenge of balancing the load when everyone puts the kettle on in the ad break in a soap!
   Against – wind can only generate a small fraction of the UK’s power needs and will always need gas fired stations as a backup- but, same can be said of any generating plant, if you need to close a nuclear plant you need sufficient reserve to make up for the loss – and Nuclear stations often go offline for months. Similar when you take a coal plant offline for maintainance.
   As well as the environmental benifits of wind farms (and hopefully, soon other renewable sources such as wave and tidal which are mostly still under development, unlike wind power which is a pretty mature technology we have some other MAJOR benifits.
   1- Wind power costs are mostly the initial build cost and fighting the NIMBY protesters poorly informed and often downright incorrect arguments at planning enquiries.
   The "fuel" for a wind farm is, and will remain free, unlike oil, which has just gone up *again* today, and is certain to go up more in the future.
   2- Wind cannot be stopped at the whim of Russian gangsters, wind cannot be stopped because someone decides to have a war in the place wind comes from – Energy security is a big, but little discussed issue.
   3- Wind is homegrown, we do not need to import wind, as we do oil, coal and gas. Windpower is great for the balance of payment.
2. gio says:

   October 23, 2009 at 11:45 pm

   hmm… i don’t understand what you want to know but i’ll just tell you about it..

   hmmm.. recently, renewable soruces of energy are beginning to be tapped because of the new energy crisis…. one of them is wind energy.. since wind is caused by the unequal heating of the earth, it’s one form of solar energy….
3. Lets fly away! says:

   October 23, 2009 at 11:45 pm

   What do you want to know about it?
4. Camilla says:

   October 23, 2009 at 11:45 pm

   its a great idea but they take up alot space.