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Martin

Posted 2011-09-09 09:50 (#745)
Subject: Wind power developments - or snake oil?

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There's been a bit of traffic around the renewable energy circles about an apparent breakthrough in wind research in Japan, see http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/most-popular/japan-wind-lens-breakth... . The idea is to put a steel frame around the wind turbine blades, apparently increasing the output by a factor of up to three. Sounds great, but it illustrates some rather confused thinking. First, the issue with wind power isn't generally efficiency in converting wind energy to electricity - the amount of wind around is enormous, and we don't need to use it all. The bigger issue is efficiency in converting steel, concrete and other components into electricity-generation. So, if you were to take the steel used in the frame around the blades and make it into extra turbines, or bigger ones, maybe that would give a better result? And in any event there's a limit to how much energy you can take out of the wind - if you took all the kinetic energy out, then the wind would "pile up" - i.e. it has to retain enough velocity to get out of the way and leave space for the next gust. so either way, there's a limit to the benefits to increased efficiency.

Most significantly, maybe, the more frames and weight that get added to the structure, the harder it's going to be to get it to react fast enough to changes in wind direction, and the more potential for damage if it doesn't turn fast enough. Anyway, this "breakthrough" looks awfully similar to a similar one that was explored in New Zealand. The developer went bust in 2001 - so I wouldn't be very optimistic this time! See also Hugh Piggott's comments, http://scoraigwind.co.uk/?p=650

Anne Thomas

Posted 2011-09-11 22:01 (#746 - in reply to #745)
Subject: Re: Wind power developments - or snake oil?

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I also worry that the cheaper energy in general becomes the more 'stuff' will be made. Unless all this stuff is made by recycling other stuff we will reach a peak in all sorts of other things as well as running out of landfill space. We really need energy costs in general to keep relatively high (which with peak oil they are likely to do) but renewable energy to be cheaper than fossil fuels.
Previous generations re-used and recycled not because they were that much more altruistic but simply because the resources were valuable and the labour needed to re-use stuff comparatively cheap. Plus most of the stuff they didn't get round to re-using or composting eventually rotted anyway. Plastic and other cheap long lasting materials has changed that.

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