tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66042756149023538882024-02-06T21:34:06.072-08:00Windy EarthVarious wind energy articles.Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-75532352113210398832014-09-06T11:28:00.000-07:002014-09-06T11:28:28.659-07:00UK continues to lead global offshore wind developmentThe United Kingdom leads the world in offshore wind energy development. In 2013, UK offshore wind energy sector increased yet again, and it is estimated that UK now covers 52% of global offshore wind energy market.<br />
<br />
In the last seven years, from 2006-2013 offshore wind power installed capacity increased by 42%. The most recent estimates suggest another growth of 16% by 2020.<br />
<br />
The value of UK offshore wind energy market is rapidly growing. The current investments of around £2 billion is set to increase to £5 billion in 2020.<br />
<br />
Offshore wind technologies are becoming more and more proven though costs are still twice the amount of their onshore counterparts.<br />
<br />
Siemens is the UK's market’s leader for global offshore wind turbine
cumulative installations, by being practically responsible for almost all new country's installations in 2013.<br />
<br />
Wind energy is one of the top energy sources in United Kingdom, accounting for approximately 22% of total UK's electricity in August 2013. If everything goes according to a plan, offshore wind energy could become major renewable energy source that would be of great help in achieving UK's renewable energy targets.Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-48707284270934770312014-07-29T02:18:00.000-07:002014-07-29T02:18:47.996-07:00How cost-competitive is wind energy?The opponents of wind energy, and renewable energy in general for that matter, often claim that wind energy lacks cost-competitiveness with fossil fuels. Somewhere this might well be true, but not in Denmark where wind energy will soon become the cheapest source of electricity in the country.<br />
<br />
The recent government report claims that in 2016, when new wind turbines become operational, wind power will become the cheapest source of electricity in the country, with approximately one half of what coal and natural gas cost. <br />
<br />
On the long run, this could even spell the total end of coal and natural gas use in Denmark because the major reason why these energy sources remain big players in the market is their price, and if wind power can maintain its low price for years to come, then there won't be need for these polluting energy sources.<br />
<br />
Wind power will soon provide one third of country's electricity with the current share being around 28%. There is a growing number of energy analysts who believe that Denmark could even become a fossil fuel-free country in years to come and be fully powered by renewable energy.<br />
<br />
The finances are major reason that keeps fossil fuels alive, this together with intermittency of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. If renewable energy sources really become cost-competitive in all corners of the world, the science will do the rest in terms of intermittency, and renewable energy could become dominant energy source.<br />
<br />
This example from Denmark shows that wind power can have no obstacles in terms of costs. For the majority of countries coal and natural gas are still cheaper energy options compared to wind, but with the right development wind could very soon become cost competitive on global scale too.Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-30900460140655471242014-05-14T04:37:00.000-07:002014-05-14T04:37:14.418-07:00Interesting trivia about wind energyPeople started harnessing wind energy a long time ago. In fact, ancient Egyptians used wind energy to propel the sails of their boats on the Nile River some 5000 years B.C.<br />
<br />
US has enormous wind energy potential. If the country was to transform all of its untapped wind energy potential into electricity it would be enough to power the entire country tenfold.<br />
<br />
US is together with China the world's largest wind energy producer. Wind energy currently supplies electricity to around 15 million US homes, and the total installed capacity is bigger than 60,000 MW.<br />
<br />
US is also becoming major wind turbine manufacturer. In the last three years, three quarters of total turbine equipment used for new wind farms in US were made in US. Manufacturing sector, of course, creates new, well paid jobs.<br />
<br />
The top speeds that can be reached by blades on modern wind turbines climb above 200 miles per hour.<br />
<br />
The share of wind energy in global electricity usage is still negligible, at around 3% of total electricity usage coming from wind turbines. There is still rapid growth though, because 20 years ago wind energy generated less than 0,1 % of total global electricity.<br />
<br />
Wind energy can also be harnessed offshore. Large offshore wind farms are already spreading in many countries of the world, most notably Great Britain and Denmark.<br />
<br />
Wind energy is an intermittent energy source because wind doesn't blow all the time. This means that there has to be an adequate energy storage solution to cover the time when there isn't enough wind to move turbines.<br />
<br />
Wind energy is one of the most cost-competitive clean energy sources.<br />
<br />
Though wind turbines have been reported to kill birds, the environmental damage done by wind turbines is negligible compared to damage to our environment that is being done by fossil fuels, in form of climate change, loss of biodiversity and pollution.Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-22370042595974255412014-04-01T23:23:00.000-07:002014-04-01T23:23:19.249-07:00Why is wind power popular in United States?Wind power is not just popular in United States because of its "clean energy" tag though of course replacing fossil fuels fired plants with wind turbines helps offset harmful greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.<br />
<br />
Wind power is also a major economic factor in almost all of US states, the one that gives economy push to further develop in form of new investments and of course new jobs. It has been reported that US wind power industry supported approximately $25 billion in private investment last year.<br />
<br />
As already mentioned above, wind industry creates new well paid jobs. The latest reports suggest that there are currently more than 80,000 people in United States directly employed by the US wind power industry.<br />
<br />
In 44 out of 50 US states there is at least one wind manufacturing facility, meaning that not everything connected with wind turbines comes from China, as some still believe, but on the contrary that US wind power industry is also focusing on domestic manufacturing.<br />
<br />
The states that have significant share of wind power in their energy portfolio have ripped many benefits, the most important being lower electricity prices.<br />
<br />
Wind power costs are constantly dropping as wind is becoming increasingly competitive with fossil fuels, in fact in the last four years wind power prices have declined by approximately 43%.<br />
<br />
Having said all this, it comes to a very little surprise that plenty of Americans support wind energy and want to see more of it in years to come. The latest poll conducted by Navigant research showed that 72% of Americans support wind energy. There is a good chance that Production tax credit as well as Investment tax credit will soon be extended.<br />
<div id="r1PostCPBlock" style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: black; left: -99999px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">
Production Tax Credit and the Investment Tax Credit<br /><span>Read more at <a href="http://cleantechnica.com/2014/04/01/wind-power-widely-supported-americans/#hDAA6Q8M4V6pVx8j.99" style="color: #003399;">http://cleantechnica.com/2014/04/01/wind-power-widely-supported-americans/#hDAA6Q8M4V6pVx8j.99</a></span></div>
<div id="r1PostCPBlock" style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: black; left: -99999px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">
Production Tax Credit and the Investment Tax Credit<br /><span>Read more at <a href="http://cleantechnica.com/2014/04/01/wind-power-widely-supported-americans/#hDAA6Q8M4V6pVx8j.99" style="color: #003399;">http://cleantechnica.com/2014/04/01/wind-power-widely-supported-americans/#hDAA6Q8M4V6pVx8j.99</a></span></div>
<br />
Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-46000157106982226612014-02-22T01:33:00.001-08:002014-02-22T01:33:29.466-08:00Offshore wind energy in Britain in numbersBritain leads the way in offshore wind energy development on global scale by accounting for more than half of total global offshore wind installations, 3,689 megawatts, as compared to world's total of 6,930 megawatts.<br />
<br />
The Department of Energy and Climate Change estimates that country will reach 10 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2020.<br />
<br />
In order to achieve this goal, offshore wind industry will have to significantly cut its costs, and the British government has already set a goal of reducing the costs to 100 pounds ($167) a megawatt-hour by 2020, from the current 147 pounds. Taking into account current state of development and environmental issues that will ahve to be taken care off in the process, this goal looks difficult to achieve. Of course, offshore wind industry is still industry in its nascent phase so there is certainly a plenty of room for improvement.<br />
<br />
The future costs will be difficult to decrease because new offshore wind energy projects tend to be further from shore and in deeper waters which increases construction costs. Even US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz recently said that offshore wind projects still remain too expensive.<br />
<br />
UK's government has already set the incentives for offshore wind through 2019, with the hope to stimulate clean-energy jobs and give economy a boost.<br />
<br />
In the last three months British utilities have canceled as much as 5,760 megawatts of planned offshore wind capacity. <br />
<br />Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-82773570897935521952014-01-16T02:24:00.001-08:002014-01-16T02:24:29.890-08:00Can wind become top energy source in the country? Denmark says yes it can.Wind energy capacity is rapidly growing in many countries of the world, even despite some major drawbacks of using wind energy, most notably the intermittency of wind energy. The country where wind has taken the position of No.1 energy source is Denmark, where in December 2013, wind energy accounted for 55% of all energy consumed in the country. There still hasn't been any similar report elsewhere in the world meaning that Denmark is the first country that has broken the 50% threshold over an entire month. <br />
<br />
Denmark has rather long history of wind energy use, and is today one of the world's largest offshore wind energy markets. Denmark was a pioneer in the sense of wind power commercialization, back in 1970s. Denmark is also one of the largest wind turbine producers in the world.<br />
<br />
The last month of the 2013 was characterized by the frequent high winds which caused the output for Danish wind farms to be greater than normal, and there was also lower consumption by industries since many of them were closed over the Christmas period. These two factors have of course affected the total percentage but nonetheless wind has really proved its worth in Denmark as the top energy source.<br />
<br />
The largest wind energy project in 2013 was the 400MW Anholt offshore wind farm, and Danes are looking forward to adding more wind power to the grid. Their goal is to generate at least 50% of its energy from wind by 2020 (on yearly base).<br />
<br />
The country has very large offshore wind resources while land resources are pretty much average so further addition of more wind farms will likely continue to take place offshore.<br />
<br />
Denmark also plans to be 100% renewable by the 2050. Judging by the rapid growth of wind energy installations and the new solutions in wind energy storage technologies this goal looks fairly achievable for the Danes. Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-64136177285840443902013-12-17T02:37:00.000-08:002013-12-17T02:37:18.583-08:00How important is wind energy for the US economy?Wind energy industry is second fastest growing clean energy industry in the United States, behind the solar energy industry. Wind energy is rapidly developing in many US states, with Texas currently leading the way. United States also plans to focus more on offshore wind energy in years to come.<br />
<br />
The rapid wind energy development has played major role in the US economy in the last couple of years. In the year 2012, wind power was for the first time in US history, a number one source of newly generated electricity in the country, meaning that wind turbines installed across the United States in 2012, provided more electricity than any other source of power generation.<br />
<br />
The addition of 13 gigawatts of new capacity made wind the year’s leader in newly installed capacity with a 42 percent share by taking the leader position from natural gas. In 2012, United States ended the year with 45,100 wind turbines that can power 15.2 million average US homes.<br />
<br />
The year 2012 was remarkable for US wind energy industry because of record-setting $25 billion in private investment that was
added to the U.S. economy in new wind farm construction, a 28% increase in comparison to 2011. Wind energy industry provided around 80,000 jobs in United States in 2012.<br />
<br />
There are currently around 560 factories across the United States that provide parts for wind turbines as well as offering other services for wind energy industry in general. It has been reported that in the last 8 years wind industry has
brought more than $105 billion of private investment into the US economy.<br />
<br />
There will soon be new reports for the US wind energy industry, and how well it fared in 2013. So far, everything indicates that 2013 will be yet another excellent year for the US wind energy industry. The utility interest for wind energy isn't stopping, in fact it looks to be stronger than ever.<br />
<br />Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-56299831842997701262013-11-21T04:15:00.002-08:002013-11-21T04:15:57.673-08:00Massachusetts yet to fulfill its wind energy potentialThe state of Massachusetts is one of the nation's solar energy leaders, but when it comes to wind energy development there are still plenty of things that need to improve. In 2012, the state produced 85,000 megawatt hours of wind energy, which puts it at the number 34 in the installed wind power capacity, far from its totally available wind energy potential.<br />
<br />
Ben Hellerstein, a field associate of Environment Massachusetts, recently stated that Massachusetts could increase its total wind power capacity by more than tenfold in the next five years by not just installing new onshore wind farms but also by building the nation’s first offshore wind farm, Cape Wind. Cape Wind, the nation's first offshore wind farm, if and when it becomes operational should have a capacity of 450 MW, enough to power more than 400,000 homes.<br />
<br />
The majority of currently installed wind energy projects in the state are located on the South Shore though there are other areas with good wind power potential that could become homes to new wind farms.<br />
<br />
According to the latest report state's currently installed wind capacity has helped offset 51,414 carbon dioxide emissions in 2012 which is equivalent to taking 10,711 cars off the road.<br />
<br />
More wind energy does not only help reduce harmful carbon emissions that contribute to global warming and climate change but it also reduces pollution and saves water in comparison to currently dominant coal fired power plants.<br />
<br />
The state's renewable energy portfolio standard obliges that 22% of the state's electricity must come from renewable energy sources by 2020, and the state has also set a goal of installing 2,000 MW of wind power capacity by 2020.Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-89719380501608176432013-10-28T09:55:00.001-07:002013-10-28T09:55:51.614-07:00More wind power in Africa - Ethiopia leads the waySeveral African countries are doing their best to open the door for new renewable energy projects. One of these countries is Ethiopia that has become the home to a largest wind farm in the continent.<br />
<br />
The Ashegoda Wind Farm was built by French firm Vergnet SA, and is expected to generate 120 MW of electricity, thus helping Ethiopia not only to diversify its energy portfolio but also to become exporter to neighboring African countries.This wind turbine is equipped with 84 turbines and one of its purposes being to mitigate the impact of dry seasons on the country's dams.<br />
<br />
Hydropower still leads the way in Ethiopia with 6,000 MW Grand Renaissance Dam under construction on the Nile as one of the largest hydro projects currently developing on the black continent. <br />
<br />
Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn hopes that this project will lead to more wind energy harnessing in the country. He pointed that "there is potential to harness abundant wind energy resources in every region of Ethiopia."<br />
<br />
This wind farm isn't the first of its kind in Ethiopia. This African country is also the home to 51 MW Adama I wind farm, which began generating power in 2011.<br />
<br />
There is no doubt that hydropower will continue to remain the most important energy source in Ethiopia with the estimated hydropower potential at around 45,000 MW. However, wind could add to more diversified energy portfolio in the country because the latest studies have shown good potential for further wind energy development as wind power potential in Ethiopia is said to be Africa's third-largest behind Egypt and Morocco. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-66494772636640560672013-09-22T04:45:00.000-07:002013-09-22T04:45:31.899-07:00Michigan expects growth in wind power capacityThe latest report by the Michigan Energy Office predicts that Michigan will triple its renewable energy capacity by 2035, with most of the expected increase coming from wind. Under the current legislation Michigan requires utilities to get 10% of their electricity generation from renewables by 2015. However due to technological improvement in many renewable energy technologies, this standard could soon be raised significantly.<br />
<br />
A plenty is expected from wind turbines. The recent technological advancements have enabled higher capacity factors and have thus improved the output of many wind turbines in the state.<br />
<br />
There are currently 978 wind farms in the state. At the end of 2012, the state had installed 978 MW of total wind power capacity. The largest wind farm in Michigan is the 293 MW Gration County Wind Project, equipped with 167 wind turbines.<br />
<br />
When talking about the wind power potential for Michigan, offshore wind power should also be mentioned. Several different studies have agreed that Michigan has very good potential for offshore wind power in Great Lakes, though offshore wind is yet to start developing, as there still doesn't seem to be enough political unity needed to boost offshore wind energy industry, not only in Michigan but on federal level too.<br />
<br />
Of course, there are still some controversies about the noise coming from gigantic wind turbines as well as the question of their aesthetics. However, the fact that there is now more cash for the locals (particularly for farmers that are paid significant fees for having windmills on their properties) seem to be doing positive things for future wind energy development, and the number of proponents continues to grow in many regions of the state.<br />
<br />
Wind is currently the most efficient source of renewable energy in the state, and one that will surely play significant role in state's energy mix in years to come.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhua_l3KEO4SqKy-2i3HtVohJONU_drZPNYLvQRHDyPVCjFLEru7zDL65mK3TaohU0cVrw9GV0dFbdf4jB1HDNxwVisnV2fdNbRFNDEc1xawM4-zmsXS1-AmbWpGkcNXnu5Z7iLNo-_G0cs/s1600/wind_energy_in_michigan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhua_l3KEO4SqKy-2i3HtVohJONU_drZPNYLvQRHDyPVCjFLEru7zDL65mK3TaohU0cVrw9GV0dFbdf4jB1HDNxwVisnV2fdNbRFNDEc1xawM4-zmsXS1-AmbWpGkcNXnu5Z7iLNo-_G0cs/s320/wind_energy_in_michigan.jpg" width="271" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wind farms in the state of Michigan.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-58122732014828831872013-08-07T07:43:00.000-07:002013-08-07T07:43:20.404-07:00Texas still rules US wind energy marketThe state of Texas no longer an oil-loving state, it has in fact become one of nation's clean energy leaders, thanks to a rapid wind energy development. Texas still convincingly leads the way in US wind energy market by adding more wind energy capacity in 2012 than any other US state.<br />
<br />
The official US Department of Energy report says that Texas added 1826 MW of new wind energy capacity in 2012. This growth in wind energy capacity played major role in US narrowly overtaking China and becoming the global leader in installed wind energy capacity in 2012.<br />
<br />
At the end of 2012 Texas had a total of 12.214 MW of installed wind energy capacity. Gigantic wind turbines powered by mighty prairie winds are becoming a common sight in Texas. Wind energy today accounts for more than 8% of in state electricity generation. <br />
<br />
The rapid wind energy development requires adequate transmission system and the Texas Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) program includes close to 3600 miles of new transmission lines. Based on the current reports, large chunk of this program should be completed by the end of 2013. Once completed, this program will have costs of up to $9 billion and should enable a total of 18,500 MW of wind energy capacity with 66 wind energy projects included in the program.<br />
<br />
It certainly seems like Texas is putting much of its clean energy eggs into wind energy basket. The low natural gas prices have become main competitor to wind energy within the state, though wind energy prices are also on the decline according to recent reports.<br />
<br />
The other bonus of rapid wind energy development in Texas and the rest of the nation is that many wind turbine components are now being constructed inside the US borders, meaning that manufacturing can provide well paid jobs for many of US citizens.<br />
<br />
Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-62993551344734241282013-06-19T23:43:00.000-07:002013-06-19T23:43:16.789-07:00Wind still rules in TexasTexas is one of the nation's renewable energy leaders and leads the nation in wind energy development. Texas capital Austin is about to meet its goal of getting 35% of its energy from renewables, four years before the 2020 target date.<br />
<br />
Austin Energy looks set to sign contracts for two large-scale wind farms that would bring 570 megawatts (MW) of clean, renewable energy from the Gulf coast. The City of Austin will sign 25-year power purchase agreements to receive the energy at a cost of $1.4 billion.<br />
<br />
Wind energy has competitive prices in state of Texas. It is estimated that the cost for the wind energy is between 2.3 cents to 3.3 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), which is enough to beat the currently highly popular natural gas that stands at around 4 cents.<br />
<br />
Austin Energy is not focused solelly on wind as it also has a 30 MW solar plant which produces electricity for 16.5 cents per kWh and plans to build out its solar portfolio to at least 200 MW by 2020. The company also buys energy from the largest biomass power plant in the nation, the 100 megawatt Nacogdoches Generating Facility.<br />
<br />
As already said above Texas is the nations's wind energy leader. The state wind power capacity has increased by 18% last year, adding over 1800 MW for a total of 12.2 gigawatts across more than 40 different wind energy projects. Wind energy now supplies more than 9% of all electricity generated in the state.<br />
<br />
A new $6.8 billion investment in new transmission lines will play major part in Texas wind energy development. With it, the state of Texas will be able to deliver more clean electricity to its cities.
Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-67729393202001922972013-05-20T01:24:00.000-07:002013-05-20T01:24:03.949-07:00Global wind power growth slower than expectedThere are 100 countries from all over the globe that currently harness wind energy and the global wind capacity is now over 282GW with 44.6GW added in 2012 alone, the record addition in a single year - according to a latest report by the World Wind Energy Association (WWEA).<br />
<br />
However, this new record capacity still represented the lowest growth record in more than a decade, representing an annual growth of relatively modest 19.2%. <br />
<br />
This percentage would be even smaller without the spike that occured in second half of the year as US developers rushed to avoid the anticipated
expiration of the wind energy production tax credit.<br />
<br />
The majority of the new wind energy capacity in 2012 was added in China and United States, with around 13 GW in each of these two countries. These two countries are still the world's largest wind energy producers.<br />
<br />
The fast developing Indian wind energy market added more than 2.5 GW of new wind energy capacity in 2012, while in Europe Germany and Spain still lead the way as the two largest wind energy markets in EU.<br />
<br />
The Asian wind energy market accounted for most of new installastions in 2012 with 36.3 %, edging North America (31.3 %) and Europe (27.5 %).<br />
<br />
The future wind energy outlook remains positive with WWEA expecting 500 GW mark in global wind energy capacity to be reached by the end of 2016.<br />
<br />
Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-63514503313250638392013-04-29T23:42:00.001-07:002013-04-29T23:42:46.498-07:00New flow battery can solve intermittency of wind energy?One of the major reasons why wind still hasn't become major supplier to the electrical grid is the intermittency of wind energy. In order to overcome the intermittency issue scientists look for various energy storage solutions such as batteries.<br />
<br />
There are many ongoing researches that involve all kinds of batteries, with many different materials being used in the process. The key is to create batteries that would be both cheap and efficient enough to make their production economically viable.<br />
<br />
The main function that these batteries must perform is to store excess energy and discharging when input drops due to sudden power fluctuations. <br />
<br />
The researchers at the Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences have recently developed a low-cost, long-life battery that could help overcome the intermittency issue and make wind energy lot more reliable and affordable.<br />
<br />
They have developed a new type of "flow battery" that uses only one stream of molecules that consists of the relatively inexpensive elements lithium and sulfur and does not need a membrane like this is the case with older flow battery types.<br />
<br />
The first tests done by this new battery showed encouraging results because battery retained excellent energy-storage performance
through more than 2,000 charges and discharges, which is equivalent to more than
5.5 years of daily cycles.<br />
<br />
This was done by using a micro system meaning that a utility version of the new battery would have to scale up in order to store many megawatt-hours of energy needed for full-scale field-demonstration unit.<br />
<br />Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-41806367531178474522013-04-09T00:47:00.000-07:002013-04-09T00:47:36.261-07:00The largest offshore wind farm in UK reached full workloadThe largest offshore wind farm, the UK's London Array, constructed around 20km off the coasts of Kent and Essex on a 245km2 site, has now reached full workload after the final turbine was commissioned a couple of days ago.<br />
<br />
The 175 installed turbines are now exporting power to UK's grid, the 630MW first
phase of the London Array is expected to produce enough green
electricity to power nearly half a million homes a year. This output is enough to provide clean electricity to power approximately half a million UK homes. It has been also said to reduce climate change causing CO2 emissions by over 900,000 tonnes a year.<br />
<br />
The second phase of the construction is also a possibility, and if this gets green light it would add enough capacity to bring the total to 870MW.<br />
<br />
UK, the global offshore wind energy leader, doesn't plant to stop here as there are variety of other large offshore wind energy projects being developed in UK waters. These include areas such as Teesside, Gwynt y Mor off the coast of North Wales and Gunfleet Sands
off the Essex coast<br />
<br />
UK needs to keep momentum in order to maintain its lead in offshore wind energy development. Offshore wind energy is really the Britain's only ticket to remain competitive in global clean energy race.<br />
<br />
Offshore wind energy will not only help offset UK's carbon emissions, it will also give big boost to economy in form of new jobs (construction and maintenance). The recent reports claim that offshore wind energy industry could create more than 75,000 new jobs in Britain till the end of this decade.<br />
<br />
A lot of it, though, will depend on the Energy bill, the vital legislation that is going through the Parlament. The UK government needs to ensure the long-term stability for UK's wind energy development, beyond the 2020 because in these uncertain economic times potential investors want long-term safety.Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-69696631839549551572013-03-08T02:27:00.000-08:002013-03-08T02:27:18.458-08:00UK needs wind for environment and future energy securityMany of old coal and nuclear power stations in United Kingdom will go retired in the next decade meaning that the governemnt will have to find the way to ensure future energy security for the upcoming years. From the current perspective wind energy seems like one of the most logical options unless clean coal technologies achieve the desired level of cost-competitiveness.<br />
<br />
With the climate change threat looming over entire globe wind power looks more preferable to clean coal technologies. The last year independent poll said that the two thirds of people in the UK are supportive of wind energy and want more of it.<br />
<br />
Wind energy is one of the most cost-effective renewable energy sources, the one that can compete with fossil fuels in terms of total costs. More wind power means thousands of new green energy jobs, giving country the chance to kickstart its economy.<br />
<br />
UK currently leads the world in offshore wind energy development. The global offshore wind power continues to grow both in popularity as well as the capacity, meaning that UK has with its offshore wind farms nice deck of cards to competitively enter global clean energy race.
Of course, offshore wind farms are still connected with high construction and maintenance costs but they are also far more efficient as compared to the wind projects on the land because of more powerful and frequent winds that blow offshore.<br />
<br />
The recent RenewableUK says that there are currently 4,366 turbines in operation in the UK providing 8.2GW of power and further 7,843 turbines that have been approved to be built. This means that the British government is certainly dedicated to future wind energy development.<br />
<br />
Wind energy still has significant number of proponents in United Kingdom. The proponents of the wind energy question wind especially in terms of intermittency and claim that wind doesn't blow steady enough to be considered as a reliable source of energy. Though there is some truth to these claims wind energy still requires a chance to show its total worth, not just because of future energy security but also because of the urgent environmental issues such as climate change.
Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-66186046711319272542013-02-14T01:10:00.000-08:002013-02-14T01:10:34.858-08:00Ontario welcomes more wind energyWind energy is rapidly developing in Canada with the best proof being more than 6,500 MW of total installed capacity at the end of 2012. The year 2013 is set to continue in the same rhythm, and should attract over $3 billion in new investments.<br />
<br />
Wind energy industry is today one of the fastest growing industries in the country. There are many areas in Canada with excellent wind power potential, and the country looks set to become one of the top wind energy markets in years to come.<br />
<br />
Ontario not only leads wind energy development in the country but also solar energy development. The recent poll said that 69% of Ontarians are in favor of wind energy and would like for province to further continue its rapid wind energy development.
The recent reports also say that wind power has already reached cost parity with every other option for electricity generation in Ontario.<br />
<br />
Of course, there are also wind energy opponents who still question whether going for more wind is the way to go, often using noise pollution coming from wind turbines as the major health concern, though this connection still hasn't been confirmed by any serious study.<br />
<br />
Nonetheless, the health effects of large wind turbines are currently being studied by Health Canada, and they are yet to announce their report on possible effects wind-turbine sound has on human health.<br />
<br />
There is no doubt whatsoever that wind energy remains one of the best clean energy options for Canada. The positive examples of wind energy development in Canada from Ontario and Quebec could propel Canada into one of the world's leading wind energy markets, giving the country favorable position in global clean energy race.
Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-48513732762433690182013-01-30T09:41:00.000-08:002013-01-30T09:41:00.809-08:00Why is using wind energy positive for environment?The main reason why using wind energy is positive for environment is the fact that the more wind energy we use the less fossil fuels we need. Fossil fuels (which include oil, coal, and natural gas,) though currently being dominant energy sources, are very dirty fuels that do not only create air pollution but more importantly are directly responsible for the strengthening of climate change impact.<br />
<br />
This because the burning of fossil fuels releases harmful greenhouse gas emissions that once emitted end up in the atmosphere where they are increasing Earth's greenhouse effect leading to global increase in temperature and other changes in climate.
Unlike fossil fuels wind energy does not contribute to increase of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere and therefore does not contribute to climate change. It also does not releases harmful pollutants that cause air pollution.<br />
<br />
Does this mean that wind energy is the perfect energy source when being looked at it from the environmental point of view? The answer is no because there is no such thing as perfect energy source, regardless from which perspective you are looking at it.<br />
<br />
So how can we then determine whether certain energy source is environmentally friendly or not? The best thing to do is to compare it with traditional fossil fuels and then measure the amount of negative environmental effects in order to conclude which energy source is better for environment.<br />
<br />
Wind turbines have indeed led to deaths of thousands of birds and baths but this is nothing compared to millions of animals that will disappear if climate change grows in strength in years to come (and this will no doubt happen if we'll continue to satisfy our energy demand from fossil fuels). Furthermore, many new wind energy projects are equipped with radars in order to spot birds when approaching so this issue definitely looks to have a potentially easy solution.<br />
<br />
Noise pollution coming from large wind turbines could lead to some sort of environmental damage and many wind energy opponents also claim that large wind farms have negative visual impact in given environment because it is not easy to integrate them with every landscape. But what is the alternative to this? More coal power plants? Thank you very much but I would much rather look at wind turbines instead, regardless of potential visual pollution.
Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-48198065657458626102013-01-07T23:19:00.000-08:002013-01-07T23:19:13.043-08:00Offshore wind farms - Good to knowOffshore wind projects are growing in popularity, and are set to become interesting renewable energy option for many countries in the world in not that far future from now. At the end of 2011 there was just 12 countries in the world that have installed offshore wind farms (of which ten are in Europe) but this number will likely significantly increase in years to come.<br />
<br />
The main disadvantage of offshore wind farms are high construction costs. Offshore wind energy projects have higher costs compared to the ones on land because not only do they need to withstand rough weather conditions but their maintenance is highly complex and thus very expensive. On the other hand, offshore wind farms have several advantages over wind farms on land, with most notable being more powerful and much more frequent winds resulting in higher output.<br />
<br />
The price gap between offshore and onshore wind farms still remains significant but many energy experts believe this gap is likely to narrow in next few decades. Offshore wind energy technologies still need time to mature, and the development of new technologies should drive down the total costs connected with offshore wind projects. Offshore wind industry could for instance gather plenty of know-how from the offshore oil and gas industry because of the same basic principles of these two industries.<br />
<br />
Offshore wind farms utilize much larger wind turbines than wind farms on land, and Norway company Veritas (which tests wind turbines before they can obtain certificate) believes that offshore wind turbines are likely to reach gigantic size with blades 85 meters (280 ft) long by 2020, and 10 MW output which is enough to provide electricity to around 3,000 average U.S. households.<br />
<br />
Of course, offshore wind industry cannot move further without the adequate funding, and Veritas believes that offshore wind industry will need subsidies for years since their current costs are about 40 to 60 percent above those for offshore wind industry.<br />
<br />
Offshore wind technologies are particularly popular in Britain and Britain certainly looks ready to maintain its position as global offshore wind energy leader for foreseeable future. In 2010 Britain granted licenses for 32 gigawatts of offshore wind as the part of a European Union goal to get 20 percent of energy from renewables.<br />
<br />
At the end of 2010, the worldwide installed offshore wind capacity accounted to approximately 3.2 gigawatts. The world's largest offshore wind farm is located in United Kingdom, Walney Wind Farm with the capacity of 647 MW.
Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-72280425234784305472012-12-13T23:51:00.002-08:002012-12-13T23:51:50.314-08:00Wind energy is still important for United States<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:HyphenationZone>21</w:HyphenationZone>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]-->United States is no longer the world's largest wind energy
producer nor the world's largest wind turbine maker, trailing China in both
cases. Despite of this, wind energy is still one of the fastest growing renewable
energy sectors in the country. According to 2012 report by the U.S.
Department of Energy, 6.8 gigawatts (GW) of new wind power capacity were added
to the U.S. grid in 2011, representing a growth of over 30% as compared to
2010.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Wind energy capacity experienced rapid growth in 2012 primarily because of
the uncertainty over the extension of the federal tax credit, and it is widely
expected that U.S. will add significantly more wind power capacity in 2012 as
compared to previous year.<br />
<br />
Wind power contributed to 32% of all new U.S. electric capacity additions in
2011, currently representing around 3% of total electricity supply. In 2011,
U.S. wind energy sector attracted $14 billion worth of investments.<br />
<br />
Wind turbine manufacturing sector is also looking increasingly good because
67% of the equipment used in U.S. wind power projects was being sourced
domestically in 2011. There have been however certain fears about manufacturing
overcapacity, especially if U.S. Congress fails to extend production tax credit
that is set to expire at the end of this year.<br />
<br />
One of the reasons why wind power capacity is constantly growing is also the
significant decline in wind turbine prices. Within the last 4 years the prices
of wind turbines have decreased by 20 to 30%. This means that wind power is
becoming increasingly cost-competitive with fossil fuels. New wind turbines are
also more efficient as compared to older models.<br />
<br />
The main problem with U.S. wind energy industry is the high level of
uncertainty for 2013. The major federal incentives are set to expire at the end
of this year, and the wind energy developers are rushing to new wind energy
projects while they can still count on federal incentives.<br />
<br />
The start of the year 2012 will give much clearer picture of how the future
of U.S. wind energy industry will look like.Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-20795734437638119102012-12-10T05:30:00.000-08:002012-12-10T05:30:08.003-08:00Wind energy jobs in United Kingdom<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:HyphenationZone>21</w:HyphenationZone>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="//img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" />
<style>
st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }
</style>
<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Wind
energy industry is rapidly growing in United Kingdom. If UK maintains
its current growth in wind power capacity, wind turbines will satisfy 10%
country's electricity needs by 2013. Therefore, it comes to a very little
surprise that wind energy sector is currently the fastest job creator in United Kingdom.
According to the recent study by RenewableUK in the last three years UK wind
industry experienced growth of 91% in terms of new wind energy jobs.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In
2007 UK
wind industry employed around 4800 people, and in 2010 this number increased to
around 9200 people. At the end of 2012 the UK wind energy industry employs around
12,200 people in full-time jobs.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Though
offshore wind energy is currently receiving plenty of popularity the majority
of UK
wind energy jobs still refers to large-scale onshore wind with 56% of total
wind energy jobs. However, the offshore wind energy industry employed 45 % more
people in 2012 than in 2010.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">UK</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> wind industry is currently
employing more people than UK
coal industry. At the end of 2011 the UK coal industry employed around
6000 people. For comparison purposes, a hundred years ago coal industry
employed around million people in UK.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It
has been estimated that UK
offshore wind energy sector has the potential to employ around 70,000 people by
2020.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Only
7-8% of the total number of people employed in UK wind power industry is employed
in small-scale wind though this percentage is expected to significantly grow in
years to come.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">UK</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> currently has around 6.9GW of total
operational wind farm capacity. With the project currently being in development
phase, this number should increase to 13.5GW by the end of the next year. One
MW of capacity is roughly enough to power around 650 average homes in UK.</span></div>
Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-91908145835822603562012-11-29T01:22:00.000-08:002012-11-29T01:22:21.144-08:00Wind energy in Canada – Current and future outlookCanadian wind energy market is rapidly growing. At the end of 2011, the total installed wind power capacity was 5,265 megawatts (MW), enough to satisfy little less than 2.5% of Canada's electricity demand. This percentage is relatively small and wind power is still way behind coal and hydropower in terms of electricity generation but given Canada's enormous wind power potential as well as the growing popularity of wind energy, the role of wind power in Canada could soon become lot more important.<br />
<br />
Wind energy is not only one of the most cost-competitive renewable energy sources (with the costs at around 10.5 cents per kilowatt-hour), it is also an excellent green job creator. In 2011, Canada wind power industry employed more than 7,000 people.<br />
<br />
Canada is not only looking good in adding new wind power capacity with more than 6,000 megawatts in new wind energy projects which should be in the next five years installed across the country, mostly in Quebec and Ontario, but Canada is also looking exceptionally good as a wind turbine manufacturer, especially when it comes to manufacturing small wind energy systems.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLmx7o0vNIgOUymQUnI0ibe53CxXt3KPVNJzhwQQGmNUahjbs2xhL9FQj6F-ScmSFOOB_z4qOmzdoAnUnTF4MigH4HNvI48dThriJwQ6Pi7ucEs5dIdjmEk1b57JiB1L8MJyV57Ng2hrmx/s1600/canada_wind_farm_bear_mountain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLmx7o0vNIgOUymQUnI0ibe53CxXt3KPVNJzhwQQGmNUahjbs2xhL9FQj6F-ScmSFOOB_z4qOmzdoAnUnTF4MigH4HNvI48dThriJwQ6Pi7ucEs5dIdjmEk1b57JiB1L8MJyV57Ng2hrmx/s320/canada_wind_farm_bear_mountain.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bear Mountain Wind Farm, British Columbia, Canada</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Small wind energy systems have a rated capacity of 300 kW or less, and are mostly used to power homes, farms and small businesses. Canadian small wind industry is looking better than ever, and Canada is currently leading the world in small wind business, with most of turbines being exported to other markets. The 2011 report said that Canada accounts for 55% of the world’s manufacturers of turbines in the 30 to 100 kilowatt range. Canadian wind turbine manufacturers were exporting 87 percent of their sales in 2011, which not only brings many economic benefits to Canada, but it also helps improve Canada's position in global clean energy race.<br />
<br />
It is really no surprise that Canada's small wind market is experiencing huge boom because small wind market follows large wind's growth, and the demand for wind power is constantly growing. The Canadian Wind Energy Association has outlined a future strategy for wind energy that should reach a capacity of 55,000 MW by 2025, enough to meet 20% of the country’s energy needs.<br />
<br />
Besides hydropower, there doesn't seem to be any better renewable energy option for Canada than wind power, and wind power could easily become a major driving force that will improve Canada's position in global clean energy race.
Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-90231166191866372262012-11-25T04:38:00.000-08:002012-11-25T04:43:19.402-08:00Brazil: Wind energy market rapidly growingBrazil is large country with plenty of renewable energy resources at its disposal. This wealth of clean energy resources should give Brazil good position in global clean energy race. Up until recently the Brazilian renewable energy market was focused almost entirely on hydropower but things have certainly changed in the last few years with wind power industry now being the fastest growing renewable energy industry in the country.<br />
<br />
This sudden popularity of wind shouldn't come as surprise, especially when you combine Brazilian government’s commitment to get more energy from renewable sources with the abundance of wind power resources available to Brazil.<br />
<br />
The recent studies have calculated that Brazil's onshore and offshore wind power resources are set to be around 350 GW.
Brazilian wind power industry is developing very fast. In the period from 2008-2010 Brazil has almost tripled its wind power capacity, from 341 MW in 2008 to 931 MW at the end of 2010. Energy analysts expect that this trend will continue in years to come, and that Brazil will be a leading Latin America's wind power market in the next decade or so. In fact, in 2011 and 2012 Brazil accounted for 50% of all wind power installations in central and South America. It is expected that Brazil will reach 2 GW of installed wind power capacity by the end of 2012.<br />
<br />
This number is expected to climb to 15 GW by 2020.
Brazil has started attracting many famous wind energy companies and country is also looking to add several wind manufacturing facilities. Despite the fact that Brazilian wind energy market is still in the very early phase of its development the future of wind power industry in Brazil looks to be rosy because investors believe in the large future growth of wind power market.<br />
<br />
The strong development of wind power industry in Brazil will not only help reduce greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change but will also boost Brazilian economy by creating new jobs.<br />
<br />
The Brazilian government has set a goal of achieving 10 gigawatts of wind energy capacity by 2020. The way things are currently going there would be a very little surprise if Brazil were to go significantly beyond this goal by 2020.
Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-17357500187356304452012-11-17T05:16:00.002-08:002012-11-17T05:16:31.611-08:00The economics of large wind turbinesWind turbines are constantly growing in size, especially as global wind energy sectors plans to move offshore where more frequent and much more powerful winds should account for lot bigger wind energy production as compared to wind farms on land.<br />
<br />
Today, the largest installed wind turbines have a capacity of 5-6 MW. The designs for new wind turbines plan to make them even bigger, even up to 20 MW in capacity. Are these large wind turbines economically viable given the currently available wind power technologies? The right answer to this question appears to be "no, not yet".<br />
<br />
According to the 2011 study by the EU project UpWind wind turbines with the nameplate capacity of 20 MW would be approximately 15-20 percent more expensive as compared to today's average sized turbines.
In order to decrease the costs of these gigantic wind turbines wind power industry requires completely new level of engineering starting with solutions such as intelligent wind turbine blades (with the special emphasis on aeroelastic design methods and new sensor systems) as well as implementing laser technology to precisely measure wind conditions in order to achieve maximum efficiency.<br />
<br />
Since these new technologies are yet to develop many energy experts believe that the global wind industry should, at least for now, set its sight on small wind turbines, the ones with the nameplate capacity of 10-100 KW.
These smaller wind turbines have not only edge in costs compared to huge wind turbines but they can also be deployed in many different places unlike huge wind turbines that are mostly planned for large offshore wind farms. Large offshore wind farms are connected with huge construction costs (they are up to three times more expensive as compared to wind projects on land).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDe1h4zgVl1ma5D0Zte4GePNJ7vizZtMh-yZMJuK7KTVUjUTyLkqdZzVLjKJksNOnOWp5E6gmKyBuGlQlLp3K6PmgBKv_kH7DUVf-0b5Ht-ZparcYUR9t7uphATdBnPjerBv9pS3DMY1Pr/s1600/large_wind_turbine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDe1h4zgVl1ma5D0Zte4GePNJ7vizZtMh-yZMJuK7KTVUjUTyLkqdZzVLjKJksNOnOWp5E6gmKyBuGlQlLp3K6PmgBKv_kH7DUVf-0b5Ht-ZparcYUR9t7uphATdBnPjerBv9pS3DMY1Pr/s320/large_wind_turbine.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The largest wind turbines installed today are 5-6 MW.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The energy market for small wind turbines is growing all the time, especially in China where around 1.75 million Chinese get their electricity from small wind turbines. In 2011 China installed around 150,000 small wind turbines.<br />
<br />
These small wind turbines are also becoming increasingly popular in United States, even despite the uncertainty related with the prolongation of wind energy tax credit that is set to expire at the end of 2012.<br />
<br />
Small wind market is one of the fastest growing renewable energy markets in the world. Of course, the future will likely belong to large wind turbines but for now small wind seems to be the best pick for wind energy investors.
Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6604275614902353888.post-90070231223567103142012-11-13T00:55:00.001-08:002012-11-13T00:55:48.368-08:00The pros and cons of using wind energy<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:HyphenationZone>21</w:HyphenationZone>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Wind energy
capacity is growing rapidly all over the world. The countries want more
renewable energy to replace fossil fuels, and wind is certainly one of the most
interesting renewable energy options to achieve this goal. Like any other
energy source wind also has its good and bad sides so let us take a closer look
at them.</span><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The pros of
using wind energy:</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">long
history of use (5000 years ago wind energy was used for purposes like propel
sailboats and sailing ships)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">one
of the fastest growing renewable energy sectors in the world making it a good
business opportunity for investors</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">environmentally
friendly source of energy that doesn't contribute to climate change and air
pollution (it has been calculated that a single 1-MW wind turbine can save
around 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide in one year.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">renewable
energy source, meaning it is being constantly replenished and cannot be
exhausted like fossil fuels can</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">excellent
potential (the total potential of wind energy on land and near-shore is
somewhere around 72 TW that is over five times more than the world's current
energy use in all forms)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">wind
energy is free source of energy meaning that anyone can harness it since nobody
owns the wind</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">wind
turbines are becoming cheaper and more efficient</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">wind
turbines do not need much maintenance</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">having
your own wind turbine means you won't have to deal with possible power cuts</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">more
wind energy instead of fossil fuels improves our energy security and makes us
more independent to volatile oil price market</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">rapidly
growing wind energy industry creates many new well paid jobs</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4dR4qLB5Qy2Vvz2xReMB_l60TQ5r6NrYAyZkJ5SRS4x79tCRzDakseDKvPg6tXowfq5bSjqi4SxcYWBoVfO0F9qlkijav1HirzmzOK3052Sr_rvUYGSnRC2Q4cjbHfm5xMbND0-_GDXCS/s1600/water_sailboat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4dR4qLB5Qy2Vvz2xReMB_l60TQ5r6NrYAyZkJ5SRS4x79tCRzDakseDKvPg6tXowfq5bSjqi4SxcYWBoVfO0F9qlkijav1HirzmzOK3052Sr_rvUYGSnRC2Q4cjbHfm5xMbND0-_GDXCS/s320/water_sailboat.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wind energy has been used since ancient times to propel sailboats</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The cons of
using wind energy:</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">the
availability of wind (certain areas have frequent, powerful winds which makes
harnessing wind energy efficient while at some places winds are not powerful
enough nor frequent enough to create enough electricity)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">relatively
high installation costs, in some areas over $10,000</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">noise
pollution (large wind turbines are said to emit disruptive noise)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">visual
pollution ( sometimes it is very difficult to incorporate wind turbines into
certain environment and this can affect the aesthetics of landscape)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">if
large wind turbines are not equipped with radars they can kill birds</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">the
intermittency of wind energy (since wind energy is not available all the time
it is in need of adequate energy storage solution that would compensate for
periods when wind doesn't blow)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">wind
energy still needs incentives to remain cost-competitive with fossil fuels</span></div>
Ned Haluzanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317740467992712686noreply@blogger.com0