Energy comparison: wind turbines

Hello,

Finally, we are back with another energy comparison. Today we're looking at wind turbines. Wind power is a fast-growing renewable energy source. In the US, the wind power industry currently employs 120 000 people across all 50 states. It could grow to employ hundreds of thousands of people by 2050. 9% of the electricity in the US in 2021 came from wind turbines, that’s 136 000 megawatts. The wind power industry saves 329 million metric tons of carbon dioxide every year.

General knowledge and categorisation

We should probably start off by clarifying how wind turbines actually work and what types there are. I’m not going to give an in-depth description of how wind turbines work because I don’t want this post to turn into a physics lesson. To put it very simply, the wind turns the blades, which turns the rotor. The rotor then turns the generator, which converts the kinetic energy (movement) into electricity. There are obviously a lot more parts involved (up to 8000 of them) but this is the main idea.

There are two different types of wind turbines. Horizontal-axis turbines are the wind turbines that most people thought of when they saw the title of this post. Horizontal-axis turbines mostly have three blades that are about 60 metres long, and the turbine always turns to face the wind (upwind) to maximise electricity production. The second type of wind turbine is less commonly known. Vertical-axis turbines look quite different to horizontal-axis turbines. There are several designs. The main difference to their more common counterpart is the fact that they don’t turn to face the wind: it doesn’t matter what direction the wind is coming from.

Wind turbines can also be categorised into where they are installed. Land-based wind turbines normally range from 100 kilowatts to multiple megawatts. They can normally be found in wind plants made up of dozens of land-based wind turbines. Offshore wind turbines are out at sea. They make use of the incredibly strong ocean winds to produce large amounts of electricity. They are also very tall, often taller than the Statue of Liberty. The last category is distributed wind. This includes all set-ups that are close to where the power is then used. Small wind turbines, normally under 100 kilowatts, are installed in residential, agricultural and small commercial areas. They can also be used as part of hybrid energy systems, where they are combined with other energy sources such as solar, coal or water. These hybrid systems can typically be found in off-grid locations, so areas that aren’t connected to the national power grid.

Advantages

Wind is created by the sun warming the earth, the earth’s uneven landscape and the rotation of the earth. None of these factors are going to change any time soon, making wind an unending resource. It is definitely renewable. Wind turbines do not cause air pollution and do not need fuel, making them less damaging to the environment than fossil fuels, like coal and oil. Wind power is also cost-efficient, and its price isn’t as high as that of other energy sources.

Disadvantages

The sites with the most wind are often in remote places. Getting a construction team and all the needed materials out there and sending the gained electricity back can quickly become very expensive. They are also dangerous for birds. However, according to this article in a German newspaper, there are 10 000 - 100 000 deaths caused by wind turbines and 70 million deaths caused by cars annually. Most worryingly, the infrasound produced by the wind turbines has been theorised to cause health problems. This is still being studied and researched. Wind is also highly variable, meaning that the energy produced can flucatute massively in a matter of seconds if the wind also changes. This puts a strain on the power grid.

Conclusion

Wind turbines are a game changer when it comes to the shift to renewable energy sources. They provide hundreds of thousands of people with jobs. However, the infrasound theory should be thoroughly researched and hopefully proved wrong to avoid any unnecessary harm to the population.

We hope you enjoyed this post and see you next week.
Your Green World Blog Team💚

Sources:
https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/advantages-and-challenges-wind-energy
https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/wind-energy-basics
https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/how-do-wind-turbines-work
https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/articles/top-10-things-you-didnt-know-about-wind-power
https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/politik/windkraft-deutschland-energiewende-grafik-100.html
https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/sites/default/files/medien/1968/publikationen/161128_uba_position_windenergiegesundheit.pdf
https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-materials-are-used-make-wind-turbines
https://www.energysage.com/about-clean-energy/wind/pros-cons-wind-energy/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/09/230919154844.htm

Image: This image is owned by a blog editor.

Comments

Coral reefs

Hello! We would love to introduce you to the topic of coral reefs and especially coral reef bleaching, as it is a greatly ignored but certainly significant topic. Have fun! 5 coral reef facts 1. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on the planet and is 2300 km long! 2. Less than 0.1% of the world's ocean surface is covered in coral reefs. 3. At least 25% of all marine animals live there. 4. Coral reefs are often known as the rainforests of the ocean. 5. In 1 square kilometre of coral reef, up to 35 tons of fish can be 'produced'. The 5 biggest coral reefs in the world 1. Great Barrier Reef (near Australia) 2. Red Sea Coral Reef (near Egypt, Israel and Djibouti) 3. New Caledonia Reef (Pacific Ocean near New Caledonia) 4. The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef (near Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras) 5. Florida Reef (Atlantic Ocean/Gulf of Mexico near Florida) What is coral? Coral is actually made up of small anim...

18.10.20 Animal Of The Week: Sloth

Hello, Sorry this didn't come out on Sunday as planned but this week's animal of the week is the sloth because the twentieth of October is Sloth Day. Habitat The sloth resides in Central and South America. It lives in the rainforests there and occasionally drops into the water for a bathe as, believe it or not, they are actually excellent swimmers! Diet Sloths eat leaves, twigs and buds which they find in the rainforest. As they don't have incisors they smack their lips together to make leaves more digestible. Sloths can survive on relatively little food as it takes a while for them to digest it. Sleep and Speed When you think of a sloth, you probably think of this slow, sleepy creature. They actually sleep for about 15 hours a day! Sloths have an extremely low metabolic rate (what basic calories your body needs to survive), which means they move at a slow pace through the trees. On average, sloths travel 40 yards per day ...

Photo Essay || Iceland Series (part 1)

Hi Everyone! I recently went on a school trip to Iceland! It was such an incredible experience (and I'm going to sound cheesy now) but it was also incredible to do it with some of my closest friends! I saw so many incredible things and learnt so much, so I couldn't resist sharing a little Iceland mini series of posts, all about Iceland, both my experiences there and what I saw, but also the way it uses geothermal energy, and the animals, natural landforms and plants that are there. Today I'm sharing some photos of my trip. These are all photos I have taken, and are also the highlights so please bear that in mind as you browse these! I hope it is interesting and inspires you to book a trip to Iceland! The blue lagoon <33 landscapes.... Lost little farmhouses a...

Ozone layer

Hi everyone, What even is ozone? And the ozone layer? Where does the hole in the ozone layer come from and what does it mean? Is it dangerous? What can be done? Often the ozone-talk can be complicated and confusing, keeping an overview is hard and understanding all the problems always difficult. Let us break it down a bit for you: What is the ozone layer? We'll start with the basics: The ozone layer is part of the stratosphere, which is the second layer of the Earth's atmosphere, between 10 and 50 km above the Earth's surface and made up of protective gases. One of these protective gases is ozone. There is not much ozone in the atmosphere, only 0.3 molecule of ozone per 1 million molecules of air. This is because ozone is chemically unstable and only forms when ultra violet radiation (UV light) hits oxygen and breaks the bonds between the atoms. It fact it is so unstable that even when it has formed, it breaks down again relatively quickly. This leads to ozone turning back ...

March Top Tips // 10 little things you can avoid in daily life

Welcome to the Top Tips this month! We'll be talking about 10 things you can avoid using in everyday life. We know it's a really simple topic, but it can actually make quite a difference. The avoidable stuff will be things many use because they look nice or taste nice or similar, but aren't actually necessary. We will also write a couple of facts on these things, and give ideas on how you could substitute them if possible. Many might be very obvious, but think about it, do you actually not use them? Have fun! Chewing Gum Most people would not be surprised when told that lots of chewing gum have synthetic colouring and flavouring. However, most people would be surprised when told that chewing gum is largely made of plastic. What the companies call the "gum base" is plastic and partly made of the same stuff plastic bags are made of. The gum contains microplastics that, if you spit your gum on the ground often tend to get into the oce...

December Factfile

Hello, The fact file vote has come to an end and we have a winner. This year, we will be doing top tips. These will come out at the beginning of the month. These tips are, at the same time, challenges. We hope you will enjoy, and apply them! News Good news New hope for coral reefs A coral reef in India has been restored to health- the proof being in the noises the fish have been making. Many of these strange sounds have never been recorded before. This is amazing, especially considering that the reef has been devastated by blast fishing, where explosives are used to stun or kill everything in the area. Although the corals are being restored, scientists want to know if the animals are also returning and in what numbers. The Guardian states that 'Sound is vital for reef survival, because almost all of its inhabitants, from corals to crustaceans to fish, produce offspring that spend the early part of their lives in the open oceans, before us...

10 animals on the edge of extinction you didn't know about no.3- The Monarch butterfly

The monarch butterfly is an animal you will probably have seen around in your life. It's not the kind of animal you will know the name of, much less the extinction status, but the monarch butterfly is rated "endangered" on the WWF website. It's affected by climate change and humans and its numbers have declined greatly. Fast Facts The Monarch Butterfly is a rather small animal, however pretty large for one of its species. Their wingspan ranges from about 90 to 100 mm, the male butterflies being slightly larger than the female. They are orange with a black patterning and white dots on the sides of their wings, the vibrant colours warn predators of their bad taste. Monarch butterflies are known for their migration habits. They are mainly found in northern America, but travel to the south (Mexico or California mainly) to hibernate. These tiny butterflies travel almost 3 thousand kilometres and can be found all over the planet by now...

Photo Essay | dolphin spotting boat ride

Hi Everyone! Quite a while ago now, me and my family went on a dolphin spotting boat ride, and I've been meaning to share some photos for ages now! We saw so many dolphins very close up and we managed to get some good shots, although it can never be as magical as in person! All photos in this post were taken by me or my family. They were so close to the boat! This photo is stunning! It's under the water! Again - under the water! It was so hard to capture them jumping! This was the boat.... ...

10 animals on the edge of extinction you didn't know about no.5 - rice's whale

Welcome back to Green World Today we're exploring the Mexican gulf and a rather unknown whale species called the rice's whale (Balaenoptera ricei). The name doesn't have anything to do with cooking rice, instead, it's been named after Dale W. Rice, a cetologist. Rice's whales are found in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. They were originally considered to be Bryde's whales, due to their almost identical appearance until genetic analysis in 2021 determined that they are their own species. They are still often known as Gulf of Mexico Bryde's whales. In April 2019 they were listed as endangered by the NMFS under that name before it was officially changed in August 2021. They live in waters about 100-500m deep off the coast of Florida and although their diet is unknown, suspected food contains lanternfish and hatchet fish. They do not migrate and remain in the same waters all year round. Due to being such a recently confirme...

Killing invasive species: necessary?

Hi everyone, Today's topic is a rather controversial one: is killing invasive species necessary? We'll take it apart for you to come up with your own opinion. Enjoy! Definition Firstly, let's clarify what an invasive species is. An invasive species is a species that is not native and most likely causes harm to the ecosystem where it now lives. This does not include animals that migrate to another area. Why is it a problem? Depending on the species and the ecosystem, invasive species can cause a lot of harm to their surroundings. Often invasive species have no predators in their new habitat and reproduce in such large numbers that they massively overpopulate, causing death for other species. Or they bring sicknesses the local animals are not accustomed to, and that kills them. For example black and brown rats are an invasive species on the Galapagos Islands : Black and brown rats were introduced to the Galapagos Islands in the 17th ce...

Green World

Search This Blog