How Wind Power is Harvested

Q: HOW IS WIND POWER HARVESTED? HOW DOES IT WORK? WIND BLOWS OVER THE BLADES CAUSING THEM TO REVOLVE. II|||||||||| |||||| A: WIND IS PRODUCED FROM THE UNEVEN HEATING OF THE ATMO- SPHERE AND IRREGULARITIES IN THE EARTH'S SURFACE. THE AIR MOVEMENT BETWEEN THESE AREAS IS WHAT WE REFER TO AS WIND. JUST AS WE CAN USE FLOWING WATER TO TURN TURBINES, WE CAN THIS TURNS A GENERATOR IN THE TORQUE SHAFT. HARNESS THE POWER OF THE WIND WITH WIND TURBINES TO CREATE ELECTRICITY THE GENERATOR CONVERTS RATIONAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICITY. THE ELECTRICITY FLOWS DOWN THE SHAFT. ONSHORE WIND FARM OFFSHORE WIND FARM THESE FARMS ARE TYPICALLY THE POWER OUTPUT GOES TO A TRANSFORMER WHICH CON- VERTS IT FROM 700 VOLTS TO INSTALLED 3 KM OR MORE FROM SHORE. THEY ARE OFTEN FOUND ON HILL AND MOUN- TAIN RIDGELINES AND SO ARE ABLE TO EXPLOIT TOPO- GRAPHIC WIND ACCELERA- TION. THESE FARMS ARE OFTEN IOKM OR MORE OFF SHORE, ENERGY BY OFFSHORE PRODUCED FARMS TEND TO BE GREATER AS 30.000 VOLTS. IT THEN GOES TO THE NATIONAL GRID WHERE IT IS TRANSPORTED THE WIND SPEED IS TYPICALLY GREATER OVER OPEN WATER ACROSS THE COUNTRY. WHERE ARE THE LARGEST WIND FARMS? MEASURED BY NORMAL MAXIMUM OUTPUT IN MEGAWATTS (MW). 24 ROSCOE WIND FARM USA HORNS REV II DENMARK 782 209 HOW MUCH IS THE WIND INDUSTRY WORTH? IN INDUSTRY RANKING, GE ENERGY REMAINED #1 IN U.S. WIND TURBINE HORSE HOLLOW CENTER 736 USA LYN & INNER DOWSING 194 e UK SALES: NEXTERA ENERGY RESOURCES CONTINUED TO LEAD IN WIND FARM OWNERSHIP: AND XCEL ENERGY CONTINUED TO LEAD UTILITIES POWER USAGE. AT THE SAME TIME, MORE COMPANIES ARE NOW ACTIVE IN TEHACHAPI PASS FARM USA I WIND 705 180 ROBIN TIGG UK EACH OF THESE AREAS. SHOWING THAT THE WIND ENERGY MARKET IS DIVERSIFYING AS IT EXPANDS. CAPRICORN RIDGE FARM 663 USA 172 GUN FLEET SANDS UK 6 BILLION $I0000 SAN GORGONIO PASS FARM 615 166 NYSTED WINDFARM DENMARK USA 8000 IN 2009. GE SOLD 6 BILLION DOL- LARS WORTH OF WIND TURBINES. FOR A FARMER: 6000 A FARMER CAN EARN 29X MORE PER ACRE BY HARVEST- ING WIND ENERGY THAN BY PLANTING CORN FOR BIOETH- 4000 POSITIVES NEGATIVES $87.2 BN 2000 • CLEAN, FREE & RENEWABLE • PROPERTY VALUE DECREASES $37 BILLION INVESTMENTS ENAL. IN 2008, THE • PRICE NOT SUBJECT TO INFLATION • ADDS TO NOISE POLLUTION GLOBAL WIND MARKET WAS • COST PREDICTED TO DECREASE • DANGER TO AVIAN SPECIES 10,000 350 $50.2 BILLION TURBINE SALES WORTH $872 BILLION. • STILL MORE EXPENSIVE THAN FOSSIL FUEL • LAND USED IS STILL FARMABLE WIND BIOETHANOL HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? WIND PLANTS TYPICALLY COST APPROXIMATELY SI.000 PER KILOWATT OF INSTALLED CAPACITY. THUS, THE INSTALLED BASE OF 6,740 MEGAWATTS (AS OF JANUARY 2005) IN THE U.S. AMOUNTS TO NEARLY $7 BILLION IN INVESTMENT. HOW FAST IS THE WIND ENERGY INDUSTRY GROWING? IN 2009,WIND ENERGY PRODUCED 1.8% OF THE WORLD'S GLOBAL ELECTRIC CONSUMPTION. THAT IS NEARLY DOUBLE WHAT IT WAS A YEAR PRIOR. IN THE US ALONE, WIND ENERGY GREW BY 39%. BY 2020, IT IS ESTIMATED THAT WIND WILL PRODUCE 15% OF AMERICA'S ENERGY. S2000 COST PER KILOWATT (PKW) THE COST PER KW OF $I500 % OF WIND POWER GENERATED IN TOP 5 WIND PRODUCING COUNTRIES OWNING AND OPERAT- S1000 ING A WIND TURBINE HAS DECREASED BY $2,700 PKW SINCE 1982. 2005 2005 $500 2006 2006 2007 2007 2008 2008 2009 2009 2005 2005 WORLD WIDE INSTALLED WIND POWER CAPACITY 2006 2007 2007 150 2008 2008 158,505 MW 2009 2009 120 AT THE END OF 2009 THE WORLD WIDE 2005 06 NAMEPLATE CAPACITY WAS 158.505 MW. NAME PLATE CAPACITY IS THE MAXIMUM OUTPUT OF A GENERATING SOURCE. ILLUSTRATED ABOVE IS THE TOTAL PERCENTAGE 2006 60 OF WIND POWER GENERATED AND USED IN THE 2007 TOP 5 WIND POWER- PRODUCING COUNTRIES. 2008 DUE TO THE MOST RECENT GLOBAL RECESSION, 30 GROWTH IN SOME COUNTRIES HAS SLOWED. IN OTHERS, GROWTH HAS DOUBLED SINCE 2005. 2009 00 a1 02 03 04 05 0.6 07 0.8 SOURCES: GREENPEACE.ORD, REINFORCED PLASTIC.COM, AMERICAN WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION, "WORLD WIND ENERGY REPORT WORLD WIDE WIND ENERGY REPORT 2009, BIOWATCH.COM, WIKIPEDIA. ORO 100z CHINA GERMANY U.S.A. INDIA SPAIN