The future of energy; Blowing in the wind By James Claps and Max Joubert

 First windmills used in the 11 th century by Middle Eastern people  Idea travelled to Europe through merchants and crusaders  Used to pump water in the New World.  Replaced by the steam engine  Returns due to increasing oil prices during the 1970s

What is a wind farm? A group of wind turbines bunched together for producing electric power. Interconnected with a medium voltage power collection system. Usually between a few dozen and 100 turbines and cover up to hundreds of square miles

Why we need wind farms Average temperature has climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit around the world since 1880 In the Northern Hemisphere, thaws also come a week earlier in spring and freezes begin a week later. 750,000 deaths a year in china due to pollution.

Advantages Wind is free and inexhaustible Turbines don’t cause green house gases or other pollutants Remote areas not connected to a power grid can supply their own power Land below turbines can still be used for farming. Turbines vary in size, making it possible for single houses and small villages One of the cheapest renewable resources

Parts of a turbine

How a wind farm works ble_versions/wind_animation.html ble_versions/wind_animation.html The wind turns the blades around a rotor, which is connected to the gears, The gears twist the shaft that spins the generator to produce electricity. The energy is then connected to an electricity grid to distribute the power

Economics Wind power is generally getting cheaper. Technology increasing, components made more economically Newer, more efficient designs ◦ Same output, less turbines Trend towards larger machines

Disadvantages  Wind force isn’t constant making it unreliable  Can vary from zero to storm force.  Turbines are too noisy and are seen as eyesores  The blades endanger wildlife  Large scale farms are needed to provide for entire communities  Requires a higher initial investment than fossil fuel generators.

 Good wind sites are usually located in remote locations  Wind farms must compete with alternate uses for the land and could be seen as less important  excess transmission lines depleting  $1.5 million per mile cost of high-voltage lines  Can take 5-10 years

 Largest turbine in the world, in Hawaii, stands 20 stories tall and has blades the length of a football field  Twin Groves II is the largest wind farm in Illinois in McLean county.  It has a megawatt capacity of  Lynn and Inner offshore wind farm  In the United Kingdom  54 turbines  powers 130,000 homes  Caununda wind farm, Australia  54 turbines  30,000 homes  Altamont pass, California  Largest concentration of turbines.  4900 relatively small turbines

 A wind farm in Derrybrien Ireland caused a mud slide that killed fish and polluted water. Scientist believe similar slides will occur in Scotland  Projects like cape wind are right where a tornado could come through and wipe out.  Wind farm turbines are breaking in many wind farms in America.

With recent improvements, a lot of the original problems have been fixed Too loud- you can now hold a conversation underneath a wind turbine without raising your voice. Excessive turbine lighting- Wind farm lights are now non- intrusive and further design improvements will make them even less so. Blade throwing and collapse-Blade throws were common earlier on, but due to better turbine design and engineering they are now safe enough to operate in rural areas and near schools And they are able to withstand different levels of hurricane winds

Conclusion Wind generators are different sizes which makes it possible to solely power a single home. Extra power your house produces can be sold back to power companies. Although they haven’t figured out all the kinks yet, we believe wind power will be key to powering our future