Renewable ENERGY

Tornadoes are usually seen as very destructive forces, but one Canadian engineer believes that we can one day harness the power of the tornado to power entire cities. Louis Michaud believes that by pumping warm, humid air into his

tornado

Atmospheric Vortex Engine, a chamber approximately 200 meters wide with 100 meter tall walls, he can create an artificial tornado. The rotation of the tornado would then power wind turbines at the chamber inlets, creating enough electricity to power a small town. Using waste heat from power plants since they typically reject more than half of the heat they generate. He admits that the tornado would probably cause some extra precipitation in the surrounding area, but says that the whole setup would be inherently safe.

It’s an expert estimation that the total energy stored in wind is 100 times higher than actually needed by humans on this earth. The catch is that we have to learn and devise ways to trap this wind power blowing across the planet earth. Experts tell us one more thing that most of the wind energy is available at high altitude and we can’t manufacture turbines of that height.

Kite ENERGY

So we have to think of new ways to trap that wind power blowing at a significant height. Some experts estimate that the total energy contained in wind is 100 times the amount needed by everyone on the planet. However, most of this energy is at high altitudes, far beyond the reach of any wind turbine.

Now researchers want to create something like a kite that can float at a higher altitude to trap the wind energy.

The swirling kites prompt KiteGens core in motion, and the rotation activates large alternators producing a current. They also have a control system on autopilot.

The cost of the technology is US$750,000 and it won’t takes acres and acres of space like a wind farm. You can install the whole machinery within a diameter of just 100 meters. KiteGen claim that they can produce half a GW of energy, and produce it at a cost of US$2.5 per GW. Its creators, Sequoia Automation, say a 2,000 meter-version would generate 5GW of power.

While the US dilly-dallies with its offshore wind power efforts – and has yet to have a single wind turbine planted in its coastal sea bottom – the UK is set to go gangbusters.

(The only offshore wind generators in the US are mounted on sailboats to charge batteries.)

The Crown Estate, which owns the seabed of the UK’s territorial waters, has announced the successful bidders for each of the nine Round 3 offshore wind zones. If planning and consents go through, and projects are built to capacity, the UK could have more than 32 gigawatts of new offshore wind power generation.

GigaWatts

The developers who have signed exclusivity zone agreements are:

• Moray Firth Zone, Moray Offshore Renewables Ltd which is 75% owned by EDP Renovaveis and 25% owned by SeaEnergy Renewables – 1.3 GW
• Firth of Forth Zone, SeaGreen Wind Energy Ltd equally owned by SSE Renewables and Fluor – 3.5 GW
• Dogger Bank Zone, the Forewind Consortium equally owned by each of SSE Renewables, RWE Npower Renewables, Statoil and Statkraft – 9 GW
• Hornsea Zone, Siemens Project Ventures and Mainstream Renewable Power, a consortium equally owned by Mainstream Renewable Power and Siemens Project Ventures and involving Hochtief Construction – 4 GW
• Norfolk Bank Zone, East Anglia Offshore Wind Ltd equally owned by Scottish Power Renewables and Vattenfall Vindkraft – 7.2 GW
• Hastings Zone, Eon Climate and Renewables UK – 0.6 GW
• West of Isle of Wight Zone, Eneco New Energy – 0.9 GW
• Bristol Channel Zone, RWE Npower Renewables, the UK subsidiary of RWE Innogy – 1.5 GW
• Irish Sea Zone, Centrica Renewable Energy and involving RES Group – 4.2 GW

All of the developers are European companies.

The European Wind Energy Association says 45,000 jobs will be created in building the capacity. The UK government is more optimistic saying 70,000 jobs by 2020.

If fully built out by 2020, as hoped for, the new offshore wind will provide 25 percent of the UK’s power needs.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, “Our policies in support of offshore wind energy have already put us ahead of every other country in the world. This new round of licenses provides a substantial new platform for investing in UK industrial capacity. The offshore wind industry is at the heart of the UK economy’s shift to low carbon and could be worth 75 billion and support up to 70,000 jobs by 2020. This announcement will make a significant and practical contribution to reducing our CO2 emissions and the Government will work with developers and The Crown Estate to support the growing offshore wind industry and help remove barriers to rapid development.”

What could be the first US offshore wind farm, Cape Wind, planned for Nantucket Sound off the coast of Massachusetts, has hit a new snag. Two American Indian tribes in the state say the turbines will disrupt their spiritual greeting of the sunrise and disturb ancestral burial grounds, now under water. The tribes want all of the Sound listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The National Park Service, which determines such things, is considering their request.

Wind Energy is Renewable energy harnesses natural wind power – Effective answer for global ecological problem towards cleaner and greener environment:

The simplest wind-energy turbine consists of three crucial parts:

1.Rotor blades – The blades are basically the sails of the system; in their simplest form, they act as barriers to the wind (more modern blade designs go beyond the barrier method). When the wind forces the blades to move, it has transferred some of its energy to the rotor.

2.Shaft – The wind-turbine shaft is connected to the center of the rotor. When the rotor spins, the shaft spins as well. In this way, the rotor transfers its mechanical, rotational energy to the shaft, which enters an electrical generator on the other end.

3.Generator – At its most basic, a generator is a pretty simple device. It uses the properties of electromagnetic induction to produce electrical voltage – a difference in electrical charge. Voltage is essentially electrical pressure – it is the force that moves electricity, or electrical current, from one point to another. A simple generator consists of magnets and a conductor. The conductor is typically a coiled wire. Inside the generator, the shaft connects to an assembly of permanent magnets that surrounds the coil of wire. In electromagnetic induction, if you have a conductor surrounded by magnets, and one of those parts is rotating relative to the other, it induces voltage in the conductor. When the rotor spins the shaft, the shaft spins the assembly of magnets, generating voltage in the coil of wire. That voltage drives electrical current (typically alternating current, or AC power) out through power lines for distribution.

Harnessing renewable energy is the perfect way to tackle the ecological crisis of the world. Renewable energy is energy which is made from resources that Mother Nature replaces. Renewable energy is also called “clean energy” or “green power” because it doesn’t pollute ours Nature. Wind energy is one such renewable energy source that harnesses natural wind power. People try to make many assumptions against wind turbines for generation of wind energy; but the fact remains, wind energy is most suitable form of renewable energy we can have to replace coal fired / nuclear powered / and even oil fired power plants in the near future. In support various points are discussed below:

Wind power is clean because it is generated by blowing air. Wind energy transform in kinetic energy and use as mechanical energy or electricity. The amount of energy produce depends mainly on blowing wind speed; density of air affects the energy produce by wind, which is determined by the humidity, barometric pressure, dryness.In the case of a wind-electric turbine, the turbine blades are designed to capture the kinetic energy in wind. When the turbine blades capture wind energy and start moving, they spin a shaft that leads from the hub of the rotor to a generator. The generator turns that rotational energy into electricity. At its essence, generating electricity from the wind is all about transferring energy from one medium to another.

Energy of wind power depends upon speed of air when increase in speed of air then increase in generation of energy and when decrease then decrease in energy generation. So locate the wind power plant in windiest areas. A modern wind turbine is designed to operate for more than 20 years and at the end of its working life, the area can be restored at low financial and environmental costs. Wind energy is a form of development which is essentially reversible – in contrast to fossil fuel or nuclear power stations. A modern wind turbine produces electricity 70-85% of the time, but it generates different outputs depending on the wind speed. Over the course of a year, it will typically generate about 30% of the theoretical maximum output. This is known as its load factor. The load factor of conventional power stations is on average 50%. A modern wind turbine will generate enough to meet the electricity demands of more than a thousand homes over the course of a year.

Cost of wind energy is determined by initial cost of the wind power plant – any wind power plant that is installed in a windy area generates less expensive electricity than the same unit installed in a less windy area.

The average wind farm will pay back the energy used in its manufacture within 3-5 months of operation. This compares favorably with coal or nuclear power stations, which take about six months. All forms of power generation require back up and no energy technology can be relied upon 100%. Variations in the output from wind farms are barely noticeable over and above the normal fluctuation in supply and demand.The cost of generating electricity from wind has fallen dramatically over the past few years. Between 1990 and 2007, world wind energy capacity doubled every three years and with every doubling prices fell by 15%. Wind energy is competitive with new coal and new nuclear capacity, even before any environmental costs of fossil fuel and nuclear generation are taken into account. As gas prices increase and wind power costs fall – both of which are very likely – wind becomes even more competitive, so much so that some time after 2010 wind should challenge gas as the lowest cost power source. Furthermore, the wind is a free and widely available fuel source; therefore once the wind farm is in place, there is no fuel requirement or no waste related costs.

Fact: Wind energy is a benign technology with no associated emissions, harmful pollutants or waste products. In over 25 years and with more than 75,000 machines installed around the world, and there is no report of any body has ever been harmed by the normal operation of wind turbines.

Wind Power

Wind can generate electricity for homeowners. Wind is created by unequal heating of the earth’’s surface and can be used to directly produce electricity. A wind turbine captures the energy of the wind and converts it into rotary motion that drives a generator to produce electricity.

Much like home PV solar systems, small wind systems can be eitheroff the grid or grid connected. With grid connected wind systems, the homeowner can sell excess electricity to the utility or purchase electricity from the utility if necessary during low wind or no wind conditions.

The ability to use wind systems to produce electricity is more limited than opportunities of solar systems. While solar systems can be used in many U.S. locations, careful study is required to ensure there is adequate wind to allow wind systems to function efficiently. Zoning requirements in residential areas may also limit use of wind power systems.

Hybrid of Wind & Solar Systems

There are advantages to considering an on-site electric system that rally wind and solar. This hybrid approach is common for homes that are in steading. By mixing wind and solar, the weakness of each approach (lack of wind or sunlight) can be offset. In the United States, wind speeds are often lowest in the summer when the solar energy from the sun is strongest, while wind tends to be stronger in the winter when less sunlight is available. A wind/solar hybrid system offers a more reliable approach to year-round electricity production than either approach alone. Typically, these off-the-grid hybrid systems utilize a battery system to store electricity when household energy demands are low and to supplement the system’’s output when household needs exceed the electricity being produced. It is a stave off brown outs.

The solar power plant generates approximately 10MW of power, enough to buffer it from fluctuations in the grid which result in frequent brown outs, from state power provider. More importantly for the company, they are able to achieve savings of up to 80% in good weather & 50% in cloudy times, considering that electricity doubled in price last year, significant savings indeed. It’’s Ecological, Economical, Effectively working power system on your property.

President Obama announced the awardees of the program, worth $2.3 billion in tax credits. The White House says “the tax credit program will help build a robust high technology, U.S. manufacturing capacity to supply clean energy projects with U.S. made parts and equipment. These manufacturing facilities should also support significant growth in U.S. exports of U.S. manufactured clean energy products.”

Renewable Energy Wind

Commercial viability, domestic job creation, technological innovation, speed to project completion, and potential for reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions are some of the criteria used to assess how the tax credits are allocated. The White House says the program was oversubscribed by a ratio of more than 3 to 1, “reflecting a deep pipeline of high quality clean energy manufacturing opportunities in the U.S.”