Worst argument of the day award? Wind power more reliable than conventional

yeah, that's right. **** the planet, wind power is rubbish, lets totally dismiss is out of hand.

Are you an enviromental scientist? Do you have any qualifications in the study of future fuel technology?

Or are you the typical look at me, i've nothing better to do website poster?

I know which one I back.

 

RE: Well Mr or Mrs Guest

I can see the argument that it's more reliable in one sense. You'll know when the wind is falling or about to fall and can prepare other supplies without dips and surges.

Also it can be stationed offshore (where wind is very predictable) and therefore have no land impact at all. And the equipment can't take as much upkeep as that for say tidal power.

I reckon if it was possible to sell wind we'd have seen a lot more development to date. As it is we've had to wait until we're on the brink of environmental meltdown before our governments will listen to anyone but their mates in the fossil fuels industries.

Anyway, I'm off to knit a samoyed jumper.

 

RE: Well Mr or Mrs Guest

The energy required to manufacture a wind turbine is greater than the energy it creates during its lifetime.
This is a fact the pro wind lobby refuse to accept. In addition the sail ring does not rotate through a full 360 degrees and therefore at some point it has to be hand cranked back to take advantage of the wind. There are further limitations such as too high a wind speed etc.

 

Well, I'm proper confused now.

I remember reading the figures for a single wind turbine. The farmer was selling the power back to the grid and there was a cut off point where he was in profit. How could the manufacturers afford to supply the equipment?

As for the wind direction problem don't coastal winds pretty much go one way during the day and the other at night?

Just asking like.

 

Just googled and first web page that came up said this

one 2 MW wind turbine on a good location can cover the electricity consumption for 2000 households per year
during its life time a wind turbine delivers 80 times more energy than is used in its production, maintenance and scrapping.
A modern wind turbine is designed to run continuously for over 20 years, or for 120,000 hours. By comparison, the design life time of a car engine is 20 times less at only 4,000 to 6,000 hours.
In the last 20 years, the power production of wind turbines has increased by a factor of 100, while the costs of generating electricity from the wind has fallen by 80%.
Wind is the fastest growing energy source worldwide, and has been for over a decade with an annual growth rate of 30%.

 

RE: The argument I've heard

we should go nuclear again

 

RE: The argument I've heard

or chop up our fancy new wardrobes from Pine Factory and burn them.

 

That sounds a bit more like it.

 

RE: Well, I'm proper confused now.

Wind power

The winds that blow across the UK can be harnessed by turbines to provide electricity. Wind turbines sited in suitable locations already provide a small, but growing percentage of the UK's electricity, and are used successfully all around the world. In fact wind power is the world's fastest growing energy source! Wind turbine technology has greatly improved over the last ten years, making wind turbines quieter and more efficient so that electricity generated from the wind is now often competitive with traditional coal-fired and nuclear power stations. Wind turbines are also beginning to be built at sea in the future much of our electricity could come from these offshore windfarms.

New figures from European Wind Energy Association in April 2002 reveal another record year for wind power in Europe 4.5k MW of wind power capacity was added to the European grids in 2001, bringing total installed capacity to more than 17k MW (an increase of over 35%). This will produce approx. 40 billion kW hrs of electricity annually, equal to the electricity consumption of 10 million European households. Producing this electricity from coal-fired power plants would require the burning of 16 million tonnes of coal, emitting 24 million tonnes of CO2.

Solar power
Many people believe that we don't get much solar energy here in the UK. In fact solar power is already being used to provide essential power for many types of equipment being used in both remote and urban areas across the country. A solar photovoltaic (PV) module works by converting sunlight directly into electricity (even on cloudy days) using semiconductor technology. The vast majority of solar modules available today use "waste" silicon from the computer chip industry as the semiconductor material. They can be integrated into buildings and even made into roof tiles virtually indistinguishable from normal tiles.

Solar energy can also be used to heat water directly using specially designed collectors. Even in winter a useful amount of hot water can be produced from roof top collectors. A third way to use solar energy is simply to design buildings to make maximum use of the sun. Using this so-called 'passive solar' approach, much of the energy that we currently use for heating, lighting and air conditioning can be saved.

Hydro power
Water turbines have been used to provide electricity for over 100 years and presently provide over 1% of the UK's electricity. Although most of the possible sites for large hydropower stations in the UK have already been developed, there is a large potential for smaller schemes. These can either use a small dam or work as a 'run of the river' system which has a minimal impact on the local environment.

Wave power
Britain is blessed with some of the most powerful waves in the world. Many different devices have been designed over the years to try and capture some of this huge energy resource the latest one has recently started generating on the isle of Islay, off the West Coast of Scotland. In this machine waves hitting the shore are channelled into a large tube to power a specially designed turbine. With the proper support, wave power could provide a significant proportion of the UK's electricity needs in the future.

Tidal power
Tidal power has been used in Britain for over a thousand years at the time of the Doomsday book over 5,000 tide powered mills were recorded. Unlike other renewable energy sources, which depend on the weather, tidal power is as predictable as the tides themselves. One way to capture tidal energy is to build a barrage across an estuary, storing water behind it as the tide rises and then releasing the stored water through turbines at low tide. Several sites around the UK could be suitable for this type of tidal system, the largest being the Severn Estuary. Another way is to use 'marine current turbines', which work like underwater wind turbines, harnessing tidal currents instead of the winds.

Geothermal
Geothermal energy comes from hot rocks deep underground. In some parts of the world steam comes to the surface and can be used to run steam turbines to produce electricity directly. In other places water can be pumped down and heated by the rocks to make steam. Geothermal energy can also be used to provide hot water and heating for buildings.

Biomass
Either agricultural wastes or specially grown plants can be used as a fuel to run small power stations. As plants grow they absorb carbon dioxide (the main gas responsible for climate change) which is then released when the plants are burnt. So using biomass does not add any extra carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Specially grown 'energy crops' provide not only an environmentally sound source of electricity, but also an important new opportunity for farmers.

Landfill gas
As rubbish decomposes in the landfill sites where our household waste is dumped, it gives off methane gas. This gas can be captured and burnt in a gas turbine to produce electricity. Burning the gas does give off carbon dioxide but since methane, which is emitted from the landfill site, is in fact a much more powerful greenhouse gas it is better to burn it than to allow the methane to escape into the atmosphere. There are already many landfill gas systems operating in the UK.

Waste incineration
The UK generates an enormous amount of waste, and space at landfill sites is quickly running out. The best solution would be to recycle as much of the waste as possible, but instead incinerators are being constructed to burn the waste. In some cases the energy is being used to generate electricity. However many are still concerned about the emission of harmful dioxins.

 

That's some good cutting and pasting right there! Interesting arguement, i think it's pretty obvious alternatives to fossil fuels are needed, and it seems wind power looks quite an attractive possibility.

 

Yes.

That's what I was going to say.

 

King coal rules

 

There are 2 blade manufacturers on the Isle of Wight and they're constantly exporting huge blades (1 or 2 at a time on each boat) around the world.

They're definitely making the sea deeper. I think we should ban them, as my garden was wet this morning and I reckon it's because they're eroding the coast line.

It did rain a bit as well, but that's probably something to do with wind turbine manufacturing or something.

 

Were you

One of those Isle of White types that bought in to that pyramid selling scheme? How many pyramids were sold in the end?

 

none

they morphed into cheap BFC season tickets.

 

RE: Were you

They're all in Egypt and I have one on a time share I think. Worth every penny of the £40k.

I haven't got the documents through yet but I was assured on 26 May 2003 that they were in the post. So fingers crossed.

and no..

 

Coal

Get the pits opened back up,coal is king