Wind turbines, an increasingly common structure to help with our fight against global breakdown. They are massive, standing 280ft from base to center and another 111ft when a blade is at full peak. In my opinion they are magnificent displays of today’s advanced engineering. Others may not share this same feeling. Of course with this new technology come positive and negative aspects and effects on our daily lives.
One negative to this is the reality that this is not as reliable of an alternative energy as some others. Wind turbines up north, for example, produce power about 33% of the time with the highest output averaging around 1.5MW per hour (mega watts) and spiking occasionally about 1.7MW per hour. But these results are totally dependent on the weather, which as we all know living in New York is very unpredictable. Another may be the aesthetics of the structure. Being so big some would argue that they are an eye sore and when running at full capacity can be quite noisy. Personally it does not bother me to have a wind turbine on my land as long as it was stuck in the back. I mean lets face it, we have been dealing with power lines for years, and it isn’t reasonable to put all power lines underground. Everyone needs power; it is just taking on a different appearance.
Some positives that the implementation of wind turbines has contributed to are the increasing number of job opportunities. Again referring to the turbines up north, there is about one person per ten turbines to take on general maintenance and upkeep. Today, there are about 268 towers and the plan to install more is in the works. Each turbine provides power to up four homes, which may not seem like much, but it is clean energy, no emissions. Also, it does not take long to install a structure, only about one day, without considering curing time for the foundation.
Overall, wind turbines may seem like they don’t contribute to a huge impact on providing clean power, but we have to start somewhere. And besides, they are interesting to look at, and if you are going into engineering work like myself it certainly increases your appreciation of such efforts.
You can find out more about wind turbines on this website.
-Tonya Buddie
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I have done a few projects on alternative energies. Like he said wind power is defiantly a start. Wind turbines like the ones in northern NY are long term investments. They have large start up cost but throughout its life it will make the owners a profit (greater than investing in the stock market). So they are worth every penny in my book.
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ReplyDeleteI feel that wind turbines are actually one of the very few practical applications of this going green phenomenon our culture is experiencing right now. I completely agree with being more energy efficient but we need to keep in mind that some things are just a little ridiculous. The newest generation of Toyota Prius' have solar panels on their roofs to power the car's "ventilation system". When Toyota says "ventilation system" all they really mean is the fans that blow the air and not actually the heating or air conditioning units. But I will tip my hat to Toyota for pushing the envelope so far in the green auto industry. The prius has been the most successful hybrid to date.
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