ATM S 111 Lecture 15: Alternative Energy

• School: UW
• Department: Atmospheric Sciences
• Course: ATM S 111
• Professor: D A R G A N M F R I E R S O N

Document Summary

Wind: rapidly growing in europe and the us. Still very underutilized compared with capacity even in these countries though. Us could be the world leader in wind. Us can produce 9 times us electricity usage just in lower 48. How is wind power generated- wind blows past a turbine and the turbine is turned which produces energy. The power produced is proportional to the wind velocity cube. Min problem is intermittency- when the wind doesn"t always (cid:271)lo(cid:449). This is(cid:374)"t a huge pro(cid:271)le(cid:373) (cid:271)e(cid:272)ause (cid:449)i(cid:374)d does(cid:374) t pro(cid:448)ide (cid:373)ost of the ele(cid:272)tri(cid:272)ity a(cid:374)y(cid:449)here. Ha(cid:448)i(cid:374)g a large grid with a large area can help ensure that the wind is blowing somewhere. Solar power is complimentary to wind in midlatitudes. Winds must be at least 9 miles an hour and peak capacity at 30 miles an hour. Myths and facts: 1. it harms birds, false , all human structures harm birds. Wind farms are an extremely small fraction of the human harm to birdlife.