Wind Turbines Posing a Problem in Maryland

Does anyone know how these turbines are moored to the ground or kept stationary? If there is hard structure that is going under the surface of the water, then there would definitely be some impact on the swells, as the swell energy has to pass through that area. Most likely it would be a minor influence, but I could definitely see some impact.

 

Avian mortality rates associated with wind turbines are minute compared to lots of other human causes. Turbines kill 33,000 birds a year (granted that number will go up as more turbines are built). Car strikes kill a few million. And if you actually look at the full energy cycle, generating energy from fossil fuels kills millions of birds too, ranging from habitat destruction during exploration and drilling activities, to collision strikes on operating equipment (this isn't exclusive to wind turbines, birds can crash into lots of things), to electrocution from feeder lines, and the acid rain resulting from emissions from fossil fuel-burning power plants. That doesn't even consider the uncertainty that birds (and all animals) face from climate change as we continue to pump CO2 into the atmosphere

 

Keep reading Brew. You're a science guy. The inconsistent UV flashes are what disturb wildlife. Just an example of sensitivity anyhow, not too relevant to the turbines.

And although I don't think turbines would have an effect on the surf, I'd bet wind speeds are less on the lee side of a turbine field, and I like to think about what sort of impact it may have. Even on a small scale. Wind makes waves, no?

 

I care about all animals, so relax yourself B Bob.
A litte knowledge about meteorology will tell you that wind would only be slightly affected in the immediate area of the turbines. Even if the turbine field was 1 square mile the effect would be minimal. The weather active atmosphere goes up pretty high, many times higher then the turbines could reach or affect.
The naturally occurring wind turns the turbines, not vice versa.

Ultimately, I think solar technology is a better option. It's worth noticing how many municipalities run the street lights and such off solar these days. I'm sure property taxes haven't gone down though! How clever. The "how far can we bend you over a barrel" business model continues to spread.


D

 

Make no mistake that the electric car has been battled tooth and nail by big oil for years now, Tesla http://www.teslamotors.com/ and Zero motorcycles http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/ and the like are not only keeping pace, but out performing their gasoline powered counterparts. Streamline that battery technology and the prices will come down from Mazarati/Ducati prices to Toyota/Suzuki prices and we will all be driving them. As for fossil fuels, my power is made in Surry at the nuke plant, if I plugged in my cars and bikes I could virtually eliminate my carbon footprint and probably save thousands over the time of ownership.

But no, oh no, states are making it impossible for people to obtain electric vehicles for some reason... IE banned Tesla sales in Texas! any ideas anyone? Well if BP/aamco/shell if financing your congressman's campaigns, how do you think they are going to vote on the topic?

What I'm saying is, the technology is there. Rich corrupt people and their puppet industries are all that keep it out of the average Joe's driveway. No different at all than big cable taking a big dump on the internet... net neutrality?

 

Agreed indeed, studboy.
This reminds me of hashing out a court case, public defender vs. million dollar lawyer.
Who wins?

 

Slow down, refract, reflect, deflect.
Yes, all of the above are likely, just a matter of to what degree.

The 22% quote from above sounds plausible, but it would be highly dependent on many factors including:
location of wind farm
extend of wind farm
direction of swell in relation to location of wind farm
exact structure of turbine base and how it is moored to the bottom

The farther the wind farm is away form the coast, the less likely it will influence the waves at your beach.

 

Simple facts:

1. Wind farms (as envisioned) will not reduce swell or wave height. It's an issue of scale. There was a recent study that postulated that Hurricane strength in the Gulf of Mexico could be dramatically reduced by marine wind turbine. HOWEVER, the finding was that you'd need 70000+ turbines before you'd see any real effect. The same it true for swell/waves. The function of the turbine is to remove energy from the wind, this energy is then lost to the surface of the ocean (where friction would normally build waves). A few or even a few hundred will do nothing... Not to mention the fact that our real swells come from wave generated out to sea, far away from the wind farms. The support columns will have minuscule impact on the bypassing wave trains.

2. Wind turbines are infinitely "less harmful" (not better) for the environment that fossil fuel production. Several other folks have pointed out that, if we are truly worried about bird/fish kills, we have thousands of other changes to make that we be more impactful than worrying about wind farm construction (i.e. tear down all the tall buildings, stop driving cars, stop using nitrogen fertilizers, and the list goes on). A GREAT BOOK to read about practical/sensible environmental stewardship is "Whole Earth Discipline", everyone from BrewE to ChicaR to Yankee can appreciate this book. (Well, maybe not Yankee, since he has trouble reading... the audiobook, perhaps)

3. Wind power is a nice idea, but simply DOES NOT/WILL NOT generate the massive amount of power demanded by our society. Unfortunately, this means that the real effect of wind farms is to power small areas/projects whilst lining the pockets of the wind farm construction business. Finding ways and spending money on harvesting larger sources of renewable energy, such as TIDES or SOLAR (outside of the Earth's atmosphere!) might be the best options outside of "safe" NUCLEAR energy (I won't even open that can of worm... again, read Whole Earth Discipline).

Anyway, it's safe to say that the surf will be intact... Hell, I figure that a storm will knock a few of these suckers down and potentially provide an unintended artificial reef. I'm with the glass half full crowd on this one!

 

I read the whole thing, and agree that UV can affect living creatures. I was only pointing out that power lines don't create UV radiation.

If you think Tesla cars are outperforming gasoline in all areas, you have been missing many of the track tests. Even Top Gear showed that the car, when driven hard on a race course, does not last long on a full charge. Oil may own TX politicians (not big oil, but all oil suppliers), but Tesla's are not illegal in most states. They cannot compete with gasoline or diesel when it comes to logistics or range. Current battery technology sucks. It takes forever to recharge, while a liquid fuel vehicle can fill up in 5 minutes. Also, current batteries are are horrible for the environment, when it comes to manufacturing or disposal. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate electric cars. I would rock a Tesla as a city car or something to play with on the weekend. Instant torque is pretty awesome. These care are expensive and we need some better/cheaper technology solutions for them to really be practical.
On a side note, the ban of Tesla is more about Republican greed than it is about straight big oil. You can get the facts here:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/markrog...crashes-into-the-hypocrisy-of-chris-christie/
Republicans don't like the direct sales system, and are protecting all the middle men. I often wonder why libertarians lean to the right after sh1t like this happens. The republicans are not protecting your free market on bit.

 

this is the only practical solution if they can ever get it to work: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_power

 

They got it to work... on a small scale... barely making more energy than was entered into the system. Still, there is hope.

 

Tesla's are not "illegal" in any state. You can still buy them in "banned" states, just not at the mall. You can order online and have it delivered

 

I've seen the massive wind farms in North Dakota, my first thought too of increased birds collisions with the blades. The Dakota's are primary routes of millions of waterfowl from Canada. So their presence on wildlife was thoroughly studied by US and Canada including transmitter studies of birds living in the area of wind farms. Amazingly, morality rates were minimal when compared to other natural causes so birds adapted to the change of the landscape.

 

PHP:

Ummmm- no...how big do you think this mass of concrete is?

 

It depends on what you put the Tesla up against, it may not be a contender in 24 hrs of dakar but it beats almost all full sized sedans off the line. Being interested in the topic, maybe you have seen the Electric Aerial Atom smoke every supercar it has been pitted against, watch some youtube videos you will see it walk away from the enzo, porsche GT, Lambo, etc.

Range, well driven hard I am lucky to get 300 miles out of a tank in my turbo vw. That's about the range of the Tesla right now. The Brammo electric motorcycle beats the GSXR750 to 100mph. Ever ridden a gsxr? Damn lucky to get 120 miles out of a tank. Same range on electric. This company is just a few years old and check out the progress they are making http://www.brammo.com/racing-empulse-ttx/ about to get their motoGP on...


But, I will cave on 'Time to recharge' as a real hurdle but that too is improving, Tesla now offers the "supercharger" that can charge the car in about an hour. The Brammo empulse R can be charged in 2 hours through a normal outlet. Charged the new Iphone lately? Takes half as long as my old one. They are getting there.

... And I didn;t mean to confuse anyone, Texas banned Tesla SALES under a middle man agreement put in place by and to benefit big auto manufacturers. Tesla does not have dealers, you buy direct. That happens to be against the law in Texas. Well Texas is so "American", shouldn't it be the ultimate display of capitalism? None of it is very transparent or makes very much sense. Typical political bs. "Them damn gays and their hybrids"

Just make sure you end up on the right side of history, is all I'm sayin'

 

Don't be paranoid guys. Some of you obsess over the evils of 'Big Oil', but as any petrochemical engineer will tell you, most 'Big Oil' companies are heavily invested in wind power. Ever heard of monopolization? Controlling (& even suppressing) the competition is good for business.

You really want to know who is preventing wind power from taking off? Not 'Big Oil.' Just look at who funds the poltical campaigns in Maryland. There's no oil in Maryland! It's BIG PHARMA.

Why, you ask?

Near shore wind farms bring clean sea air into coastal communities. The air in these towns is usually polluted, by natural and unnatural air contaminants (auto-traffic and trapped urban pollen). These very same contaminants are the ones that cause allergies.

Most towns near wind turbines see a minor gain in electricity, but also a massive drop in local allergies, mainly due to increased local air flow (and possibly due to unknown effects of vibration).

How is it al connected? BIG PHARMA gets your politicians to oppose wind turbines because they can't sell as much Claritan and Allegra. This is worth WAY more than the minor amounts of electricity. Wondering which companies are behind these campiagns? Pfizer and Merck, of course. And who are they owned by?

MONSANTO, what a surprise.

(don't even get me started on the GMO'S and allergies....)