The tallest wind turbines in the U.S. have been installed in Texas — the Vestas V90 turbines are 345 feet(105.156 meter) high, and are rated at 3 megawatts each. They are part of the 63 megawatt Snyder Wind Project, a wind farm that’s just been installed in western Texas.Texas is already home to Horse Hollow, the world’s largest wind farm with 421 wind turbines that generate a total capacity
The mayor announced this week that the city is asking companies to come up with clean energy ideas, including wind power to fuel NYC. The city, released a Request for Expressions of Interest that will call for innovative ideas to help New York City develop sources of renewable energy. Mayor Bloomberg speaking at an energy summit in Las Vegas this week spoke about the possibility of placing wind tu
Gamesa has reached a landmark deal with Iberdrola Renewables, involving the largest ever purchase and sale agreement of wind turbine generators, amounting to a total power of 4,500 megawatts (MW).
The purchase will come about between 2010 and 2012 and they will be destined to wind energy promotions in Spain, the rest of Europe, the United [...]
A column published in 2004 contained concerns raised by naturalists that birds were being killed by wind turbines. It is true that birds have been killed by the machines. Every product has a negative side, but every product has room for improvement, and better development.
More: continued here
Many people are afraid that wind turbines kill a huge number of birds. Opponents of wind power often use this argument to stop development of wind farms but is it really the true?
It is estimated that each year in the USA
57 million birds die in collisions with vehicles
1.25 million in collisions with tall structures (towers, stacks, buildings)
more than 97.5 million in collisions with plate glass
4 million to 10 million night-migrating songbirds in collisions with telecommunications towers
household cats in the U.S. are estimated to kill 100 million birds each year
In comparison each wind turbine kills 0 - 2 birds per year at worst.
Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) figures show that total installed wind energy capacity in 2006 was 74,223 MW
Let’s say that every wind turbine has a capacity of 100kW (usually they have more - even over 1500kW), it gives us around 742,230 wind turbines worldwide.
Let’s count with the worst scenario - 2 killed birds per turbine per year
Win
I enclose an extract of an interesting story by Claudia Blume (full story here), picked up at VOA News (Hong Kong):
Engineers at the University of Hong Kong and a private renewable energy company have developed a new micro wind turbine that can generate electricity even if wind speeds are as low as two meters per second.
Micro wind turbines (Courtesy of VOA News)
“We never stop this machine and they never stop because there is always one meter per second wind - 365 days, 24 hours a day, they keep working,” said Lucien Gambarota - the main inventor of the technology.
They are ideal for crowded cities because they can be installed on rooftops and balconies.
Their design is simple: plastic gearwheels, each about 25 centimeters in diameter, are linked to one another and turn, moved by the wind. Groups of gearwheels can be arranged in an array of shapes and sizes. The energy generated by the turbines is stored in a battery, which then powers electrical appliances.
The
UK-based Quiet Revolution have done some great work with Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) that can be used in urban situations where the wind is not likely to come from one steady direction, but rather from all over the place. Unlike traditional pinwheel-like wind turbines, a VAWT can utilize ...
UK-based Quiet Revolution have done some great work with Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) that can be used in urban situations where the wind is not likely to come from one steady direction, but rather from all over the place. Unlike traditional pinwheel-like wind turbines, a VAWT can utilize ...
