ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF WIND TURBINES.

Article by ARTHUR MARKAM

http://www.WindTurbines.Net.”>Wind turbine uses the kinetic power of wind to generate electricity, and since the wind is free and renewable, matched with modern technology, wind turbines offer us cost-effective electricity. The energy coming from this device is eco-friendly because it does not burn fossil fuel so no green-house gases and other pollutants like carbon is emitted. Although its average height might be between 200 to 300 feet, it can only take up a few square meters for the base, allowing the continued use of the land below especially for farming. Wind farms can add an interesting character to the landscape.

Most areas have a coal plant or other means of providing electricity, yet there are still remote areas that is not connected to the electricity power grid. With the use of wind turbine, these areas can produce their own electrical supply. It varies in size allowing different people and communities to use it. Villages, businesses and single household can build their own to provide their electrical needs.

Unfortunately, the strength of the wind is not stable. It depends on the weather. It can have a storm force or nothing at all, giving no guarantee that it will provide energy all the time, 24/7. Though for some people wind farms can be a great feature on the landscape, other believe that the countryside be left untouched, untainted. Some people are so bored and feel pressured with the skyscrapers in the city that they want some place to be free of these high structures. Nature as it is for everyone to enjoy. Some people believe that it is dangerous to the wildlife when a lot of dead birds can be found at its base. They believe that it has a harmful effect to migratory bird flight plans. Since wind turbines need a deep foundation it can potentially destroy underground habitats and disturb surrounding ones. Wind turbines can be disrupting because they are noisy. Its noise level is the same as a car travelling at 70 miles per hour or a small jet engine. Wind turbines can reduce carbon emissions but the manufacture of the said devices can still cause pollution. When running at full capacity, 475 homes can be provided electricity using a single yet the largest turbine available in the market. So for large communities, with at least 100,000 people, how many wind turbines will be needed to provide their electricity needs?

Although wind turbines have a lot of disadvantages, our growing electrical demands & high cost electricity, developments will definitely be made for the improvement of Wind turbine.

Bay Forge Limited

Article by Indiamart

Forged components making things easier; lifting cover and windturbine rotor shaft

Everyday lives would have been more difficult without the presence of things like aluminum rings, boiler and pressure vessel, stainless steel and many other such forged products that finds use in not just everyday items but also in critical areas like aerospace, power generation, wind power, general engineering, oil and gas application among a host of others. And all these products are basically forged products.
Forging of products is a manufacturing process that involves the shaping of metals by making use of the compressive localized forces. Forging is often classified into two categories depending on the temperature at which the forging technique is applied. When the forging is done at colder temperatures, it is known as cold forging and when done in warmer temperatures, known as hot or warm forging. The products made by the process of forging can vary in weight from a few grams to several metric tons. However, the process of making the products is not considered complete with just forging but it is considered complete only after the forged products are further processed to obtain a finished part. Forging is used to produce a single piece that is generally stronger than an equivalent cast or machined part. Iron and steel are the two metals that are almost always produced by hot forging. Lifting covers are the forged products that are used to cover an opening of any sort. The lifting covers are designed in a manner that they cover the opening effectively and also, can be lifted easily when needed.
The wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. The wind turbines have been developed quite a long time back and today, the wind turbines are available in a range of vertical and horizontal axis type. A windturbine rotor shaft is connected to the center of the rotor of the wind turbine. The rotor is nothing but the blades of the windturbine which in their simplest form act as barriers to the wind. When the wind forces the blades to move, it transfers some of its energy to the rotor. When the rotor spins, the windturbine rotor shaft spins too. In this process, the rotor transfers its mechanical energy to the windturbine rotor shaft which then enters an electric generator on the other end.
The forged products like the windturbine rotor shaft and lifting covers with their strength and utility prove to be very useful to us in not just everyday lives but in industrial work too.
Forging of products, whether in hot temperature or in cold temperature, results in the formation of very useful products that help in a variety of purposes, big or small. Forged products like lifting covers and windturbine rotor shaft and many more come to use in industries and at times homes too.
The wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. The wind turbines have been developed quite a long time back and today, the wind turbines are available in a range of vertical and horizontal axis type. A windturbine rotor shaft is connected to the center of the rotor of the wind turbine. The rotor is nothing but the blades of the windturbine which in their simplest form act as barriers to the wind. When the wind forces the blades to move, it transfers some of its energy to the rotor. When the rotor spins, the windturbine rotor shaft spins too.
Lifting covers
forging technique

Wind Energy: The Use of Wind Power, Past and Present

Article by Joni Keith

The Earliest Use of Wind Energy

The history of mankind’s use of wind power dates back as early as 200 B.C when rudimentary wind machines were used by the Persians. By the 14th century, the famous Dutch windmills were used to drain the Rhine River delta. The first windmill designed for the production of electricity in the United States was built in 1888.
Wind Energy in American History

Once upon a time, water pumping windmills and small wind electric generators were commonly used throughout the United States. However, the rural electrification programs of the 1930′s and 1940′s replaced these systems. By the 1950′s, the windmills, once used as a primary source of energy on farms, had been replaced by centrally generated power.

Rural electrification is the process of bringing electrical power to rural and remote areas. This program brought lighting to thousands of homes. It also allowed approximately one-fourth of all farms in America to benefit from the mechanization of many farming operations. This program was implemented with the belief that the standard of living and economic competitiveness of the family farm in the US would improve. This was a crucial point in America’s economic history.

Recognizing Wind Energy as a Renewable Energy Source

While rural electrification was good for the economy, no one was aware of the problems it was creating for the environment. The power plants fueled by coal to produce the electricity, became major contributors to global warming.

In the 1980′s, as America began to recognize global warming as in issue of concern, Federal and State Government programs and incentives where established to encourage the use of wind power generation and other renewable energy sources.. More recently, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT 2005) was signed by President Bush to promote renewable energy sources.

How Wind Energy Works

Wind power harnesses wind energy and converts it into a useful form. Wind turbines are used to produce electricity from wind power. They are rotating machines which convert the kinetic energy in wind into mechanical energy.

A windmill is different than a wind turbine. A wind mill uses mechanical energy directly to operate machinery, such as a pump. A wind turbine, on the other hand, converts the mechanical energy to electricity.

Wind Energy in Today’s World

There is a recent revival in the use of wind power as an alternative energy source In a report by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), wind power generation increased by 45 percent in 2007 pumping investments of over billion into our economy. This is the third consecutive year in which such growth has been reported.

Electricity produced by renewable energy sources is becoming more readily available to consumers through Green Power programs. Currently, 500 electric companies in 34 states offer such programs. These programs sell power produced by wind energy and landfill gas-to-energy projects.

The current production tax credit and tax incentives for renewable energy technology are due to expire at the end of 2008. However, the Senate Finance Committee is including extension of these credits as part of it’s stimulus package.

Wind Energy Goes Full Circle

Seemingly, mankind has always recognized the advantages of wind energy. Throughout time, man has learned to harness that energy for his own use. Technology has allowed for vast improvements in producing electricity using wind energy.

Experience has dictated our need to use alternative renewable energy sources to meet our electricity needs. Wind energy has a solid past and a promising future in filling those needs. Wind energy has always been the appropriate decision for the environment and now seems to offer economic potential as well. Wind energy is a win-win solution.
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Joni Keith is an accomplished writer having had her first work published at the age of eight. Her love of writing has been fueled by her passion to educate people on renewable energy sources. Please Click Here!
to learn more about renewable energy. Click Here! to visit GreenLiving

Wind Farms ? Limitations as Energy Platforms

As modern society searches around for alternative energy sources, wind farms are getting mention. There are, however, limitations regarding wind farms as major energy alternatives.

Wind Farms – Limitations as Energy Platforms

Wind power is an enticing energy platform compared to fossil fuels. The process works by using the inherent energy in wind as a method for producing electricity. The actual methodology is much like hydropower, but with wind used in place of water. Wind turbines catch the wind, which turns their blades. This turning motion cranks a generator that produces electricity. The electricity is stored in batteries or fed into the electrical grid of a utility. Walla, you have power!

Using wind power for localized needs has been around for a long time. The Persians are believed to be the first to use it with the purpose being to turn grain grinding stones.

In modern times, the sole purpose is to generate electricity. On a large scale, this means wind farms.

Wind farms are simply large collections of wind turbines in a defined area. If you have ever driven east out of San Francisco, you have seen the wind farm along the freeway. While it is both intoxicating and a pollution free source of electricity, a wind farm has definite limitations.

The biggest limitation of wind farms is the electricity produced. Simply put, they do not produce massive amounts, certainly not on the scale needed in most cities in industrialized nations. Obviously, each location is different, but wind is simply not a constant occurrence in most places. Even when it is, the number of turbines required to produce enough energy for a city is mind boggling. This, of course, leads to a second limitation.

Wind farms need to cover a lot of physical space to produce large amounts of electricity. In many industrialized countries, space is at a premium. As a result, the sheer cost of purchasing land for wind farms is prohibitive. This issue, however, is losing some of its grit as offshore wind farms are becoming more prevalent.

To some, one of the limitations of wind farms is they are eyesores. Personally, I think they are mesmerizing and have an artistic appearance. Others, however, definitely do not agree. The Cape Wind offshore wind farm project has met with massive resistance for just this reason.

The limitations of wind farms are fairly significant at this point in time. As technology and new approaches, such as offshore wind farms, come to the forefront, these problems may fall the wayside.

Wind Farming – Just A Large Scale Version Of What Is Possible In Your Own Back Yard

Article by Verly Gautron

Wind Energy: Powered by Smart Engineers

Burbank, CA (PRWEB)
Johnny Goff sits at a bank of computers at the Horizon Wind Energy headquarters monitoring an expanse of wind farms from New York to Costa Rica. As a project engineer, Goff knows the math, science and problem solving skills needed to build wind turbines and keep them operating.
One screen shows the expansive Maple Ridge Wind Farm, a joint venture between Horizon Wind Energy and PPM Energy, where Scott Alexander and his team of engineers are constructing the largest wind farm in the state of New York. Goff makes sure Alexander has the supplies and support he needs from headquarters. “When you’re talking about building a wind turbine a lot big pieces and big machinery are involved,” Goff explains. “You want to make sure the roads are strong enough to hold all this big equipment.”
Each turbine soars 260 feet in the air, has a wingspan the length of a football field and capable of producing enough energy to power 750 homes. To assemble two turbines in a day, the engineers have to make sure they are well prepared. “There are a lot of considerations when you’re talking about building a wind farm. It’s not just sticking a pole in the ground and watching the wind turbine turn,” Goff says.
Emily Hardy is a wind analyst at Horizon Wind Energy headquarters in Houston, Texas. It is her job to determine the best places to put the wind turbines throughout the wind farm site. “In order to find a good wind site it takes several years. We have meteorological towers up for at least a year looking at the patterns: how fast the wind is blowing in the winter, how fast the wind is blowing in the summer, in the day and at night,” Hardy says. “We can estimate what the winds would be for the different areas of the wind farm and how much electricity we could produce.”
Johnny Goff, Scott Alexander and Emily Hardy are all featured in The Futures Channel’s latest movie, “Wind Farming,” which goes behind-the-scenes at the Maple Ridge Wind Farm and Horizon Wind Energy to find out how these two teams, in different parts of the country, work together to create an operational wind farm.
The Futures Channel has taken students behind-the-scenes with engineers, scientists and visionaries who are passionate about what they do and who use math and science to get their jobs done. For the Horizon Wind engineers featured in “Wind Farming,” being involved in the production of an alternative energy is a source of pride. Goff says, “I enjoy coming to work every day knowing that I’m doing something to help people, knowing I’m doing something to help our community and our environment and I’m learning something every day.”
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Wind Energy : History of Wind Mills

Article by Chuck E Perry IV

How the wind is generated? The unequal heating of land and water by sun is the main cause of wind generation on the earth’s surface. The global installed capacity of wind farm is 6000MW and about 10.6 billion units of electricity were generated in 1996, thus reducing CO2 emission by 10.5 million tones. Wind energy is one of the forms of energy made available by the nature and is available at free of cost. It has been America’s greatest natural resources. As per study of NASA U.S has enough stable wind to generate 1.28 trillion KWh of electrical energy per year which is equivalent to about 200 GW or half of the annual output of all fossil fueled generating plants were powered by the wind.

Wind power plants: Wind power plants or wind farms as they are popularly called are clusters of wind machines used to produce electricity. A wind farm usually ahs hundreds of wind machines in all shapes and sizes. Unlike nuclear or coal plants most wind plants are not owned by public utility companies. Instead they are owned by and operated by business people who sell the electricity produced on the wind farm to the electric utilities. Theses private companies are known as Independent Power Producers. Operating wind power plants is not as simple as plunking down machines on a grassy field. Wind plant owners must carefully plan where to locate their machines. They must consider wind availability (amount of wind blowing), local weather conditions, nearest to electrical transmission lines and local zoning codes. Wind plants need lots of land. One wind machine needs upto two acres of land. A wind power plant takes up hundreds of acres.

The land can still be used by farmers to grow crops around the machines once they are they installed. Just plunking of wind machines doesn’t stop from your expenses there are still maintenance costs to be considered. Also depending on the rules of that particular state or area taxes may be imposed on the plant owners for the use of natural resource. History of wind machines The importance of wind power was recognized quite in early period. Over 5000 years ago, the ancient Egyptians used wind power to sail their ships over the Nile River. Later people built windmills to grind grain. The earliest known windmills looked like large paddle wheels.

Centuries later, the Holland people improved the windmill. They thought of propeller shape blades and made it so it could be turned to face the wind. Windmills helped the Holland to become the world’s most industrialized countries by the 17th century. American colonists used windmills to grind wheat and corn, to pump water and to cut wood at sawmills. In the century, people use windmills to generate electricity in rural areas in the 1930′s; the electric windmills were used less and less. Then in the early 1970′s, oil shortage created and environment eager for alternative energy sources, paving the way for there-entry of the electric windmill on the American landscape. Today wind energy is one of America’s greatest natural resource. Classification of windmill As explained earlier windmill is machine for wind energy conversion. A wind turbine the vital part of power generation converts the kinetic energy of the winds motion into mechanical energy transmitted by the shaft. It is further converted into electric energy with the help of generator, thus producing electricity.

Windmills are generally categorized into two types as: 1) Horizontal axis type and 2) Vertical axis type Further depending on their axis of rotation they are sub classified as: 1) Horizontal axis type windmills are further classified as: a) Single bladed b) Double bladed c) Multi bladed d) Bicycle multi bladed type e )Sail type f) Wing type 2) Vertical axis type windmills are further classified as: a) Savonius type machines b) Darius type machines Wind electric energy systems are classified into the following categories of utilization: 1) Wind electric energy systems connected to grid without need for energy storage facility. 2) Stand alone (isolated) wind electric energy system with need for energy storage facility. 3) Non-critical wind electric or wind mechanical energy system, without need for energy storage. 4) Wind electric hybrid or wind electric, solar electric, battery hybrid. For remote applications, farms, energy conservation non-conventional schemes. Windmill power plants have certainly risen as one of the most important resource of energy.