KIDWIND RESEARCH
STATEMENT 2016
Kemps Landing PVC
Chas Funk
Nehemias Wilkinson
10
Big
Questions

The main difference between each type of wind capturing device is what purpose they serve. For
example, windmills on a farm are used to ground grain, while sails on a sailboat propel the sailboat in
different directions. Another difference between each type of device is the environment in which
they are located in. For example, windmills that bring water from deep in the ground to the surface
are located on a farm, while wind turbines that generate power are typically located off shore.

These devices are all similar because they all accomplish a task that could have been
accomplished using fossil fuels, a non-renewable power source. This is an important similarity
because we should try to transfer our main source of power from non-renewable power sources to
renewable power sources.

An important difference between all of these devices is their different capabilities. For example, it
would not be efficient to place a farm windmill offshore to capture wind to convert to energy,
because it is not built to sustain the great speeds of wind experienced off shore

Our turbine is similar to these devices because it uses the power of wind to generate electricity that
can be converted to energy to power electrical objects.

Our turbine is different from these devices because it does not have the capability to capture and
convert the great magnitude of wind that some of these devices can capture.
QUESTION 1: WIND CAPTURING
DEVICES

One environmental benefit of harnessing wind power to generate electricity
is that it does not emit any air pollution. Burning fossil fuels release harmful
chemicals that could possibly harm the environment around the burning site.
Another benefit of using wind power to generate electricity is that there is no
need to extract any natural substances from the earth that affect the
environment around the site.

Some of the tradeoffs of using wind power to generate electricity is
anesthetics, death of wildlife, and the sound that is produced by the turbine

We would want to harness the wind because it is a clean, renewable source
of energy. We should convert from fossil fuels and other non-renewable
energy sources because if we continue to use non-renewable we will
eventually run out.

A challenge in generating 20-30% of the United States’ electricity from wind
power is that the wind is not always blowing, and wind turbines can only
generate electricity when and if the wind is blowing
QUESTION 2: CLIMATE CHANGE

The United States generated 67% of its total amount of electricity
from fossil fuels (Coal=39%, Natural Gas=27%, Petroleum=1%)

In 2012 the primary sources of electricity in the Southeast region
of the United States were Natural Gas (37%), Coal (34%), and
Nuclear Power (24%)

It costs approximately $180 to power Chas’ house each month

In 2015, 4.67% of the total energy produced in the United States
was produced by wind power. This is a 4.4% increase from 2005,
which only produced 0.36% of our total energy from wind power
QUESTION 3: UNITED STATES
ELECTRICITY SOURCES

Sound. People have reported having “Wind Turbine Syndrome” which supposedly causes
sleep disturbances, headaches, and concentration problems. This claim may or may not be
valid because many of these symptoms may be caused by chronic sleep loss which is simply
an effect of living near a noise source. People who live near highways or a busy street may
also experience this disease.(source: http://science.howstuffworks.com/). a solution to this
problem is to build wind turbines and wind farm offshore or in an isolated site.

Aesthetics. The validity of this claim depends on where the turbines are located. For
example, they might be an eyesore in the middle of a beautiful, natural landscape, but in a
busy city they just add to what ever is already there. A solution to this problem is to primarily
build wind farms farm offshore where no one can see it or in urban areas where there is no
natural scenery to enjoy

Environmental Impact. According to a study in the Wildlife Society Bulletin, about 573,000
birds (including 83,000 raptors) and 888,000 bats are killed by wind turbines each year. This is a
30% increase from 2009 due mainly to an increase in the number of wind turbines and wind
farms (source: http://instituteforenergyresearch.org/). Some things that wind turbine
companies are doing to try and reduce the amount of bird and bat deaths are smarting
siting of wind turbines and farms, new radar technology, turning turbines off when wind speed
are low, and many more (source: http://grist.org/)
QUESTION 4: CONTROVERSIES OF
WIND POWER

We believe that subsidies are necessary in the energy industries.
Without these subsidies the prices to obtain energy to power our
houses would go up and less people would be able to have
access to this important factor. If we had to choose a few energy
sources to subsidize they would be wind energy, hydro energy,
and solar energy. We would choose these sources because they
will never run out like fossils fuels, therefore these sources will
always be available in the future.
QUESTION 5: ENERGY SUBSIDIES

Some components of the wind turbine that have changed and
developed over the last few years are the rotors, controls,
electronics, and gearboxes.

The change that appears to have made the greatest impact on
the efficiency of wind turbines is the size of the rotor. Increasing
the size of the rotor dramatically increases the capacity of the
turbine by 25%.

Source: http://www.power-eng.com/
QUESTION 6: EFFICIENCY OF WIND
TURBINES

Wind is caused by differences in atmospheric pressure. Air moves from areas of
higher pressure to areas lower in pressure, resulting in winds of various speeds.

The current windiest city in the United States based an average wind speed is
Dodge City, Kansas, with an average wind speed of 13.9 mph. The “big city” with
the highest average wind speed is Boston, Massachusetts, with an average wind
speed of 12.5 mph.

As of the end of 2015 Texas generates the largest amount of electricity generated
by wind turbines

As of 2015 there were no permanent offshore wind farms in the United States. The
only wind turbine located in the water was a temporary floating wind turbine
Penobscot River in Maine in 2013. There are many offshore wind farms that have
been approved and will soon begin construction and offshore wind farms that
are currently under construction. The offshore wind turbines that are already
under construction are located in Rhode Island and New Jersey. The wind farms
that have been approved and will soon begin construction are located in New
Jersey, Oregon, and Virginia.
QUESTION 7: WIND

1
Equation for Power in Wind: 𝑃 = × 𝑟ℎ𝑜 × 𝜋 × 𝑟 2 × 3𝑣
2
•
Power = Power in the wind (watts)
•
Rho = density in air (kg/𝑚3 )
•
R = radius of your swept area (m)
•
V = wind velocity (m/s)

The most important and influential factors in this equation is the radius of the swept area of
the blades and the speed of the wind. The radius of the blades is one of the most influential
variables in this equation because the larger a number that is squared the larger the result will
be because you are multiplying a larger number by itself. The speed of the wind is an
important factor also because you multiply the speed by 3 and the higher the wind speed
the more you are multiplying 3 by.

When placing wind turbines and wind farms the ideal area to build them in is a cold area
because the air is denser which increases the power output of the turbine. Another factor
when finding a place to build wind farms or turbines find a location with a high average wind
speed so the turbines can generate as much power as possible.
QUESTION 8: POWER IN WIND
EQUATION
Solar Careers and Jobs
Wind Careers and Jobs

Physicists

Wind Turbine Technician

Chemists


Materials Scientists
Construction material and service suppliers (e.g. Cement
Producers, Lumber and Building Material Clerks, Metal Fabricators
and Welders

Materials Engineers

Construction and Project Managers

Chemical Engineers

Road Contractors

Electrical Engineers

Electricians

Industrial Engineers

Crane Operators

Mechanical Engineers

Tower Erectors

Computer Software Developers


Engineering Technicians
Turbine, blade, and tower suppliers (e.g. speed changer/gear
manufactures, Nacelle assemblers, glass fiber manufacturers)

Source: http://www.bls.gov/green/solar_power/#occupations

Source: http://energy.gov/eere/education/explore-careers-wind-power
QUESTION 9: CAREERS AND JOBS IN
RENEWABLE ENERGY

A way to deal with the variability of renewable is strategically
placing the wind turbines or wind farms. For example, solar
panels should be placed in areas that have a large span
between sunrise and sunset so there is a large time span that is
sunny. Another example of this is to place wind turbines and wind
farms in areas that are windy most all of the time and that the
wind speed average is high.

A way to ensure that we have energy even when the wind isn’t
bowing or the sun isn’t shining is to store energy from when the
wind was blowing or the sun was shining. For example, if the
energy was produced by the wind turbine was not immediately
used it could be stored to use for later.
QUESTION 10: VARIABILITY OF
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
PREVIOUS
DESIGN
FRONT VIEW OF
PREVIOUS
DESIGN
TOP VIEW OF
PREVIOUS
DESIGN
GEARS IN
GEARBOX OF
PREVIOUS
DESIGN

Although the design worked we decided not to use it for many
reasons. One reason we didn’t use it was because the gears
were too small and didn’t generate as much energy as possible.
Once we saw the size and the ratio of the gears in the kidwind
nacelle we knew that it was a better choice to use the kidwind
nacelle instead of our homemade gearbox. We also knew the
new nacelle would generate much more electricity than our
gearbox because of the huge increase in the gear ratio. Another
reason we used the new design instead was because the
gearbox was not very sturdy and we had to use a lot of tape to
secure the driveshaft which does not lead to a good, efficient
turbine.
WHY THE DESIGN WAS NOT EFFICIENT

We have stayed dedicated to the kidwind project for the past 3
years in our elementary and middle schools.

We took initiative in our middle school to start our own team and
compete in the competition

We were both sick on the competition date this year so we were
not able to compete. We were both very disappointed that all
our hard work would not be shown and we hoping to get
another chance to achieve our desire to advance to the next
level in the competition

Through our 2 years competing, despite our hard work, we were
never able to advance past the local competition
WHY WE DESERVE TO GO TO
NATIONALS IN NEW ORLEANS
PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE
WHICH DOCUMENTS OUR
PROGRESS THROUGHOUT
THE YEAR AT
klmskidwind.weebly.com
THANK YOU FOR TAKING YOUR
TIME TO REVIEW OUR
APPLACATION AND
CONSIDERING TO GIVE US THE
OPPORTUNITY TO ADVANCE TO
THE NATIONAL FINALS