Aslan Smith and Zack Plaster
What is Wind Power?
 The use of wind turbines to make a usable form of
electricity and or energy out of wind.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Windenergy.jpg
Practical Uses
 Electricity
 powering machines
 replacement of fossil fuels
 Pumping water or drainage
 Sails (Propelling ships)
How does it work?
 Turbines convert the energy in the wind from an
unusable form of Kinetic energy to a more useful form
of energy like electricity.
 It doesn’t use any kind of fuel, and it has less wasted
energy than many other sources of electricity such as
coal.
 It doesn’t produce any kind of greenhouse gas or toxic
waste.
Environmental impact. (Pros)
 It is a pollution free source of energy.
 It doesn’t require fuel.
 No greenhouse gasses
 No toxic wastes
 Basically pay for themselves in a matter of years. (How
much they cost versus how much money is saved by
using wind power instead of fossil fuels)
Environmental impact. (Cons)
 Visual impact
 Birds
 Lightning
 Noise
 TV/Radio interference
 Destruction of habitats
 Wind turbines
take up a lot of space.
Visual
Impact
 The amount of space usable and the uniformity of the
turbines generally effects the placement of the wind
turbines.
http://www.freefoto.com/images/39/01/39_01_1---WindTurbine-Generators--Palm-Springs--California_web.jpg
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01236/wind
_farm_ufo_1236868c.jpg
Impact on birds (and bats)
• It has been thought that turbines would have a large impact
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on birds, and in some situations they have. (Altamont, CA)
However, this certain situation appears to be an anomaly.
Most birds move to avoid collision.
Raptor poor eyesight in Altamont increased chance of
collision.
Type of turbine can reduce the risk of collision with bird or
bat.
Night migrating birds (contrary to popular belief) rarely
run into turbines.
Sights vary, in some wind farms, bird mortality is very low,
but in other instances, bird mortality is high. (17,000 raptor
deaths in Altamont)
Problems at Altamont, CA
• Was built in an area with a high raptor use.
• Birds are seen trying to avoid turbines, but there are so
many, it’s hard to avoid.
• Scientists are trying to find ways to reduce chance of
collision, but with the wind farm already up and
running, it’s hard to change the rate of death.
Anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 birds die per year.
Lightning
 Damage to wind turbines estimate over 50,000 dollars
per year on average for every wind farm, but some costs
are over 250,000 dollars.
 There is no real way to prevent lightning from striking
turbines, however, an understanding of lightning and
geographical placement of turbines can reduce risk of
a lightning strike.
http://www.ttd65.com/osc/catalog/images/lightning.jpg
Noise
 Noise is generated by turbines, like all machines, but
the noise is very limited, and in the recent years,
architects and engineers have worked to reduce noise
created by wind turbines.
Impact on the environment.
 Land cleared to set up turbines.
 Wind farms take up acres of space.
 Sight polution.
http://lacoastpost.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/wind-turbine.jpg
Websites
 http://www.energy.siemens.com/hq/en/power-
generation/renewables/wind-power/?stc=usccc021710
 http://www.michiganadvantage.org/targetedinitiatives/windenergy/default.aspx?NRC=MEDC_GGP&NRX=MEDC
6486&WT.srch=1&gclid=CL2E1pDP76ACFZVY2godKir
5Xg
 http://www.awea.org/
 http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_wind.shtml