Posts Tagged ‘energy source’
The wind turbine as an energy source that has an important role
From early in the history of mankind, the wind was used as an energy source (motor for boats or windmills pumping water or grinding). Today we explore its use to produce electricity.
The use of wind turbines to generate electricity on a large scale began in Denmark at the end of the last century and has spread worldwide. Through various components, wind turbine generators use their power to produce electricity.
The turbines are operated when the wind reaches a speed of about 19 to 21 km / h (ie, it takes a wind of at least moderate intensity, a breeze is not enough). When the wind stops, the wind farms use batteries to continue to deliver electricity. The wind turbine generators usually have a standard size (15 to 30 meters in diameter, with a capacity between 100 and 400 kW).
In Denmark and the Netherlands, where land-based turbines are typically located in flat terrain, offshore wind turbines produce 50 percent more energy than those in nearby onshore site. The reason is the low surface roughness of the sea.
On the other hand, the construction and installation of offshore foundations require 50 percent more energy than land. Finally, offshore wind turbines have a longer expected lifetime than onshore turbines, about 20 to 30 years.
The disadvantages of wind turbines are, for many users, aesthetic and environmental. Aesthetic because the presence of wind farms interrupted and disturbed by the vision of the landscape and environmental because the birds die because they can not avoid on your routes the blades of wind turbines. Given these disadvantages, the Danes notes:
Tjaereborg radar studies in the western part of Denmark, where there is installed a 2 MW wind turbine with a rotor diameter of 60 meters, show that birds (either day or night) tend to change their flight path about 100-200 meters before the turbine, and pass over it at a safe distance.
How can model hydroelectric
The development of new small-scale hydroelectric plants could be an important new impetus for this type of energy enterprises, according to research undertaken by engineers and scientists from the Technische Universidad Munched (TUM) in Germany. These small plants would be more efficient from an economic standpoint, greener and its construction would be simpler, among other important advantages.
The design of new hydro plants could allow renewable energy generation in thousands of geographical locations in which it is not possible, for various reasons, installing traditional core. In Germany, for example, there are no possibilities of developing hydropower infrastructure.
At the same time, other large-scale hydroelectric projects that are carried out in different countries have attracted criticism because of its profound impact on the environment. This determines the future of hydropower, considered the oldest renewable energy source.