South Africa's first wind farm - is wind power the best source of energy?

Question

I read today that South Africa is starting up its first wind farm
( http://www.yzerfontein.info/nearby_towns/Darling/News/Darling_news/2006_08_02_windfarm_cape_town_contract.htm )

To what extent are wind farms a threat to birds? Are there any other disadvantages to wind farms ?

Is there a better source of energy?

Answer 1

Yes! It is free and natural with no pollution. Good for South Africa.

Answer 2

Wind power is useful as an augmentation to the power grid. The advantages are:
Cheap to generate - once the initial investment is made in the turbine
Green - very little air pollution - only from the fabrication of the materials to build the turbine.

the downside:
Wind is not constant, so the power is intermittent
Turbines can be a blight on the land
Individual turbines interfere with one another - making the construction of farms less efficient per turbine

The question of birds is difficult to measure. Certainly having a massive piece of machinery spinning in the air is a hazard, yet there has been little incident of injury to birds from collision. The larger question is the effect on migratory patterns, since the farm may become an obstacle.

Wind farms are a reasonable source of energy in lightly populated rural areas. Solar is better in suburban and urban areas.

Answer 3

Personally, I don't think wind farms present a significant threat to birds because I can't think of a good reason why they should - they don't rotate particularly quickly (compare the speed to a train or car on a motorway), and they don't present a significant change to the landscape compared to a skyscraper, for example.

Wind farms are often criticised for the noise they generate - they create a whining noise. They are also relatively inefficient compared with hydro-electric stations. That's why they're only cropping up now, after decades of hydro development. The main advantage of both is that the "collection area" is large compared to the size of the plant - in this case the wind is generated far away from the turbine and accumulates at the turbine. It's the same for hydro - the landscape provides a large collection area, but the effect is much larger mainly due to the density of water.

The problem with photovoltaics (solar) is that your collector has to be huge to generate a significant amount of electricity.

Answer 4

The problem with wind is that you have to build it where there is wind. And where there's frequent and strong enough wind to generate energy. This requires a lot of space (for the windmills), and generally difficult terrain, like the top of a mountain (where wind gusts get pushed together to be more powerful).

One better alternative would be solar. Either through usage of solar cells, or using reflected solar power to heat air and power turbines, properly captured, only a small percent of the earth's surface area would need to be covered to provide enough energy. And places such as deserts, which aren't inhabited, are good candidates.

Answer 5

wind farms, hydroelectric... I am a huge fan of hydroelectricity and using the water from the ocean to source the energy.

Answer 6

I dont know the answers, but I do think its important that we be looking at all of our options for alternative methods of energy and weighing out the pros and cons of each. Look at how many power outages the US has had in the past couple of weeks because of the extreme heat. Its only going to get worse and we need to be prepared for that.

Answer 7

Any wound, whether stitched or no longer, heals extra clever and swifter whilst this is roofed with a sterile bandage. opposite to widespread perception, leaving it uncovered to the air does not help. somewhat, it will advance the probability of bacteria getting into touch with the wound, which might in basic terms postpone healing.

Answer 8

better source maybe not but the wind blows so use it.like solar panels.

Answer 9

maybe they should use the sun for energy because they have enough of it