Are wind turbines the way forward?

Answer 1

I'd like to see more scaled down versions popping-up in peoples back gardens, and the energy they produce is solely used for one or two neighbouring properties. Failing that, why not have a turbine for each neighbourhood?
There are those jaded individuals who complain that they're a blot on the landscape and unsightly, but they're no more unsightly or ugly to look at than satellite dishes and/or mobile phone masts.
I honestly think people are ignorant and scared to "go green" They do nothing to conserve our precious energy resources and even less about considering an alternative.

Answer 2

Not on their own.

Unless you know somewhere the wind blows at the right speed 24 / 7 / 365..

You will always need some other source for when the wind isn't suitable, ie: none or too strong.

Same goes for solar, it doesn't work when it's dark.. the sales guys seem to conveniently forget this!

So you either need nuclear or fossil generation on constant standby to take up the slack.

Or you need some sort of storage to store huge quantities for use when none is being produced for whatever reason.
At the moment, storage = batteries which take resources and energy to manufacture and they have a finite lifetime.

Much easier to use hydroelectric or tidal / wave if you're anti nuclear and want to "go green"

Answer 3

I wouldn't be so sure about how efficient those wind turbines are.

They take an awfull lot of concrete to make which in turn uses an awfull lot of carbon to manufacture and they are useless in less than 20 years. The running efficiency of them is less than desired also.

I'd like to see some independent figures on just how well they work before I start getting exited about them.

All I seem to hear of them is mostly spin from politicians and who'd trust one of those?

Answer 4

It will never be enough to power everything, but it certainly has it's place in an energy "portfolio." There are a lot of wind fields out there, and they provide a good deal of electricity. So to answer your question directly, they are A PART of the way forward.

Answer 5

Yes sure, but it needs more research, A lot of people could be off grid if it was allowed to do so without being charged for the privilege. I think that a lot of uneccesary electricity is used up leaving lights on and things on standby. Yes, unplug your computer etc..etc. SAVE ELECTRICITY, you know it makes sense. For goodness sake don't penalize people for having the good sense to make thier own lekki, NUCLEAR POWER no thanks!Biodiesal is the safest wa\y of running engines, if you don't know what I mean google biodiesal .

Answer 6

Forward to what?

If you mean are they an evironmentally sound way of producing electricity, the answer is yes. However, they will not work well everywhere. Someplaces do not have enough wind.

Answer 7

I don't know. I'm still waiting to see what the consequences will be of the inevitable changes they cause in the prevailling wind. It seems logical to me that you can't convert large amounts of wind energy to electricity or mechanical energy without changing the weather.

Answer 8

Yes Palm Springs in Southern California has thousands.

Answer 9

In some areas yes, in others solar, hydro or wave power are the way forward.

But all can only replace some of the fossil fuels used currently and, like it or not, we will need nuclear as well.

Answer 10

Certainley not, since we got wind turbines in our town I am sick of eating baked beans to power them.