With all of the NIMBY controversy over placement of wind power plants...?

Question

Would it be possible to mount the rotors on top of pre-existing electrical towers? A big ugly structure is allready there, it's allready hardwired into the electrical grid, and I would assume that it's weight bearing. All you would have to do is find lines of electric towers that run through windy areas.

Thoughts?

(NIMBY= Not In My Back Yard)

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Delectric%2Btowers%26toggle%3D1%26cop%3Dmss%26ei%3DUTF-8%26fr%3Dyfp-t-501%26b%3D21&w=328&h=500&imgurl=static.flickr.com%2F96%2F236922435_61c762bfd4_m.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Fjgh_photo%2F236922435%2F&size=148.8kB&name=236922435_61c762bfd4.jpg&p=electric+towers&type=jpeg&no=35&tt=1,406&oid=399420991e1110b6&fusr=jgh_photo&tit=Tower&hurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Fjgh_photo%2F&ei=UTF-8&src=p

I was in no way asserting that this would be the only form of energy generation. Of course there wouldn't be enough rotors to power everything if this was all we did.

Answer 1

Having been involved with wind farms and the technology thereof, I can tell you that "weight bearing" is the problem here. Efficient generators are HEAVY puppies, and the blades -usually 3 of them- are LONG. Therefore, the tower on top of the tower would reach at least 50 feet into the sky. Assuming that there would be some way to bear the dead weight, the problem is wind load -the electric towers would collapse.

Perhaps, then, smaller units mounted in arrays within the lower structure of the towers would work. And the answer is, yes, they absolutely would. But now the problem is storing or feeding power into the grid -which takes an infrastructure of batteries and switching equipment that would be required basically at each tower -or maybe every third tower- many of which are located in the middle of "nowhere." Big windfarms are also located in the middle of nowhere, but that's just it -they are BIG- so the economies of scale can work.

All that said, I think it is reasonable to look at the grid as a whole and identify the portions that are in known windy and also SUNNY areas. Those that are in "Nowheresville," can be developed into "natural power generation nodes" (NPGN, for short). Acquire acreage around the grid in that area, and install both sun and wind systems and the necessary infrastructure to harvest, store and insert power into the grid -on a commercial scale. The economies of scale can work in this scenario, and once constructed, the nodes can run pretty much on automation, transmitting telemetry and remote sensing data via satellite or broadband over the power wires themselves -the way remote cell towers, for example, work now.

My thoughts? Your idea is inspired -just needs some tweaking. What do YOU think?

Answer 2

Anybody who believes that wind turbines are the answer to our power generation requirements, is living in Cloud Cuckoo Land.

Considering the fact that this government, has just upset the Russians. (Who were supposed to be our main gas supplier, in the future.) The most sensible thing we could do, is to start building nuclear power stations.

Wind turbines are also ugly and very damaging to the environment of our wildlife.!!!

Answer 3

Here in Texas they are not reliable because when the sun goes down normally the wind stops also.

Answer 4

Well, yeah I guess it's possible but in order to make enough energy you would need whole bunch of the turbines and they wouldn't all fit.
Wind energy isn't a great idea anyways, it's expensive and inefficient. We should convert coal burning power plants to nuclear ones.