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2007-11-12 13:04:01 · 9 answers · asked by Chs_8_Hoopster 2 in Environment Green Living

9 answers

Interesting question.
Wind energy is available at most of the places however it may not be economically viable at all places. The viability would depend upon duration of viable wind speeds, transmission distance to users and losses etc.
Wind is free but one need to pay for the Land and infrastructure for developing the wind farms.
None of the energy is recyclable including that from Sun and Wind but one form of energy can be converted into another form and the electrical energy produced from wind farms can be stored in storage batteries.
thnks

2007-11-12 13:12:54 · answer #1 · answered by mandira_nk 4 · 2 0

Yes wind energy is available everywhere but capturing it (building windmills) costs money and so it pays to find windy places to build them in. The cost of building and looking after the windmills is the cost of wind energy so it is not free.
The energy captured by a windmill can be used immediately or stored (for example in a battery). I am not sure what you mean by recycable but wind energy is renewable in the sense that the sun's energy creates more wind energy every day (though not always in the same places).

We need to switch to renewable sources of energy such as wind, tides and waves because the fossil fuels are running out and becoming more expensive.

2007-11-16 11:09:45 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

As Mandira stated it's not always practical in every location. SOme land is too expensive or do not produce enough energy. Some are on location where people might be upset that it's being built there. It's not free wither. Excluding start up cost, you need to maintain it. Things don't run for ever, and occasional repairs may be necessary. I believe most Wind turbine companies guaratee up to 10 years. THe problem with wind is that it may not generate energy when you need it, and may not reliably generate electricity. Some days you won't have that much wind. The main problem I heard is to store excess energy. it's not practical to store it in a battery for city use. I believe it's currently stored by pumping water up a hill and then have the water flow down hill to turn turbines to generate energy when needed. We lose alot of energy that way. Honestly we always lose alot of energy at night. We use far less energy at night and most large generators need to make energy at a constant level.

2007-11-12 17:27:54 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

You need to be slightly more specific with this question. Do you mean the commercial wind turbines, or small wind power devices for individual household use?

I'll adress both commercial, and household. My husband works on the commercial wind turbines, so I have a lot of information about them, but I'm going to address the household ones first.

There's a HUGE difference in the quality of household wind turbines. Some are little pieces of plastic garbage, that wouldn't generate more power than a single 100 watt incandecent lightbulb would take. These are just part of the companies that have jumped on the "make money from the global warming need to go green fear based wagon."

They are plastic junk, destined for landfills. Other household wind turbines are actually VERY good...so good in-fact my husband has serriously concidered going into business selling and installing them.

They are on metal towers, bolted onto a concrete pad that needs to be poured at the house. Quality fiberglass blades, metal towers, copper wiring, ect. A very good product. Those household wind turbines are HIGHLY recycalable should they need to be taken down.

For household use, enough wind blows in most places (but not all) to make it worth putting up household wind turbines. In some areas the household wind turbines will pay their purchase price back very quickly, in other area it will take a few years longer, but they will eventually pay their purchase price back.

Yes wind energy is free...but only because the Government has not yet figured out how to tax it.

Commercial wind turbine...the huge 300 foot towers used to generate electricity for power companies. They cannot be built just anywere. They need a very specific amount of wind to make it practicle to build those huge towers.

Usually a wind study is done for a year, or two in a specific location. They get an idea of the amount of wind an area has on average. Then if the location is a good canidate, they begin the long process of getting all the permits and permission to build the commercial wind towers.

Because the commercial wind turbines cannot be built just anywere, people need to be accepting of the idea of wind turbines being built in areas that are favorable to them.

Commercial wind turbines produce power at a cost seven times LESS than commercial solar plants.

Commercial wind turbines are made of HIGHLY recycalable matterials. Steel, copper, and aluminum (The huge blades are made mostly of fiberglass). At my husbands site, they had one of the towers destroyed last year during a serrious winder storm. The blades broke and crashed into the tower, damaging the tower.

Scrap metal companies came and bid on the removal of the tower and wiring, because it was so valuable.

Commercial wind towers are designed to have a life of 20 years (they will probably last longer than that). They cost 1.5 million dollars each to install. They generally pay their instalation cost back in 3-5 years with the power they generate.

Yes the power they generate is "free" minus instalation and maintenance costs...best of all it's totally clean, and renewable.

~Garnet
Homesteading/Farming over 20 years

2007-11-12 23:41:34 · answer #4 · answered by Bohemian_Garnet_Permaculturalist 7 · 0 0

Wind in a useful volume is not available in all locations, so do a search of wind patterns for your location to see if it is viable for you to utilize this resource. Wind is a renewable energy, as the use of it does not diminsh its availability, but it is cyclic, depending upon the season and local weather variables. These can have a profound affect on your wind generation. You must also be aware of possible legal problems involving your location, if there are restrictions that might impact on the use of the generator. If you are unaffected by homeowner associations, check with your local town or county zoning offices to ensure you will not have issues of that nature. Generators purchased for individual home use are somewhat expensive and require a number of years to enable a reasonable pay back, so wind energy can be 'free' given sufficient time to realize a return on your investment. Wind power can be used as a sole source of power depending upon your local wind conditions, how much you are willing to invest in the size of the generator itself, batteries, line conditioners, inverters, but more importantly, by how little power you will need to get by on. If you have large power needs, such as a large air conditioner along with most standard home appliances, you will likely find that a single wind generator may be insufficient for your needs. Search the websites of generator providers and study the specifications to fit your needs. If you have a simple, low energy life style, few electrical appliances and live in a somewhat moderate temperature zone, this might make more sense for you. Some states require the local utility company to pay you for any surplus power that you provide back to them, so check on that angle, and there might be certain tax breaks or even refunds from your state or utility company, so find out all of that while your doing your homework. Remeber, if you are in any way connected to the main grid, certain safety circuits will need to be placed between you and them to prevent harm to those who might be working on power lines during an outage or some other sort of emergency. For this and your own safety, you need to have a competent electrician and/or technician assist you in setting up. Best of luck on your project.

2007-11-12 22:06:39 · answer #5 · answered by go2seek 4 · 0 0

Wind energy is free and renewable like food growing in the ground is free and renewable. You have to plant the crops and harvest the food to eat it, or hunt and gather wild food to eat it. And you have to build windmills and generators and towers and transmission lines and keep them all in good repair to use the power.

2007-11-12 14:23:03 · answer #6 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 0 0

Wind generated power is practical only in areas where there's a lot of open spaces and windy conditions like the desert.

2007-11-12 13:13:24 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

we all have wind energy stored inside each one of us, if only we could collectively resolve to harness it with such resonance and synchronicity that it permanently opens our eyes to our own blindness in how we have been abusing the environment for all these years.

2007-11-12 14:05:02 · answer #8 · answered by Gruntled Employee 6 · 1 0

it is recyclable if you figure it is not used up - so it can further be used for breathing or energy further up or down the line.

i think the correct term might be - renewable assuming there will always be wind.

2007-11-12 14:18:18 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

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