1. The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy such as electricity, using wind turbines.
Wind
4/28/2018
The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education

2. The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education
The earth’s most abundant source of energy is the sun. Wind, as an atmospheric phenomenon, is simply solar power in a different form. Heat from the sun causes convection in the atmosphere, meaning that heated air rises. These currents create zones of high and low air pressure within the atmosphere. As the light air rises, it creates a low pressure zone near the ground. Air from surrounding cooler areas rushes in to balance the pressure. These horizontal pressure differences account for the ambient wind and more intense storm wind.
What Makes Wind
4/28/2018
The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education

3. The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education
Prevailing winds, in turn, are cause by the temperature differences between the earth’s poles and it’s equatorial regions, as well as it’s rotations. The earth’s atmosphere, in fact, has several very large and steady prevailing wind channels, such as the polar easterlies and the northeast trades. In North America, one of the prevailing dominant wind paths tracks in a southeast arc from the northern prairies to the Great Lakes and the eastern seaboard. Wind energy is also affected by other factors. Air currents move faster and more consistently at higher altitudes– think of the blustery conditions at the tops of tall buildings or on mountain tops. Similarly, wind tends to gather energy when it moves unimpeded over longer distances, which is why very flat regions, such as the prairies, tend to be highly exposed to intense winds.
4/28/2018
The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education

4. U.S. Led the World in Wind Capacity 2008
Most of the wind energy generated in the world is in Europe. America accounts for only 15% although it is increasing.
4/28/2018
The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education

5. Installed Wind Capacities
2009
Total: 34,863 MW
Note where wind energy projects are located…
CA, TX are the leaders—IA, MN, WA are the next batch…
Projects tend to be where the wind is located..not much in the SE
1999
Total: 2,500 MW

6. The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education
Why Such Growth?
…costs are low!
Increased Turbine Size
R&D Advances
Manufacturing Improvements
The rapid growth in wind power can be attributed to two things– reduction in cost of electricity produced and more interest in Green power.
1979
40 cents/kWh
2000
4-6 cents/kWh
2004
cents/kWh
2009
5-7 cents/kWh
4/28/2018
The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education

7. The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education
We also need to change students perceptions about what the future may look like and the limits of this technology.
Wind, using current technologies, will not provide base load power in the near future, but as technology changes and turbines become larger, base load power may be possible. In comparison, the offshore wind farm above is capable of generating 15-20Mw of electricity at full capacity. The oil fired power station below generates 300Mw. Most Nuclear plants are at Mw…And oil, coal, hydropower, and natural gas are not intermittent energy sources.
Must keep the scale in mind….a very aggressive wind program can generate 10-20% of our power needs. To move towards a more sustainable future a diverse portfolio of energy resources is necessary coupled with investments in energy efficiency and conservation – both in buildings and transportation.
Changing Perceptions
4/28/2018
The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education

8. Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines
Intermediate(10-250kW)
Village Power
Hybrid Systems
Distributed Powers
Small (<10kW)
Homes
Farms
Remote Applications
(e.g. water pumping,
Telecom sites, ice making)
Most wind turbines being used today are the horizontal-axis type. Horizontal-axis wind turbines have blades like airplane propellers. A typical horizontal wind turbine stands as tall as a 20-story building and has three blades that span 200 feet across. The largest wind turbines in the world have blades longer than a football field! Wind turbines stand tall and wide to capture more wind – providing more “swept area” where the blades make contact with the wind.
Go over the various size (scale) of wind turbines.
Remind everyone…
1 Megawatt of wind will generate enough power for about 300 homes. This depends on the type of device and where it is located.
Most large turbines that you see today are rated at 1.5 Megawatts…meaning that at peak output (high winds) it will be producing about 1.5 Megawatts
Distributed Power is distributed energy - energy installations that are not close to base load power plants – a wind turbine to generate power for a remote area, a solar panel to run a emergency call box, wind and solar to run weather stations in remote locations, etc.
Large (250 kW- 2+ MW)
Central Station Windfarms
Distributed Power
Schools
4/28/2018
The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education

9. The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education
328’ base to blade
Each blade is 112’
Span greater than 747’
163.3 tons total
Foundation 20’ deep
Rated at 1.5 megawatts
Supply at least 350 homes
Largest turbine in current production is produced by a German company called RePower.
5 MW turbines produces 5MW (enough energy for 1500 homes) at its highest output capacity.
More info at:
Large Wind Turbines
4/28/2018
The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education

10. How A Wind Turbine Operates
Things to note as compared to a small wind turbine:
Blades can be actively pitched by hydraulics. Spin at RPM—much slower than a small wind turbine.
Large driveshaft attached to the gearbox—must go from RPM to 1600 RPM for the generator.
Generator is what creates electricity
Small wind turbines use vanes(typically) to track the wind. They use an anemometer and hydraulics to move the turbine.
Highly computerized and automated, senses condition and can turn itself off if there is a problem.
Often connected by computers by one run location and run from there.
How A Wind Turbine Operates
4/28/2018
The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education

11. Installation of Wind Turbine
They put together the entire blade setup on the ground and lift it up. Can be installed within a few days once the foundations are constructed.
Notice size compared to the barn on top…they are big!
4/28/2018
The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education

12. Calculation of Wind Power
Power in the Wind
- Effect of air density (ρ)
- Effect of swept area (A)
- Effect of wind speed (V)
½ρAV³= power of wind
Swept Area: A=R²
Area of the circle swept by the rotor(m²). R
4/28/2018
The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education

13. The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education
Wind Farm
Wind farms are like power plants—we wire a bunch of them together to transform the current and put it on the power line/grid.
Some wind farms are very large—700MW—that is as big as a coal or power plant.
4/28/2018
The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education

14. The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education
Many developers would like to move wind farms offshore because wind is faster, smoother and can be close to major population centers on the coast. This is very controversial in the US…we have few planned offshore wind farms…CapeWind is one example.
Offshore Wind Farms
4/28/2018
The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education

15. Where are the winds strongest?
MN, ND, SD called the Saudi Arabia of wind power…if we saturated these state with wind turbine we could generate at most of energy used in the US…Why have we not done this? Transmission is one major problem need to match load with generation…how would we get all the power out of there?
Why don’t we put lots of wind farms in the Rockies? Lots of wind but very hard to get at 60 meter long blade to the continental divide...logistics of these large machines is very challenging!
Where are the winds strongest?
4/28/2018
The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education

16. Top Twenty States for Wind Energy Potential
B kWh/Yr
B kWh/Yr
North Dakota 1210
Texas 1190
Kansas 1070
South Dakota 1030
Montana 1020
Nebraska 868
Wyoming 747
Oklahoma 725
Minnesota 657
Iowa 551
11. Colorado 481
12. New Mexico 435
13. Idaho 73
14. Michigan 65
15. New York 62
16. Illinois 61
17. California 59
18. Wisconsin 58
19. Maine 56
20. Missouri 52
4/28/2018
The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education

17. The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education
Why Wind Energy?
Clean, zero emissions
- NOx, SO2, CO, CO2
- Air quality, water quality
- Climate Change
Reduce fossil fuel dependence
- Energy independence
- Domestic energy- national security
Renewable
- No fuel-price volatility
Domestic Low Power
Wind energy is one of the renewable sources of energy.
It is considered renewable because it is ultimately derived from the sun and is capable of being replenished on a reasonable time scale.
If asked about zero emissions: Although wind is a zero emissions electrical generation option, there are emissions in the construction and development of wind projects—concrete, transportation of components, etc.
4/28/2018
The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education

18. True or False?

19. Your utility will buy electricity produced by your wind turbine and give you credit on your bill.

20. It’s True!

21. The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education
"Net-metering" is a simplified method of metering the energy consumed and produced at a home or business that has its own renewable energy generator, such as a wind turbine. With net metering capability, excess electricity produced by the wind turbine will spin the existing home or business electricity meter backwardsproviding the customer with a credit to pull from when more electricity is needed. This provides the customer with full retail value for all the electricity produced.
Under existing federal law (PURPA, Section 210) utility customers can use the electricity they generate with a wind turbine to supply their own lights and appliances, offsetting electricity they would otherwise have to purchase from the utility at the retail price. But if the customer produces any excess electricity (beyond what is needed to meet the customer’s own needs) and net metering is not allowed, the utility purchases that excess electricity at the wholesale or ‘avoided cost’ price, which is much lower than the retail price. The excess energy is metered using an additional meter that must be installed at the customer’s expense. Net metering simplifies this arrangement by allowing the customer to use any excess electricity to offset electricity needs used at other times during the billing period. In other words, the customer is billed only for the net energy consumed during the billing period.
Net Metering
4/28/2018
The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education

22. Property Values Visual Noise Birds and Other Wildlife Land Use
Impacts and Issues
Property Values
Visual
Noise
Birds and Other Wildlife
Land Use
In depth study:
-The Effect of Wind Development
on Local Property Values
-25,000 Property Transactions
In view shed of wind projects
Compared to similar sites
No evidence of reduce value

23. Land Use Net Impacts Land Conservations Primary Impact is Visual
-Well sited wind power
-All other impacts dwarfed by benefits
Balancing local impacts, global/regional benefits
4/28/2018
The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education

24. Impacts of Wind Power: Noise
Modern Turbines are relatively quiet
Rule of Thumb: Stay about 3 times a hub’s height away from houses
Many people think wind turbines are noisy.
While this may have been true, new larger devices are much quieter.
4/28/2018
The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education

25. The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education
Bird Kill?
According to US Dept. of Energy, over the last decade, the wind community has learned that wind farms and wildlife can coexist successfully. Wind energy development’s overall impact on birds is extremely low (<1 of 30,000) compared to other human-related causes, such as buildings, communications towers, traffic, and house cats. However, conventional fuels contribute to air and water pollution that can have far greater impact on wildlife and their habitat, as well as environment and human health.
4/28/2018
The NEED Project: 29 Years of Energy Education