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Forums → WEPR → I got this brilliant (or retarded) idea, and I thought I would share

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EnterOrion
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EnterOrion
4,220 posts
Nomad

Well, we all know that renewable energy is a fairly good idea, really for everyone. If you care about the environment, you know there isn't an insane amount of CO2 going into the atmosphere or radioactive waste going into some cave no one cares about. If you don't care quite that much, it can save you money. Lots of money. None of that mining and processing required.

I'm going to focus on wind energy in this.

Most of these are placed on vast farms, producing giga-watts of energy pretty much indefinitely. However, these will often power massive sections on the grid, and should something sever the connection between wind farms and what they power, especially during storms, it's lights out for a square mile or more. The advantage is that you get nice windy areas in which to place these, although quite far away in some cases.

So I got the idea, why so far away? Many places have localized wind farms, but why even farms at all? Why not get, say, a 800 kW turbine, and create an entirely separate grid on which it sits. This would then feed into a pool, which would be fed off of a local populous. These very small grids, far smaller than any grids we have on average nowadays. This of course wouldn't be possible everywhere, as some places don't exactly have a lot of wind, but many many places could use this.

Thoughts?

  • 24 Replies
BenTheBozer
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BenTheBozer
815 posts
Nomad

Its not bad except flaws.

Wind turbins produce the most insane amount of noise you will ever hear thats why there in the middle of no where.

Winds turbines must be put somewhere were there is lots of wind so ditchs and things are good for that, and another reason why there not in the city.

They don't procude alot of energy one of them can power one average house.

They costs alot! There is no way you could mass produce wind energy its just not cost effective, a better idea would be to take the government subsady and put a solar panel on your house and sell that energy back to the government.

samy
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samy
4,871 posts
Nomad

Thoughts?


Well first wind power isn't the most effective alternative energy source there is, that would be nuclear power (specifically fusion but unfortunatly we aren't quite able to use it).

Secondly it's a good idea but why not go one step further and have individual unit powering peoples houses that are hooked up to the grid for when the wind cannot provide enough energy to power someones home?
T3hLemming
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T3hLemming
195 posts
Nomad

Secondly it's a good idea but why not go one step further and have individual unit powering peoples houses that are hooked up to the grid for when the wind cannot provide enough energy to power someones home?


Simple, most current versions are quite noisy, and for some reason a lot of people find them unsightly (Not sure why, I rather like the way they look, but then again I'm an engineer). Wind power technology is currently only good enough for a supplement, and a fairly expensive one at that. But with time the tech will improve, and as soon as the turbines become more power and cost efficient, it could go far. Ocean farms are a good start.
EnterOrion
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EnterOrion
4,220 posts
Nomad

See guys, these farms were specifically what I was trying to get around. They work in the same manner as a power plant, and create massive dependent grids. I'm aiming for much smaller, independent grids, roughly the size of a neighborhood.

Though I didn't take into consideration noise. That could be a flaw.

They don't procude alot of energy one of them can power one average house.


Big ones, like the ones I'm talking about, produce megawatts of energy, which is somewhere around enough to power 200 homes completely.

Well first wind power isn't the most effective alternative energy source there is, that would be nuclear power


Nuclear is about as alternative as hydro is. Fusion is a long way off, and fission creates all of that waste. While it's my personal favorite, it doesn't really work on small scales.

They costs alot! There is no way you could mass produce wind energy its just not cost effective, a better idea would be to take the government subsady and put a solar panel on your house and sell that energy back to the government.


Well, a small one capable of powering your house is about 20 grand. A solar array is about 60 grand. Plus, solar arrays take up WAY too much space. This kind of balances out though, when considering the sun shines every day while wind doesn't blow every day, and they're quiet. But still, WAAAAY too expensive for industrial scale, or even the small scale I'm talking about.

and for some reason a lot of people find them unsightly


Vertical ones look really nice. Just saying.

images?q=tbn<i class=http://ecotality.com/life/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/vertical_wind.jpg&t=1" alt="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbnhttp://ecotality.com/life/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/vertical_wind.jpg&t=1" />

Secondly it's a good idea but why not go one step further and have individual unit powering peoples houses that are hooked up to the grid for when the wind cannot provide enough energy to power someones home?


Those would very much follow the same vein, and being about as much as a car, and less to maintain, would work. Only downside is so many would produce a lot of the dreaded noise. One big one powering 100 homes or so wouldn't be nearly as loud. Though I wouldn't exactly want one falling on my house. xD
Kyouzou
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Kyouzou
5,061 posts
Jester

Apparently they don't make a lot of noise, a mass amount of them would probably make quite a bit of noise, but by it's self, it's more quite than the average office.

http://www.bwea.com/ref/noise.html

BeauGraham
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BeauGraham
98 posts
Nomad

my first thaught was LOL

benman113
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benman113
329 posts
Peasant

what about solar? I think that is a pretty good idea......

th100
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th100
452 posts
Nomad

How often do thunderstorms happen in your region? Think over.

AnaLoGMunKy
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AnaLoGMunKy
1,573 posts
Blacksmith

I think its a fantastic idea... but what is even better is this...

Solar power...

Dref14
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Dref14
366 posts
Nomad

20 k per one. cheaper ways to do power people

EnterOrion
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EnterOrion
4,220 posts
Nomad

20 k per one. cheaper ways to do power people


Not really. Nuclear power plants run billions, same with coal. A wind turbine that I'm talking about is about 5 million per 250 houses.

There are never cheap ways of making clean power, that's truly clean.

what about solar? I think that is a pretty good idea......


Far more expensive, takes up way too much room, and isn't nearly efficient enough. Solar is only good for small scale things, not large scale.

How often do thunderstorms happen in your region? Think over.


Grounding is an awesome thing.
Paul94
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Paul94
14 posts
Nomad

In the Nokia morph commercial on youtube, i saw that in 2013 they will be able to cover houses with NANO GRASS that looks a lot better than the solar thingy and works a lot better to.

nevetsthereaper
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nevetsthereaper
641 posts
Nomad

also just sayin, we could maybe use less power. and i have a hydro electric dam set up in my creek, i know alot of people don't have creeks and whatnot, but it helps a little, i cvan run everything but the fridge and the oven/microwave on it.

th100
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th100
452 posts
Nomad

How often do thunderstorms happen, then? Your little clever invention would be useless in places where there are barely any storms...

Sarthra21
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Sarthra21
1,078 posts
Nomad

I'd say Solar power would be the best option. With excessively sophisticated technology, we could make a sattellite that gather the energy, concentrates it, and shoots it onto an energy gathering pad somewhere.

You're idea isn't half bad. We should all have mini wind turbines on our buildings!

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