Why Wind Power Is Needed - Essay Example

and Section # of Wind Power The project is all about wind energy as a new alternate source of energy. The project will lead to a research about alternate energy and the reasons, that why it is needed. There are basically two problems, one is global warming and the second is limited resources of fossil fuel. Another problem with burning fossil fuel is of the pollution it creates due to releasing a lot of carbon dioxide. Secondly, a huge amount of research has to be done for this project. The information collected will be very important as it will show the effects, cost and emission rate when the two methods of energy producing are compared.1 I selected wind energy as my topic as it is a renewable source which has no harmful results. It is safe for the environment and the people also. I will explain in the project about global warming. Then i will explain green house effect and carbon dioxide effect. Then will come the turn to explain wind energy and its benefits. The advantages it has to the environment. Fossil Fuel It is a non-renewable source of energy. It is formed when dead plants and animals are buried in the earth for millions of years. There are many types which exist in this world. They are burned to give energy. Over 86% of our needs today are met because of burning of fossil fuel.2 http://fossil-pics.co.cc Global Warming Now days, global warming is a very big issue being discussed everywhere. It is defined as the average increase in earth’s temperature. This increase causes a change in the world climate which is not desired. A hotter earth can lead to natural disasters like rainfalls, melting if the snow and increase in sea level. It also has a huge impact on the plants animals living in this world and also the humans. The biggest problem is that nobody notices the change in temperature but in future the change will be very harmful.3 http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090421.html Green House Gasses Coming to the fact about green house gases. What is this? The earth is surrounded by various gasses which are holded by the gravitational pull. Other than nitrogen and oxygen there are some other gasses in the atmosphere also. These gases have traces made up of Argon, Carbon Dioxide, Neon, Helium, Methane, Hydrogen, Nitrous Oxide and Ozone. The human activities result in emission of four principal greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and the halocarbons. All these gasses have GWP (Global Warming Potential).4 Green House Effect The radiation of the sun passes through the atmosphere; are absorbed by the green house gasses and in turn increase the temperature of the earth surface and lower atmosphere. It has now been understood that the green house gasses have a very bad effect on the temperature and the climate of the world. It all started with the industrial revolution as more and more fossil fuel was burned. More gasses were emitted with increase in the industries.5 http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/greenhouse-effect Renewable Energy The fact that energy is utilized by burning or disfiguring other natural resources brings about the change in thinking of man, can we provide energy otherwise? The answer to this lies in the definition of sustainable energy. It is the provision of energy that meets the need without compromising the ability to generate energy in the future. Several factors go into making energy sustainable. The first is whether or not the current use of the energy is something which could potentially persist into the future, which leads many forms of renewable energy to qualify as sustainable. Therefore renewable and sustainable can be termed as in-lieu terminologies. Some of the renewable energy sources are hydroelectricity, solar energy, wind energy, wave power, geothermal energy, bio-energy, and tidal power.6 http://www.greenerbuyer.com/renewable-energy - / Wind Energy Wind energy which is the most blossoming alternate energy source in the commercial market is the ability to produce energy with the help of wind. Wind energy has had a huge impact in the energy industries. Wind farms have been set up in various windy cities of the world top produce large amount of electricity. The output power produced has been increasing by the day. The fact is clearly shown by the figure (Maggie, 2008) Wind It is a very simple phenomenon well understood by science. The surface of the earth is different in nature in different part. When the sun heats the different parts the warm air rises and the cool dense air rushes to take its place. This causes the wind to blow but it is reverse at the night time. Since the air cools down at fast rate over land than water. In the same way, the large atmospheric winds that circle the earth are created because, the land near the earths equator is more hot than the poles.7 Aerodynamics It is the science of the air interacting with different object dynamically. The rules of aerodynamics explain the reasons behind the flying of an airplane, sailing of boats and turning of a turbine with wind. http://www.pege.org/greenwinds/newpage/wind/basic.html Wind Turbine Working System The wind turbine blades face the wind as the tail assembly turns the blades into the direction of wind. The shaft attached to the generator rotated by the movement of rotor blades generates the power produced by the generator. The function of all the devices in the wind turbine is discussed as below http://www.ecn.nl/units/wind/projects/sirocco/ Wind Turbine Generator The wind turbine generator produces AC voltage with a variable frequency depending on wind speed. It gives an output voltage of 1KW at its rated speed. The maximum output voltage is 2KW. This is installed on top of a tall tower of height 8 meter, collects kinetic energy from the wind and converts it to electricity that is compatible with a homes electrical system. Almost every small wind generator in the market uses PMG (Permanent Magnet Generator). They are specially designed for the purpose of extracting power with slowly turning blades with best efficiency and minimum complexity. The magnet rotor disks are mounted on a bearing hub so they can rotate on a shaft. Between the rotors is the stator casting. The magnetic field induces a voltage in the coils which is ultimately fed to batteries. At low rotational speeds the voltage is insufficient to charge the battery, but when cut-in wind speed is reached, current flows into the battery so as to charge it. The magnetic field through the coil reverses as the magnet poles in the rotor disk pass them, so the voltage produced alternates also, which means that the generator is producing alternating current.7 http://ramsinghmedicalstores.info/85.php?q=wind-turbine-generator&page=4 Hybrid Wind Turbine Inverter The function of the inverter is to convert AC voltage to DC voltage. It consists of a charge controller to control the charge for batteries. The output of the generator in the form of AC voltage is fed to the inverter which converts it to DC voltage having a range from 0 to 80 volts to charge the batteries. The extra amount of voltage is fed to the diversion lights so that the batteries should always get charging voltage from 0 to 80 volts. The inverter changes both from AC to DC as well as DC to AC voltages.AC voltage terminal is also available in the inverter for user applications.8 Wind-Blade Relationship The wind turbines have 2, 3 or 4 blades depending upon their usage. The blades collect energy from the wind and due to the difference in velocities in the different blades, the turbine moves. A lot of the movement of the blade depends upon the drag produced and the lift generated. This is because of various factors like wind speed and blade design. The limitations of the blade shape and wind speed can be taken care of in the generator design.9 http://windy-future.info/2009/09/09/wind-turbine-blade-design/ Wind Turbine and It’s Moving Parts The front shaft (blades-alternator) and yawing shaft (wind generator-tower) are equipped with sealed bearings and covered with lubricant. It does not need any special attention; its lubricant will last during its lifetime. The incline shaft (alternator-yawing system) is a stainless steel tube covered with lubricant. It does not need any special attention. Its lubricant will last during its lifetime. Blade Material Manufacturing The current blades being produced are 80 meters. A few years ago 50 million kg of fibreglass was used to manufacture the blades. Now that new material and methods have been discovered a better blade and more efficiency is being achieved. Therefore better, stronger and reliable blades are being made. The main reason for finding better designs was to keep the weight under control as the large blades were hampering in the efficiency of the system. http://www.iowawindturbines.com/WIND-TURBINE-SE.html Generator This is the most important part of the wind turbine. The shaft connected to the blades rotate the generator. This generator in turns produces electricity. This in simple words is a device to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. DC To AC Converter This part of the research xplains operation of an inverter. This is a device that concerts DC power into AC power. The transformer shown takes the AC (alternating current) current produced by the generator and converts it to higher voltage. That mean the most wind power the electricity produced not enough for long distance transmission. So that will result in big voltages losses. For example an 110v product in a country with a 220v mains supply. Therefore, the transformer used to raise the voltage to the required limit before transmitting the electricity. Efficiency In simple terms efficiency is defined as the power utilized by any device divided by the total power provided to the system. This definition can be put upon any moving machine, for e.g. this wind turbine. This quantity is defined by percentage. For e.g. if 10 V was used to produce 5V the efficiency is 50 %. This example is solved by the following equation: Relationship of the Blade Angle The relationship is direct. When the blade angle increases, so does the current and voltage produced. When the angle is increases the drag is reduced as less part of the blade faces the wind directly. Hence the blade moves at a fast pace producing more energy. Therefore aerodynamic principles are unlisted to reduce the drag in the movement of the blades.10 http://web.mit.edu Advantages of Using Wind Energy It is free, renewable and cannot be controlled by anyone or any country. It does not cause any pollution or harm to the environment. The installation of the wind farm is very easy and portable. It can be established faster than dams or power generators. Wind farms can be set up in agricultural areas to help the farmers in providing them electricity without problems of setting up infrastructure and transmission lines. It is a proven technology which has been working for many years in the past. The equipment is easily available in the market and so is the expertise. It helps in the economy and a pollution free environment.11 http://www.dani2989.com/matiere1/geothermal0109gb.htm Disadvantages of Using Wind Energy the electricity produced from wind farms is still expensive than fossil fuel electricity due to the design cost. The energy is a variable source unlike the fossil fuel energy which is very predictable. Natural aspects like the wind speed can hamper in the production of the electricity. The blades and equipment can get damaged by high winds and lightning. The wind energy is also intermittent. The noise made by the wind farms is also an issue for the local people. Favorable Economics The setup of wind farms is not only getting cheap up by every passing year. Mass production has been started so mass business has been started. The market is growing fast in Asia and Europe. It is not different from any other business, even better, because the fuel is free. After the initial investment you get rewards for a long time. On the other hand, the turbines at a site where the wind speed averages eight meters per second will produce around 80% more electricity than those where the average wind speed is six meters per second. Although the cost of wind power varies between different countries, the trend everywhere is the same - wind energy is getting cheaper. The price of investment is also coming down as cheap turbine and better designs are helping it.12 13 www.europe.theoildrum.com Environment Carbon dioxide is a big disaster for the environment. As there is no fuel burned in the the wind energy process there is no harm to the environment. In addition the green house effect is also avoided. As there are no emissions the green house gasses are not formed. Therefore the temperature rise and climatic change can be controlled by this. This is a renewable energy so the same wind can be used now and also the future to generate electricity unlike fossil fuel. It gives clean and longer solutions to our problems. A lot of countries have a vision for a cleaner future and working for a better tomorrow by using wind as a source for energy. Conclusion The ending point of this report can be one which describes the future of sustainable and renewable energies. At the current rate we may run out of non-renewable resources such as oil, goal and gas before we realize. It is not only the depletion of these resources that we should worry humanity but the waste produced from their consumption. Global Warming is a problem created by waste by the excessive amounts of Carbon Dioxide. Hence the use of cleaner greener energy product is the way to go forward and the earlier the evolution start the better or else e will have no energy to run even our cars with. In this project I have learned that a cleaner environment is a better thing than a bad one. By promoting wind energy we can overcome a lot of problems. The issue of global warming and running out of fossil fuel can be solved by this new and renewable method. What I understood from this research was the benefits of using alternate, cheap and green source of energy which is the utmost need of the countries today.14 www.alistairpott.com Works Cited 1. "Part 1 — Early Wind Energy History Through 1875". Retrieved 2008-07-31. 2. A.G. Drachmann, "Herons Windmill", Centaurus, 7 (1961), pp. 145–151 3. Dietrich Lohrmann, "Von der östlichen zur westlichen Windmühle", Archiv für Kulturgeschichte, Vol. 77, Issue 1 (1995), pp. 1–30 (10f.) 4. Ahmad Y Hassan, Donald Routledge Hill (1986). Islamic Technology: An illustrated history, p. 54. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-42239-6. 5. Donald Routledge Hill, "Mechanical Engineering in the Medieval Near East", Scientific American, May 1991, p. 64-69. (cf. Donald Routledge Hill, Mechanical Engineering) 6. Morthorst, Poul Erik; Redlinger, Robert Y.; Andersen, Per (2002). Wind energy in the 21st century: economics, policy, technology and the changing electricity industry. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave/UNEP. ISBN 0-333-79248-3. 7. A Wind Energy Pioneer: Charles F. Brush. Danish Wind Industry Association. Retrieved 2008-12-28. 8. "James Blyth". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2009-10-09. 9. Wind energy-- the facts: a guide to the technology, economics and future of wind power page 32 EWEA 2009. Accessed: 13 March 2011. 10. Meteorological Tower Installation IEC61400-1 site assessment 11. "Historic Wind Development in New England: The Age of PURPA Spawns the "Wind Farm"". U.S. Department of Energy. 10/9/2008. Retrieved 24 April 2010. 12. "Wind Energy Center Alumni and the Early Wind Industry". University of Massachusetts Amherst. 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2010. 13. Environmental and Energy Study Institute (October 2010). "Offshore Wind Energy". 14. Gow, David (2009-02-03). "Wind power becomes Europes fastest growing energy source". London: Guardian. Retrieved 2010-01-31. Read More