What is Digg?132 Comments
- tehhowch, on 07/08/2008, -2/+52Here, I fixed your title.
Relying Solely on Wind Power Won't Produce Enough Power in Winter, says Daily Mail - skip694, on 07/07/2008, -17/+66What a surprise, the Daily Mail is slandering clean energy
- oceandigital, on 07/08/2008, -2/+28Its amazing how such a silly headline can put fear into weak-minded individuals
- AmyVernon, on 07/07/2008, -3/+23reminds us that we can't really rely on any one type of energy. the thought that if the turbines' output weren't great enough that they'd have to turn power plants on and off up to 23 times a month is ridiculous. why not, in the months when the wind is less, use those less-green power plants. then, during other times of the year, leave them off. it would be far more efficient than the alternative and greener than it is at present, no?
- gtluke, on 07/07/2008, -3/+21you mean the wind doesn't blow really hard 24 hours a day 365 days a year?
what a surprise!
to be reliable wind turbines need battery back up. battery back up for a country would be about the size of a smaller country. - whalefarmerjohn, on 07/08/2008, -0/+16I tend not to take news too seriously when i see more than twelve total boobs in the right sidebar
- inactive, on 07/08/2008, -1/+16what is really funny is just last week here in Oregon, they had to shut down the Bonneville dam do to the excess energy produced by the wind turbines...seems to be more of a system management problem and lack of the ability to store the excess power...nothing that cant be fixed...
- sarafina42, on 07/07/2008, -0/+14It is important to have energy storage when relying heavily on solar and wind
http://planetsave.com/blog/2007/11/29/storing-wind ...
http://www.triplepundit.com/pages/renewable-energy ... - Chairboy, on 07/08/2008, -3/+17Or better yet, Nuclear Windmills that can actually produce their own wind.
That'd be sweet. - provendelusion, on 07/08/2008, -1/+14THIS JUST IN: SOLAR PANELS REPORTEDLY CAN'T DO ***** ON A CLOUDY DAY.
- SteaminTmann, on 07/08/2008, -2/+14You know what causes blackouts for me? Booze...
- beck5, on 07/08/2008, -0/+12we can store around 4% of what the country needs in hyro electric dams and thats about it. batterys are not plausible for about 20 reasons
- markp88, on 07/08/2008, -1/+12The trouble with the findings is that everybody who knows anything about wind power knew this already.
Clearly wind power cannot provide power all the time, but that is why we have a national grid. Gas stations can be turned on and off fairly efficiently. - inactive, on 07/08/2008, -0/+10"Wind turbines could cause black-outs."
No duh!... Wind should be used as supplemental power... or in combination with other power sources. But don't rely on it as your primary power source.
My 3rd grader could have figured out that there are times when the wind just isn't blowing. - inactive, on 07/08/2008, -0/+10Any power source that you can't guarantee a steady supply of "fuel" for leaves you vulnerable to blackouts. Just ask Australia how well hydro power works during droughts:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867 ... - beck5, on 07/08/2008, -9/+18actualy if you look at the findings they are very intresting and acurate. This is a very important problem that people do not reconise
- bobbyllew52, on 07/08/2008, -1/+10If you just set off a nuclear bomb that was surrounded by really big, strong wind turbines, man, you'd get so much power. Just one bomb a day you could power Europe.
- mercurywaxing, on 07/08/2008, -1/+9Buried. The wind turbine isn't causing a blackout. It is a situation that can be cured by scaling back the other plants in the summer and bringing capacity online when it's needed. It's EXACTLY what most power suppliers do now.
- Canadian0207, on 07/08/2008, -0/+8how is this news? This has been the problem with wind and solar power all along.
- BlackJackJester, on 07/08/2008, -1/+8Moving parts mean much high mechanical repair bills. Solar is far more consistant, outputting power along the same lines as the power demand curve - the most during the middle of the day. It isn't the end-all, since it's useless at night, but night can be covered by a couple fission plants.
- lostlyrics, on 07/07/2008, -0/+7today the first of 30 offshore projects went into execution
(the whole to be completed by 2028 producing 75 gigawatts).
seems like germany (covering 10% from wind) is not afraid :P - dsmx, on 07/07/2008, -2/+9Power plants tend not to like being turned on and off, very few are designed that way. Also you still have to pay maintenance on those power plants your not using so not only do you have the increased costs of using renewable energy you have to pay extra to keep the back up power plants in good working order when you not using them.
- Alexcarrier, on 07/08/2008, -0/+6It actually works like that in Quebec, where 95% of our electricity is hydroelectric. If the reservoir levels are too low during winter, they start up a big thermic power plant for a few months only.
- trevordj, on 07/08/2008, -0/+6I agree with markp88. People within the Wind Industry understand that Wind Power is not a solution but a way to help reduce the problem of fossil fuel power plants. I personally believe that newer plant should be build due to efficiency and safety.
However, an issue that the article didn't discuss is the planning that goes into building these wind parks. Not having enough surveys completed can cause such problems as the one in the article. Surveys are conducted in all areas as to where a farm will go. They measure wind speed, temperature, weather types, and even the best possible layout of the farm. This information in effect dictates a specific blade and turbine type. For low but steady wind production areas larger blade types are used and for higher wind areas smaller blade types are used. Components within the hub are also affected similarly.
For example, the farm I am currently working on northern stateside (near Canada) is being built for cold weather climate / high to medium wind conditions. If I were to be further south near Texas, we'd have a different setup.
Lastly, lack of wind would cause the black-outs, not the Wind Turbines. This article needs to be a little more informed before rabble rousing. - xxTazxx, on 07/08/2008, -0/+6Yeah, its called using wind energy as an alternative, not a primary power source, until a better renewable form of energy can be found.
- Jumba990, on 07/08/2008, -0/+6That's why here they're going to use windmills as an addition to the generators we have. I don't really think any country would use windmills as a primary method of generating electricity. It's mostly for extra power during peak times. Although here it won't matter, power goes out for a while every week anyway.
- iamnos, on 07/08/2008, -0/+5Yet windmills are actually more efficient in the winter. I watched a documentary on windmills and they explained how the cold air is denser and can push the windmills more effectively even at lower wind speeds.
- torindkflt, on 07/08/2008, -2/+7Digg needs a feature that automatically blocks any submissions leading to Daily Mail and other such websites. That would easily cut out 99% of the blatantly false articles submitted.
- inactive, on 07/08/2008, -1/+6Duh! Well when it comes to energy listen to engineers not enviro well wishers!
Nuclear/Coal = Constant flow of electricity that can rampt up.
Wind = subject to weather, cannot rampt up to met demand.
why is it so hard to figure this out? - lostlyrics, on 07/08/2008, -0/+4right - sorry I puzzled the numbers
Berlin wants to reduce dependency on energy suppliers from
overseas and Tiefensee says the government is aiming to obtain
25,000 megawatts of energy from wind farms by 2030.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518 ... - xexx, on 07/08/2008, -0/+4It's called recycling.
- mathwizkid, on 07/08/2008, -1/+5I wasn't going to look at the article until I saw your comment.
- edd17, on 07/08/2008, -0/+475 gigawatts of wind power? I'm pretty sure the total installed generating capacity (all types) is only around 120 gigawatts.
http://iaea.org/inisnkm/nkm/aws/eedrb/data/DE-elic ... - edd17, on 07/08/2008, -0/+4You are right but most power stations are usually kept running at around half of their maximum generating capacity so that they can respond to changing demand throughout the day, and gas and hydroelectric stations are popular with power companies because they can increase or even start from cold in very short periods of time. There always will be a place for sources like nuclear providing a constant supply of electricity; but if wind turbines can provide power profitably, and in an governmentally sound way then there is no reason not to use them.
- inactive, on 07/08/2008, -6/+10scaremongering by environment destructors.
- Koushiro, on 07/08/2008, -0/+4I always wonder why it is that just because something isn't effect 100% of the time, that's the argument for not doing it at all? A story about how there isn't always wind isn't really news anyway. Oh, daily mail. Right.
- xexx, on 07/08/2008, -0/+4You're a moron, just because they don't run at full capacity 24/7 doesn't mean they're no good.
- MattB123, on 07/08/2008, -0/+4How about some of each? Think of it as a mutual fund for energy. Diversity is a good thing.
- Ramble, on 07/08/2008, -0/+4It's the UK, we don't get that cold.
- bprager, on 07/08/2008, -1/+5... and all these little birdies that will be smashed by all these rotors. Come on! These arguments are old as coal and well handled by more modern wind technology. Really bad journalism!! Or bad propaganda?
- Surferess, on 07/07/2008, -10/+14Hmm Maybe we need to think about it some more.
- kuyamon, on 07/08/2008, -6/+9Sorry, I'm going to have to fix your title:
Daily Mail writes Article
There's your problem right there. - Hrodrik, on 07/08/2008, -0/+3No, we need to open our ears to those that have thought about it for years.
The solution? Microgeneration. - inactive, on 07/08/2008, -6/+9Its only the power grid, I say we rush headlong into any scheme that feels like it might work, and we'll deal with the brownouts later!
- edd17, on 07/08/2008, -2/+5Are you really that stupid? We don't need all our power coming from one source, wind can produce power some of time, so why not use it then. When they aren't generating other power sources can make up the gap. In the UK electricity is bought and sold in a wholesale market with the price paid per kilowatt hour changing in response to demand throughout the day. As nuclear plants take a long time to start up and shut down, they are usually used as a base supply which doesn't pay very well; wind power is similar to hydroelectric in that it can be brought on-line very quickly to satisfy peak demand when the price will be higher.
Saying that we only need nuclear plants is like saying you only need to eat carrots to live. - Gryffydd, on 07/08/2008, -0/+3Yeah, but this is the UK we're talking about, not Arizona.
- Ramble, on 07/08/2008, -1/+4Writes?
That's a bit rich, I think 'mash the keyboard' would be more appropiate. - subliminalurge, on 07/08/2008, -0/+3Why is ugly and green any better than ugly and white?
- crispee, on 07/08/2008, -0/+2That's pretty much how they work. Steam is produced by heat that then drives a turbine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_reactor - spawnfree, on 07/08/2008, -0/+2in other news; solar power wont work in the dark.
the whole point of wind farms is to take the pressure off the oil and gas burning power stations. not replace them.
Or create cheaper electricity because that just wont happen in a shareholder driven world. -
Show 51 - 100 of 133 discussions
Check out the new & improved 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is