41-50 Flashcards
The Betz’s law says that the efficiency of a windmill harvesting the kinetic energy of the wind can be at most
60%
If v is the wind speed, the power generated by a wind turbine is proportional to
v^3
The wind turbines installed in a wind farm must maintain a minimum distance from each other to
minimize the interference of the neighboring turbines due to turbulence.
Prof. McElroy estimated that the maximum possible wind power that can be globally harvested by GM 2.5W is about (Hint: the total power used globally in 2020 was 40 PWh and a 6% capacity of wind power will be enough to support the whole globe. PWh = 1015 Watt-hour. TWh = 1012 Watt-hour.
700 PWh
Which part of the US generates the highest wind power?
Mid-West
During which period time of the day is the wind power the strongest?
Nighttime
According to Prof. McElroy, which renewable source of energy is complementary to wind power
Solar Energy
What is a pumped hydropower system, known as a “Lake Battery”?
it stores excess electricity in the form of gravitational potential energy, which can be used to regenerate hydroelectricity later.
What is a “Feed-in Tariff” for a renewable energy?
A long-term contract that allows individual renewable energy projects
to sell electricity to local utility suppliers
According to Prof. McElroy, the potential of solar energy is so huge that even at an efficiency of 20%, what fraction of the US area will be enough to provide solar electricity for the whole US?
0.1%
