Wind Power Flashcards
Features of Wind Energy
Intermittent, unreliable, specific local constraints, land use conflicts
Examples of land use conflicts for wind turbines
ecological impacts such as bird migration routes, telecommunications interference, public opposition and visual impact
Areas with higher wind velocity
coastal, upland, at sea, flat areas
Specific locational factors required for wind power
high, regular wind velocity, large scale generators need to be close to the electricity grid
Environmental impacts of wind turbines
high embodied energy of turbines, extraction, manufacture and transport, noise pollution, bird strikes, bat deaths, ground vibrations, habitat loss
Horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT)
Wind turbines where the blades rotate around a generator that has a horizontal axis of rotation.
Advantages of HAWTs compared to VAWTs
Advanced and established technology, greater efficiency that VAWTs
Disadvantages of HAWTs compared to VAWTs
Towers need to be taller and stronger, can sometime crack at blade bases
Vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT)
Wind turbines where the blades rotate around a generator that has a vertical axis of rotation.
Advantages of VAWTs compared to HAWTs
driven by wind from any direction, quieter than HAWTs, operate at lower wind velocities
Disadvantages of VAWTs compared to HAWTs
small scale, lower efficiency
Improvements to wind power technologies
Blade fin tips, Nacelle brushes, Direct drive turbines, Helical VAWT
Blade fin tips
angled blade tip reduces turbulence and wind resistance and increases blade efficiency
Nacelle brushes
reduce the amount of air escaping between the base of the blades and the nacelle. More kinetic energy absorbed by the blades
Direct drive turbines
No gearbox, reliable, quitters, cheaper and operate at lower velocities. Produces DC electricity which can be fed to the grid using an inverter
