HARVEY'S ALTERNATE POWER(FUEL) THREAD

We have a finite amount of fossil fuels and an increasing need for energy, we have to be looking at alternative sources soon.

 

Try this on for size.

http://www.capewind.org/index.php


Craig

 

Sounds much "cleaner" to me than drilling. As long as it doesn't adversly affect any estuaries, I can see the benefits. Anchoring them seems to pose a huge problem, in that the current of the Outer Banks is a stronger current, thus the anchoring of the windmills/turbines will be a source of concern. Hurricanes also offer some concern, as the Nor'Easters I've been through packed a lot less punch than some of our recent 'canes.

I'd like to see an independent discussion, based on the science of it. And, it's probable that the folks in Beaufort who objected to the project weren't locals, just folks from the triangle who bought a place at the beach and are only concerned about themselves. Most of us 'locals' from the coast readily understand the need for stewardship of our resources. And no polluting energy sources are readily preferable to the possibility of an oil spill.

 

Actually, the people were locals if I remember correctly. It was strictly a NIMBY issue (Not In My Back Yard). A rural area north of Beaufort around back near Harker's Island. These particular wind turbines were land based and not offshore, but they are far better to look at than a refinery or a nuclear cooling tower. I just don't see what the problem is.

 

Perfectly fine, although I have to admit when I saw the new thread I figured you were going to try to call me out and drag me through the mud somehow for being some dang dirty hippy. A pleasant surprise, indeed.

 

While it is much cleaner than drilling for oil, it also doesn't solve the current oil crisis (that drilling now would solve the current crisis either). Because as Ken said it is a form of electrical energy, and unless there is a a sudden crop of affordable purely electrical cars, a wind farm would do nothing at all to aid in our current fuel crunch.


Craig

 

Precisely. If you look at it from a project management perspective, specifically a managment technique called 'critical path' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_path_method). Essentially you plan things out so you know what task takes the longest, which ones are dependent on other to begin work, and which ones can start the soonest.

Windpower is clean, efficient, renewable and relatively easy to implement. In fact, wind turbine components are already being mass produced. We can crank them out, in other words.

So, we should implement the easiest solution first and while it eases the energy cruch with renewable clean energy we can then concentrate on other endeavors that are not practical right now.

To sum it all up: wind power could give us some breathing room and fast too.

 

Understood. I made that point in my OP.

 

Only thing I know about wind power is that it is very useful and clean. the company i work for is based out of Denmark...Denmark gets A LOT of their energy from wind farms out in the sea...Not sure the exact percentage or anything...Just know that the plant itself gets roughly 70% of its electricity via wind.

 

Wiki says 18.5% of Denmark's power comes from wind. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_Denmark If we had that amount of wind power capacity then we would not have to build any coal fired or nuclear power plants for a while.

Some of the major players in the market are Danish companies. I have been seeing Vestas ads all over Headline News lately.

The most interesting thing is that Denmark saw the writing on the wall back in the 80's and actually did something about it.

 

I am for it, but I am also for stoping Wal-Mart construction and building a nuclear reactor there.

 

At first all I saw was Harley and was like "oh god what did I do now" :lol:


Carry on....


Oh and I miss Oy. :cry:

 

Me either. Perhaps you can ask Democratic Senator Ed Kennedy what his problem was...

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/04/27/kennedy_faces_fight_on_cape_wind/

 

IMHO SS comes a close second to him.

 

Thanks for blatantly politicizing this thread. You or Ted Kennedy are adding nothing to a constructive debate.

 

I'm all for wind power - and I think they look really cool, too. But how about crystal power?

 

The current IC engines in vehicles can be easily converted to run on hyrogen and the gas tank can be replaced with a low pressure rare earth fuel cell. Solar, wind, or whatever can be used to produce electricity, which in turn can convert water to hydrogen and oxygen.

 

Just a thought. but if they do put them out in the Atlantic I hope they can withstand hurricane force winds. But imagine how much electricity will be generated with hurricane force winds:

Category One Hurricane:
Winds 74-95 mph

Category Two Hurricane:
Winds 96-110 mph

Category Three Hurricane:
Winds 111-130 mph

Category Four Hurricane:
Winds 131-155 mph

Category Five Hurricane:
Winds greater than 155 mph

 

I read somewhere that many can withstand hurricane force winds, but they usually shut the down during a storm.

 

I guess with all that wind it would make the propellers want to take off. But imagine how much energy we could harness from those kind of winds.