Wind+Power

= Blown Away = By: Dominique "DEAN" Norgaisse and Peter "Ferrari" Ferraro

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Nowadays, the human race is always looking for more ways to be efficient. Since global warming is a rising topic in our world, we as humans are constantly searching for ways to prevent it. Efficiency is always a major problem in our worldwide dilemma, for how can we function without electricity? The answer to this question is simple: we can’t. However, we can look for more environmentally-friendly ways to produce electricity and become one with the earth once again. =====

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For this problem, we need a source of energy that is not only efficient, but renewable. And what good would a renewable source be if there was only a limited supply? Another factor of the power we need is that it can’t be in danger of running out, for if humans depended on the energy source we would suffer a tragic consequence if our energy source failed us someday. What energy source fits all three factors? =====

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Over the years, humans found three sources that were efficient, renewable, and not in grave danger of running out. Those three sources are solar power, water power, and wind power. But which source would prove to be the best out of the three? The answer is wind power. Although it is possible that all the ‘big three’ sources could fail us one day, the one least likely to fail is wind power. Wind power is the best source because it is abundant, inexpensive, inexhaustible, distributed worldwide and clean. The winds are constantly changing, and even when we can’t feel it, they are always there. Solar power is quite efficient as well, but what about cloudy days when the sky is so concentrated with clouds that not one beam of sunshine can light up our hopes? That isn’t a big possibility, but there is always the lurking thought of an eclipse. If the sun was blocked completely and the world was submerged in total darkness, all our electricity would fail if there was no sun to power them. And the water source? It is not very likely, but what if our water sources were to dry up from the earth due to intense heat from the rays of the sun? Although it is highly improbable, it is, however, possible that wind could one day dissapear from the earth, which would be a huge disadvantage for the wind-powered world. But alas, it is improbable, so the only source left is wind, the invisible but powerful source that powers approximately 81% of the USA’s and Europe’s power today. =====



Wind Power Terms and Definitions By: Peter “Ferrari” Ferraro

Efficiency: The ratio of the energy delivered by a device to the energy supplied for its operation. This is what makes the wind turbines so environmentally friendly; their level of high efficiency.

Electricity: Electrical charge caused by the flow of electrons through an electrical conductor. Windmills produce electricity by the power of the wind.

Power: The rate at which energy is transferred (energy per time). Windmills are powered by the wind.

Turbine: A device that converts the kinetic energy of a moving fluid (gas or liquid) into electrical energy. Wind turbines are a type of turbine.

Wind: Air in natural motion as that moving horizontally at any velocity across the earth’s surface. Wind turbines use the wind's power to create electricity.

Wind farms: Large groups of tall wind turbines clustered together to form installations on land or in the ocean.

Windmill: Any of various machines for human toil and labor powered by the force of the wind.

Wind power: The transformation of air motion into electrical energy using a turbine.

Wind turbine: A turbine that is powered by the wind.

Definitions found from: 1. http://quizlet.com/685508/energy-vocabulary-flash-cards/ 2. [|http://www.dictionary.com]

"Gone With the Windmill"

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Windmills have continually evolved over the years, and even today, people are looking for ways to get more efficiency by creating different versions of the windmill. A windmill is a wind-powered machine used for human toil and labor such as grinding, pumping, draining, etc. Originally, windmills were used not for creating electricity, but for the simple actions of draining water from flooded pastures or pumping water from the ground. Ideally, the draining windmills would be used for hot and wet areas and the pumping windmills for dry areas which lacked water. The first windmill was made by Charles Francis Brush in 1888; a giant windmill with an iron tower and a 55 foot wide (17m) wheel made up of 144 wooden blades. It also had a large tail that turned the wheel into the wind. This was probably the world’s first electricity-generating windmill, as it was connected to over 400 batteries in Brush’s basement. Poul La Cour, a Danish high school teacher and inventor, began creating windmills to generate electricity in 1890. He later published the world’s first journal on the subject of wind electricity. Over time, the interest of wind electricity dropped in Denmark, but today Denmark is the world’s fourth largest producer of wind energy. After a while, humans began to realize what windmills were capable of doing, and we advanced in wind technology. Soon, nearly all windmills became what they are used for today: creating electricity. The designs developed over the years to become what we are used to seeing today, the modern wind turbine. Most modern wind turbines look like up to date models of traditional windmills. Today’s windmills generally have three long and narrow rotor blades which spin as the gusts of wind roll past. Even though the blades are thin, they are made of strong material: fiber-glass and epoxy resin, so that they are able to withstand very strong forces in high winds. =====

But how is the machine capable of creating electricity? The answer is: the wind!
media type="youtube" key="wtgmvZupGAM" height="385" width="480" Left: A video showing how wind turbines function and create electricity.

"Where the Wild Wind Blows" By: Dominique Norgaisse The electricity-generating windmill system is quite simple because one action triggers another to cause an action. For instance, the wind triggers the blades, causing them to spin. The basic windmill system is similar to this:

Wind Power Steps: 1. The wind powers the blades, causing them to spin. 2. The blades spin through the shaft which is inside the "pod", located at the top of the windmill. 3. The motion of the spinning shaft causes the two magnets inside the pod to spin around each other, ultimately producing electricity! 4. The electricity produced by the wind turbine is used for all the surrounding areas.

Advantages and Disadvantages: Wind power has more advantages than it does disadvantages. It is renewable, highly efficient, inexpensive, abundant, distributed worldwide, and clean. Another advantage of wind power is that electricity produced by the turbines go directly to homes, hospital, office buildings and other places where electricity is needed. One disadvantage of wind farms is that they take up a lot of good and empty landscape, and can sometimes harm wildlife, usually birds. However, wind turbines have been made so that they are supposedly "bird friendly", going slowly enough so birds can fly away if danger approaches and even having a warning signal for the creatures of flight.

F UT UR E TE CHN OLOGY
"The Next Generation of Wind Turbines" by: Peter 'Ferrari' Ferraro

On the coasts there is enough wind to power the country “four times over”, so why not harness that power? Well General Electric is, with a new smarter wind turbine that does not require all the un-needed gears. The way to harness more wind energy is to increase the just increase the size of the blades, but that is potentially dangerous. With larger blades the tower will have less control and in strong winds the blades could hit the tower. If the blades were to hit the tower, the tower would require expensive repairs at sea. The blades GE is making are aerodynamic and can be turned if the winds are too strong and could cause damage but they still harness the maximum amount of energy while keeping the turbine in good condition. The blades are also light weight so they don’t weigh the machine down. These new wind turbines have had the gearboxes which are prone to breaking and energy loss. The new turbine by GE has replaced the gearboxes with a direct-drive mechanism. Also GE is replacing the electromagnets that require power to generate power, which is a bit counterproductive. The full potential of this new is about 4 megawatts which is enough to power 1,000 homes.

Go to [] for more information on The Next Generation Wind Turbine

Here is a video showing the inside of a wind turbine and how they work. media type="youtube" key="x8PjVoYRuYs" height="312" width="523" media type="custom" key="5819053"

Bibliography, Resources, and Picture Links Picture Links:

1. [] 2. [] 3. [] 4. [] 5. [] 6. [] 7. [] 8. [] 9. Morris, Neil. __Wind Power__. Smart Apple Media. Copyright 2007.