Article Tags: Doug L. Hoffman, Windfarms
The future look of the American coastline.
The wind is notably capricious, varying in strength and direction in seemingly random ways. The output of wind turbines, which capture the energy of the wind and turn it into electrical power, also varies unpredictably. Leveling out these fluctuations is the biggest obstacle to wind power serving as an effective alternative to conventional power sources. A study, just published in PNAS Online, claims that wiring together offshore wind farms, from along the entire length of the US East Coast, could provide a steady power source for the area. This has led to proclamations by a number of green power advocates that America’s energy problems can be solved by wind power. Unfortunately, steady to a scientist is not the same as steady to a power grid engineer, or consumers.
The potential energy of wind is tremendous. One estimate puts it at nearly five times as much as the world’s entire existing electricity demand. To environmentalists and climate change alarmists who fear the emission of CO2, wind offers a seemingly perfect energy source: it requires no dirty fossil fuels or hated nuclear power; no drilling, mining, or uranium enrichment; and wind’s carbon footprint is essentially zero. The catch is that wind is notably unreliable, and if there is one thing consumers cannot abide, it is unreliable electrical power. A study, to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), and made available online, claims to have tamed the wind and smoothed out its inconsistent behavior. Motivation for the study is stated in the paper’s first paragraph:
Source: theresilientearth.com