Energy and Construction - Clima2007

Marlene Said:

Facts about renewable energy? (solar, wind, etc) please answer?

We Answered:

Biomass does not create bio fuel, yet.
Biomass is usually sent to a biomass plant that converts it to electricity. Yes it is small trees and brush or even walnut shells that are chipped then burned in a massive furnace heating water into steam that turns a turbine generator that produces electricity.
It can be converted into ethanol gas but currently its to expensive to pay off.

I'm a lumberjack

Neil Said:

Facts on Solar Energy, Wind Energy, and Hydropower?

We Answered:

Hydro power is the best for baseload power- can be used 98% of the time and is easy to increase/decrease the amount of power produced when needed. Most of the prime hydro sites have already been harnessed though.
Wind energy is much better now than the bird chopper machines of the 1980's. 1000 times as many birds are killed each year by pet cats than windmills in the US. The very best locations for wind power (near power lines, places that need lots of electricity and very steady winds) have already been built up. The locations left are missing at least one of the above criteria that make wind a cheap power source.
Solar energy is good for many locations. When you think of solar, DON't just think of making electricity- that is only 10-22% efficient and very expensive. Much better and cheaper is lighting (windows, skylights), water heating, heat storage for overnight use in objects like walls and floors and finally making electricity.

Lori Said:

do you think wind energy is viable if the government decides to stop extending subsidies?

We Answered:

Hi there, I work for one of the world's leading renewable energy consultancies. While my background is more technical in nature (I'm an engineer), I'll take a shot at answering your question.

Wind energy certainly is viable in many parts of the world without subsidy. We came dangerously close to finding out exactly how viable it would be this year in the U.S., when an extension of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) was extended into 2009 at the last minute as one of the "sweeteners" that got the $700 billion Wall St bailout passed.
http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/nicholas/in…

The current subsidy for wind energy in the U.S. is PTC, which is a tax credit currently equal to 2 cents per kWh. The price for electricity varies significantly by region, so some regions are more closely tied to the PTC than others to make the economics of a wind project work out. For example, the price for electricity is only about 4.5 cents per kWh in the Midwest (e.g. Oklahoma, Kansas, North Dakota), so that extra 2 cent per kWh makes a huge difference. In other parts of the country (California, Hawaii, New England), the price of electricity is over 10 cents per kWh, so the 2 cent tax credit is relatively less valuable there.

The bottom line is that there are several places under development now in the U.S. that are good enough to justify being built without the 2 cents per kWh tax credit - these select locations are very windy, close to a transmission line, and/or in areas with high electricity prices. Without the subsidy, the growth of wind energy in the United States (same goes for the rest of the world, to my knowledge) would be severely affected. Thousands of people would be laid off, a significant portion of projects would be canceled, and we'd all go back to burning lots of cheap and dirty coal, nuclear, hydro, and finally natural gas to fill off the balance of our energy needs.

Regarding your question about oil imports in countries like India, I think you might be slightly misguided. Wind energy does not provide fuel for transportation, just electricity. Until we have a way to develop the hydrogen economy (http://auto.howstuffworks.com/hydrogen-e… convert electricity to hydrogen fuel, distribute it through a nationwide infrastructure we don't have, and put it in cars that are currently cost-prohibitive), we will remain addicted to oil. The alternative to oil (for now) is ethanol. Especially in places like Brazil, which have plenty of land and a great climate for growing sugar cane ethanol rather than the subsidized corn ethanol we produce here in the U.S.

Wind energy is the cheapest form of renewable energy currently available, and it will get cheaper in the coming years as the credit crisis corrects what has been a massive seller's market for wind turbines in the last few years. Competition in wind turbine manufacturing is up, and the cost of steel (the 80 m towers) and cement (the massive foundations) is down. These factors will lead to wind energy becoming cheaper in the next few years. Wind energy can be cost-competitive with natural gas, offsetting our need for this finite resource and (hopefully) lowering prices for consumers. That's the long-term benefit of the subsidy - get the industry built up now so we will be well set for a future of increasingly scarce oil and natural gas, which will be imported from unstable regions of the world.

Heather Said:

what would be a few good facts to put on an advertisement for wind energy?

We Answered:

carbon electricity.

It is as simple as that. The wind is free and is abundant. The US is the "Saudi Arabia of wind."

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No longer have to be controlled by oil, nuclear, and coal supplied monopolies

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Roy Said:

Facts and Inquires About Windmills And Wind Energy?

We Answered:

we are limited to ?? how many characters per answer on this forum
your answer would require several books

beyond the scope of this forum


Guru

Jimmy Said:

provide facts and figures&analyse the opportunities and challenges that wind energy companies face in setting?

We Answered:

The primary factor that I'm aware of for wind farms to be economically feasible is that you need an area that has a constant, average wind speed of 12 mph. The next challenge is how far is this area from the population center that you're trying to supply, and do you have the means of constructing the transmission lines that are then required.

I would think that the northern parts of India, the sub-Himalayan areas, would be ideal, but how far would the power then have to be transmitted for use.

Katie Said:

Facts About Wind Energy?

We Answered:

Hey Houston, kind of a broad question, but I'll try to help. Wind energy has been in use for a little over 1000 years on earth. In Europe, it was originally used to grind grain and pump water. In the Netherlands, the rich fertile soil was covered by water much of the year, and people figured out if they could drain the small amount that kept collecting there, they would have access to fantastic agriculture. Today the Netherlands is home of probably the largest number of active wind turbines per person. They have an offshore farm with 26 wind turbines powering part of their grid. They still employ pumps to maintain their below sea level lifestyle, but the pumps are primarily fed electricity from the wind turbines

New turbines today are larger and more efficient than just 10 years ago, and that is what has brought them from the back yard farmers field to the mainstream. There are literally dozens of wind farms in the US alone today in operation, and more being built, because they are economically feasible. We live in a home that is powered by the wind and sun, has been for 10 years now. The utility companies have figured out what some of us have known all along. Once you build a wind turbine, it looks really good on the balance sheet, and it never matters what happens to the price of oil after it goes up. Wind power is doubling about every 3 years right now, so by 2020, it should make up about 25% of our global utility power. It's variability is not nearly the issue it has been claimed to be, because the wind is always blowing someplace, by installing wind farms in the best locations and connecting all of them to the same grid, we can have a fairly constant supply, and a predictable one looking ahead a day or two. If there is one thing you can learn from this forum by reading through your answers and others on the subject, it's that there is a lot of misinformation about renewable energy. I'm always amazed how people are willing to put in their opinion on subjects like wind and solar, but have never actually owned or operated a wind turbine or solar panel.

If you really want good information, I would go to some of the non profit groups and government websites on the subject instead of asking hacks like me online. I will list some places below that are worth looking into. Good luck Houston, and take care, Rudydoo