Posted by Kromey at 8:36pm Sep 12 '11There are developments still being made that are dramatically altering this. See, for example, the "wind lens", which can apparently increase the output of a wind turbine by a factor of 2-5 for the cost of what amounts to a shroud around the turbine's [private]s.
Assuming this scales up even half as well from lab to real world, this simple attachment could significantly reduce the cost per megawatt of wind turbines (although it's likely that simply retrofitting existing turbines would not be possible -- at least not cheaply -- due to the need to support the extra weight and extra force from the "enhanced" wind, but it could still greatly improve new wind farms, and we could eventually replace existing turbines).
Still, there's another bigger problem that I'm surprised you didn't touch on: The environmental impacts as a result of the changed air flow patterns caused by wind farms are almost entirely unstudied. I posted a while back about the possibility of off-shore wind farms inducing red tide (and also the bats thing), and I've since been hearing rumblings of rumors that there may now be evidence that wind farms are actually altering the major air currents -- potentially contributing to climate change instead of staving it off!!
Of course, there aren't any studies to support this, but neither are there any to refute it -- and it's because no one has studied the impact wind farms have on, well, wind!
Now, I'm not ready (yet) to call wind farms bad, but I'll repeat the warning I gave two-and-a-half years ago:
Assuming this scales up even half as well from lab to real world, this simple attachment could significantly reduce the cost per megawatt of wind turbines (although it's likely that simply retrofitting existing turbines would not be possible -- at least not cheaply -- due to the need to support the extra weight and extra force from the "enhanced" wind, but it could still greatly improve new wind farms, and we could eventually replace existing turbines).
Still, there's another bigger problem that I'm surprised you didn't touch on: The environmental impacts as a result of the changed air flow patterns caused by wind farms are almost entirely unstudied. I posted a while back about the possibility of off-shore wind farms inducing red tide (and also the bats thing), and I've since been hearing rumblings of rumors that there may now be evidence that wind farms are actually altering the major air currents -- potentially contributing to climate change instead of staving it off!!
Of course, there aren't any studies to support this, but neither are there any to refute it -- and it's because no one has studied the impact wind farms have on, well, wind!
Now, I'm not ready (yet) to call wind farms bad, but I'll repeat the warning I gave two-and-a-half years ago:
We find ourselves dependent upon a power source that is dirty and destructive and running out because we thought we'd found a limitless supply of power with no consequences. We didn't understand then the huge ecological impact we might have by burning coal and oil. We didn't realize then that we were beginning to mine to extinction a limited source of energy.
We didn't realize 5 years ago that wind turbines would kill scores of bats and bring in the deadly red tide.
I've said from the beginning that we need to be careful of the unforeseen consequences as we press forward with renewable energy. We've for the most part turned our backs on hydroelectric because of the ecological damage it does; we need to be careful that as we press forward with other technologies we don't do even more harm to the environment.
added on 8:37pm Sep 12 '11:
I mean, just imagine where we would be now if we hadn't all but stopped new hydro development, if we hadn't realized the significant damage it does to build all those dams.
Regarding cost per megawatt: - Kromey