Comments on: Is It Possible To Convert To 100% Wind Power?

By: delta farce

delta farce — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 16:20:28 +0000

how much wind power is used in the U.S.?

By: Edward

Edward — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 06:44:28 +0000

One should not completely discount wind power as a viable energy source simply because it might not be the best solution for everyone or every location.

Wind power may not be the answer for every city or town in the world. Other renewable energy sources could be employed where wind may not be sufficient enough.

Combining wind and solar power would definitely help preserve or non-renewable energy reserves. If the best we can do right now is lower the use of non-renewable energies to ensure they will be there for future generations, we should.

By: Gerrie

Gerrie — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 18:31:16 +0000

Mary I live in tx were it is extremely hot almost all year round and I receive 100% wind energy thru my electric company, Also I think that most people forget wind is not the only way to make energy I’m originally from new York and I get that maybe wind mills wouldn’t work so great in the city but solar panels would definitely work there. Lastly guys don’t forget to ask your electric companies about renewable energy they usually have plans available for about the same price as your normal electric in my case I pay less than did before and have 100% wind energy if more people did this it would force the energy companies to close down their not so Eco friendly plants.

By: Edgar

Edgar — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 23:14:29 +0000

Now all they need is an electrically driven personal rapid transport system such as JPods, then they can call themselves 100% renewable.

By: Squall

Squall — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:52:42 +0000

Samso is using a combination of wind and solar technologies for producing electricity and supplying thermal energy for households and subsequently hydrogen produced from excess electricity. In fact the only problem in this case, as far as I can see it, is the demand side management. Most of the predictions and some research projects claim that maximum penetration of the intermittent RES in the grid can be up to 30%. Therefore, the islands grid infrastructure has to be carefully managed in order to withstand 100% penetration. Of course, microgrids can be easily managed due to small peak loads, while the “biggies” cannot withstand such penetration.

By: Mary

Mary — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:56:43 +0000

Wonderful for that windy island. Have you ever been in a Southern US town on a hot, humid, NON-WINDY day in the summer?

By: Rif

Rif — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:52:23 +0000

Film clip about Samsø. There are 11 land based wind turbines and 10 off-shore wind turbines.

Samsø – Denmark’s renewable energy island
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baeGMF-z0fM

By: Andrew Jiang

Andrew Jiang — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:37:50 +0000

Agree @ Vladimir and Josihoff

The size of the Danish island should probably be used in the argument against the possibility of relying 100% of renewable energy. Manhattan’s population density of 27,490.9/sq km versus Samso Island’s population density of 36.175/sq km means that if we use Samso as the baseline,in order to power Manhattan we would need 86,633 sq kilometers of space, or about the size of the state of Maine (91,646 sq km).

By: Roger Roster

Roger Roster — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:26:43 +0000

A Green energy economy is the way forward. The US needs to rid its dependence on fossil fuels and reduce its traditional energy consumption. As the energy prices continue to rise, wind energy is a smart alternative. Wind energy will have a significant share of the world energy market in the coming years. More and more homeowners have decided to have a wind turbine in the US. Transformer company, Pacific Crest Transformers has been partnering with the wind energy sector since 1985. It specializes in the manufacture of energy-efficient transformers and solutions for the wind energy sector.

By: josihoff

josihoff — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:37:13 +0000

Vladimir took the words right out of my mouth.

The article said “they need only know…” Well that’s the kind of misuse of facts to get a desired result, that people need to call out. I am happy for the people of Samso, but there is no comparison to the energy density of Manhattan. And by the way, I am not a naysayer. Just realistic. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

By: Hiro Chandwani

Hiro Chandwani — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 05:22:15 +0000

Why only wind? There are other sources of RE which are emissions free. For Samsa Island, tidal and waves could be explored for RE. And sun is also available. As far as NY city is concerned, situation there is very different. For any field of Renewable Energy, large acres of open land is required which is the only thing not available in NY city. Only way to get RE electricity in NY city is through grid, the plant being located far off either inland or offshore. However direct use of RE like solar water heating, energy efficient buildings, building top wind turbines etc could be other solution.

By: Phil

Phil — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:03:34 +0000

If you sum all the additional power coming on line from wind power projects in each country it would be interesting to see if they were indeed powering the equivalent of a New York City.

For Spain which on a windy day solar and wind supplies around 40% of the nations energy so a list if Spanish cities would appear

By: Madeleine

Madeleine — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:07:00 +0000

@Ken – I would be interested to know more about what you are talking about, do you have some information you could send me? madeleine.anna[at] gmail[dot]com. Thanks

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:06:47 +0000

I only know what I have seen on Danish TV about Samsø, but as I recall they are trying to be carbon free in electrical energy via wind mills, carbon neutral in home heating via straw burning plants, but remain carbon generating via automobile/truck/tractor engines. The island is good example for the world, but not completely running on alternate energy yet.

By: ken upton

ken upton — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:23:08 +0000

Why does Denmark want to use wind ,when they have rivers and tidal RE . The cheapest and the best way to collect REH .Is multi axis and conveyor with multi foil/kite energy collectors . With a tidal grid system this is non stop and does not need and convention pollutive old fashion back up (Oil .Coal ,Nuclear). These kite/ foil systems are the IP of 4paz charity and copied by M&S with their shell company Atlantis . Same bankers that robbed Tesla .

If you made many things in carbon fiber and other modern composite technology they would not break and last a life time. Not good >for one of the most toxic clans who use E13 with all it’s cancer, corrosive, contamination and cancer effects, which is good for the other multi nationals. Read the Sugar Blues, William Duffy. That will explain the basics.

4paz have now developed even better systems ( not published ) of wet REH , anyone who is interested in the development and exploitation in a fair and honest way. Please get in touch.

By: Roger Lauricella

Roger Lauricella — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:31:00 +0000

Doubtful that the island in DK is truly 100% wind, you still need the grid to get wind started so that starting power needs to come from somewhere. In addition, the majority of wind power can not regulate nor control voltage and frequency which presents problems for heavy industry and for stable grid control. Technical problems remain that will prevent wind from powering NYC entirely in the future, supplemental to stable base load (and frequency and voltage regulating type power)yes, but not 100% in the true sense.

By: Madeleine

Madeleine — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:25:54 +0000

Sustainable Energy – without the hot air by Cambridge professor David JC MacKay looks in detail at this question (& many other interesting ones) – the simple answer is no, unless we reduce our energy consumption drastically.

You can read/download the book for free – here is the wind chapter:
http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/withouthotair/c4/page_32.shtml

By: Reva

Reva — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:51:19 +0000

Location plays a major role here. What we achieve in Denmark may not be possible elsewhere. The availability of wind at the specified speeds or availability of direct sunlight is necessary of achieving 100% power from renewable sources. For places not as lucky as Denmark would require both conventional and renewable sources with the market share of renewables increasing with time.

By: Mike Hohmann

Mike Hohmann — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:31:09 +0000

The world will need something like four times current electricity supply in 100 years+, and only solar power (of which wind is a derivative) will be able to supply this as the only ubiquitous and abundant safe source.

By: Vladimir

Vladimir — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:46:10 +0000

The island may be larger than Manhattan, but population density is the key factor. Manhattan has more than 70,000 residents per square mile, while this island’s population density if far smaller. Once we break down the number of wind turbines per person (or 100 persons), and the area these turbines need to occupy, and the local wind conditions, we’d quickly realize, that powering a city solely through wind power is basically a dream that is very very far away.

The only way to approach this ideal case is to allocate thousands of square miles of offshore locations and plant wind turbines there, which would maybe generate enough electricity to power all the cities in the world.

No, I think various renewable energy technologies (excluding nuclear, as some like to categorize it) on a very large scale may eventually power the world’s urban population…