Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy

11 September 2012—The wind may qualify as a renewable resource, but “renewable” has its limits. Exactly how much energy we can feasibly pull from the wind has been something of a controversial question in recent years, with some studies suggesting that wind power is not the planet saver it’s cracked up to be. Simulations unveiled this week by scientists in Delaware and California, though, argue that if anything, economics and politics will hold wind development back, rather than geophysical limits. Wind-power systems work by taking the kinetic energy of wind and turning it into mechanical energy in the turbine to create electrical energy. Laws of physics tell us that the total amount of energy can’t change, so at least a minor slowing of the wind is expected as it passes through the turbine. “Adding a turbine represents a trade-off: We get energy, but the wind is slowed do...

Full article: http://spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/wind/little-limit-to-...

Tweets

@industrypigeon » 24 Sep '12, 6pm
Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy for US - [link]
@AchilleTalon » 14 Sep '12, 7pm
Portrait plus réaliste des capacités éoliennes de la planète exploitables: [link] 4 millions de très grandes turbines.
@dan_nydick » 13 Sep '12, 4pm
Energy available from wind is essentially limitless. Bats, birds & forest fragmentation are unsolved problems. [link]
@TheMapAddict » 13 Sep '12, 12pm
Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy [link] | #environment #eco
@sustainablesoc » 11 Sep '12, 6pm
Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy [link] #windenergy
@GetWindEnergy » 11 Sep '12, 4pm
Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy - IEEE Spectrum: Two groups of scientists say we can take as much wind... [link]
@del_politics » 11 Sep '12, 4pm
#delaware #politics Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy [link]
@oceandata » 11 Sep '12, 4pm
RT @cpuguru: Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy - [link]
@ACEC_Manitoba » 11 Sep '12, 3pm
RT @IEEESpectrum: wind power usage is more about politics and less about geophysical limit. #quiteInteresting [link]
@CarlosA_Pena » 11 Sep '12, 3pm
Good news? RT @IEEESpectrum: Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy: Two groups say we can take as much wind... [link]
@tim_harper » 11 Sep '12, 3pm
RT @CientificaLtd: Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy [link]
@NidhiSubs » 11 Sep '12, 3pm
How much power can we yank from the wind? Two new calculations have upped estimates [link]
@Theophany1 » 11 Sep '12, 3pm
Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy [link] #atmospheric
@anhn_cs » 11 Sep '12, 2pm
Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy: Two groups of scientists say we can take as much wind p... [link] #ieeeSpectrum
@xvdr » 11 Sep '12, 2pm
Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy [link] #tech #science
@davelevitan » 11 Sep '12, 2pm
Two papers both found VERY high geophysical limits to how much wind power we can extract. Me @IEEESpectrum [link]
@IEEEGreen » 11 Sep '12, 2pm
Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy [link] #IEEE #IEEEGreen
@IEEESpectrum » 11 Sep '12, 2pm
Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy: Two groups of scientists say we can take as much wind power as we nee... [link]
@CleanEnergyPrin » 11 Sep '12, 2pm
Two groups of scientists say we can take as much wind power as we need without changing the climate [link]
@ecogeography » 13 Sep '12, 10am
Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy [link]
@HakimAbdi » 13 Sep '12, 6am
Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy [link]
@TheDavisCos » 12 Sep '12, 4pm
Little Limit to the Amount of #WindEnergy - IEEE Spectrum [link]
@MJ_Coren » 12 Sep '12, 2pm
Two groups of scientists say we can take as much wind power as we need without changing the climate [link]
@nsashi » 12 Sep '12, 12am
Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy: Two groups of scientists say we can take as much wind power as we nee... [link]
@sustainablesoc » 11 Sep '12, 6pm
Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy [link] #windenergy
@oceanbytes » 11 Sep '12, 4pm
RT @cpuguru: Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy - [link]
@cpuguru » 11 Sep '12, 4pm
Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy - [link]
@freedomia » 11 Sep '12, 3pm
Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy [link]
@scimichael » 11 Sep '12, 3pm
[link] Limit to the amount of wind energy… [link]
@CientificaLtd » 11 Sep '12, 3pm
Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy [link]
@HowonKim2 » 11 Sep '12, 2pm
Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy: Two groups of scientists say we can take as much wind power as we nee... [link]
@USNavyIPs » 11 Sep '12, 2pm
Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy: Two groups of scientists say we can take as much wind power as we nee... [link]
@electrosoftinc » 11 Sep '12, 2pm
Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy [link]
@wkenneth » 11 Sep '12, 2pm
Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy: Two groups of scientists say we can take as much wind power as we nee... [link]