Little Limit to the Amount of Wind Energy

Little Limit to the Amount of #Wind #Energy Available - @IEEESpectrum: #windturbine #windfarm #green

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-...