ECO LIFESTYLES: Harnessing the Wind.

USA Could Generate 37 Million Gigawatt-hours From Wind

The newest and by far the most scientifically accurate and detailed estimate to date of the nation’s wind power potential has just been published by the NREL in Colorado, in conjunction with AWS Truewind.

Back in 1993; when turbines were smaller and less powerful, and computers were less able to calculate wind speeds over smaller areas, the NREL calculated the potential at about one third of this. The first comprehensive calculation has just been completed. With current technology, the US has enough wind potential to generate 37 million Gigawatt-hours of electricity from wind every year: enough to provide more than 12 times what we use each year.

Estimates of wind power potential have become increasingly sophisticated since the first pencil and paper estimate in the 1830’s by John Etzler. He used loose numerical analogies to sailing ships to calculate that “the whole extent of the wind’s power over the globe amounts to about...40,000,000,000,000 men’s power.”

Environmentally sensitive areas were excluded for the first time. This resource is well over our needs: we use 3 Million Gigawatt-hours of electricity every year in the USA. But we have a long way to go to generate that much electricity from wind. In 2008 we were just generating a total of just 52,000 gigawatt-hours from wind. But this new estimate of the resource we have indicates that we could supply more than 12 times as much wind power as we’d need to supply 100% of our electricity from wind.

The 1993 estimates were lower, not just because of lower tech computing power back then, but also because turbines were smaller. Now the typical turbine (at least in Europe, where state of the art turbines are in use) stands 250 feet, which is up a third in size from the typical 165 feet from the the ’90’s.

Most turbines in the US are still not at the new global state of the art size, so the Obama administration used part of the Recovery Act stimulus funds to build a $98 million wind turbine development and testing center in South Carolina to remedy our backwardness. The stimulus funds now being invested in renewable energy from the 2009 Recovery Act has been far higher in relation to previous administrations funding to advance renewable energy. These ARRA funds will install 16 Gigawatts of renewable power; capable of generating about 20,000 Gigawatt-hours of electricity a year.

Home Wind Power for Half the Price, Over the Counter

For commercial renewable energy enthusiasts, there’s no shortage of eye candy among industrial sized wind installations, but for the homeowner, the closest they get to feeling like they’re really generating clean energy might be the ‘Powered by the Wind’ sticker they get from their local utility when purchasing the wind power option for electricity. But that could change very soon, because a major retail store, Ace Hardware, will soon be selling a very cool new home wind turbine at half the installed price of a traditional turbine.

The arrangement to sell the WT6500 Wind Turbine through Ace, from WindTronics and Honeywell, sounds like a dream for the DIY homeowner looking to offset some of the electricity needs of their house. Capable of producing 2000 kWh/yr in class 3 winds, the WT6500 would generate about 18% percent of the average household’s annual electricity needs, according to the company.

The new turbine is being touted as completely innovative due to the method of power generation: at the blade tips, and not using gears as traditional turbines do. Honeywell says this drastically reduces the mechanical resistance and results in far greater energy production. The key upside is that the WT6500 will produce electricity even at low wind speeds, as low as 2 mph (3 kmh), not the minimum of 7.5 mph needed by traditional gearbox turbines.

That low speed generation helps this machine to be feasible, as the National Wind Technology Center claims that more than 80% of the U.S. residential market experiences wind speeds lower than 10 mph (16 km/h) over 90% of the time. Given that the WT6500 will handle wind speeds from 2 mph up to 42 mph, it sounds like a dream for most locations.

I think the WT6500 would qualify for being called a ‘micro-wind’ installation, as it measures just 6 feet across, is completely gearless, and weighs just 170 pounds. That’s not to unwieldy for the savvy DIY guy to think about installing on his house, though a crane or high-lift sounds necessary to get it there. You will have to have an electrician wire it up for you, but the installation can be done yourself.

“The turbine’s installed cost is approximately 1/2 of the cost of traditional turbines with a lower installed cost per kWh (in class and size) than any turbine on the market. Adding to the value are federal and state rebates covering anywhere from 30% to 100% of the overall cost. The Honeywell Wind Turbine comes complete with a computerized smart box, inverter and inter connect switch to wire the system into a household panel. The Honeywell Wind Turbine is designed to be installed where the power is being consumed and can produce 2000 kWh/yr in class 3, 2752 kWh/yr in class 4 winds at 33' (height of 33').

These articles were reprinted from www.greenlivingideas.com

GLI Editors: Green Living Ideas provides ideas, tips, and information to help you improve the environmental sustainability of every aspect of your life: home energy, green building and remodeling, cars, food, waste recycling— and everything in between. GLI’s editorial voice is driven by founder Sean Daily, and written by an amazing staff of author and interns.