Renewables/Biofuels (merged)

[pstarr]

Bump. What do you think Plant? A little rule bending by the Democrats to jump-start the American solar industry and kick some Chinese butt? A little of the wink-wink nod-nod couldn't be so bad if it helps the US economy. Right Plant? Right?

So what if a few connected companies make out like Haliburton? I don't recollect you complaining about free-enterprise during the Bush years.

[Shaved Monkey]

Wonder if they would be able to build a nuclear reactor to stop burning their oil ?
We no Iran isn't allowed to.

[Poordogabone]

A big chunk of S.A. energy is used for desalination. They in effect burn oil to make fresh water from the sea, a lot of it.

Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim Al Assaf has said that around 1.5 million barrels of oil a day are used in the country's desalination plants, which has, in turn, caused the price of water to increase along with the price of oil. In efforts to relieve their dependence on fossil fuels, the Kingdom is now implementing a plan to build solar-powered desalination plants. This will not only save on their energy costs, but it will also serve to demonstrate their loyalty to local and international environmental policies.

http://www.emagazine.com/daily-news-archive/solar-desalination-in-saudi-arabia

[Serial_Worrier]

A big chunk of S.A. energy is used for desalination. They in effect burn oil to make fresh water from the sea, a lot of it.

Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim Al Assaf has said that around 1.5 million barrels of oil a day are used in the country's desalination plants, which has, in turn, caused the price of water to increase along with the price of oil. In efforts to relieve their dependence on fossil fuels, the Kingdom is now implementing a plan to build solar-powered desalination plants. This will not only save on their energy costs, but it will also serve to demonstrate their loyalty to local and international environmental policies.

http://www.emagazine.com/daily-news-archive/solar-desalination-in-saudi-arabia

Talk about unsustainable.

[cephalotus]

Wonder if they would be able to build a nuclear reactor to stop burning their oil ?
We no Iran isn't allowed to.

Why should they? The only reason would be building a nuclear bomb. For electricity production solar is now significantly cheaper.

[Graeme]

Wind Energy Breakthrough: Japan Designs New Wind Turbine With Triple the Output of Traditional Models

In light of recent events, Japan has been urged to pay more attention to renewable energy sources. Coincidently, in the same month as one of the world's worst nuclear crises devastated Fukushima, an incredibly innovative wind turbine system revealed itself on Kyushu University's campus for field testing. With a promise to generate two to three times the power of traditional models, the new turbine designs exemplify the potential for a cleaner energy future in Japan and around the world, removed from the dangers of nuclear power plants.

While energy from wind turbines currently accounts for less than one percent of total power generated in Japan, the new breakthrough in design provides ample reason to ramp up production. Called the 'Windlens,' Yuji Ohya, a professor of renewable energy dynamics and applied mechanics, and his team at Kyushu University have created a series of turbines that could make the cost of wind power less than coal and nuclear energy.

The two major concerning issues with traditional turbines have been their general inefficiency and intolerable noise. However, Kyushu's researchers found that attaching an inward curving ring around the perimeter of a turbine's blades increases the focus of airflow faster through the blade zones at two to three times the speed as before. An improvement in safety from covering the outer edges of the blades and a reduction of the dreaded noise pollution of older models is just a bonus.

oilprice

[autonomous]

SInce they are using small-scale turbines for testing it might be possible to retrofit an airx or other small sized wind turbine with a homebuilt wind lens, and get similar results.

The effect is caused by generating a low-pressure turbulent zone downwind of the turbine:

[cephalotus]

Modern wind turbines are not very loud.

There is a maximum efficency called the Betz' law around 59,3%, modern wind turbines have efficiences near that limit at standard wind speeds, a 2-3 fold increase in efficiency is physically not possible.

Btw: If you increase wind speed by the factor 2-3, the energy of that wind would increase 8-27 fold.

Imho the article is bs...

[autonomous]

There is a maximum efficency called the Betz' law around 59,3%, modern wind turbines have efficiences near that limit at standard wind speeds, a 2-3 fold increase in efficiency is physically not possible.
Imho the article is bs...

You are correct that a 2-3 fold increase in efficiency of a wind turbine is not possible, and the article is bs since this technology was developed long before Fukushima. The claim made is that they have developed a compact diffuser shroud with a "brim" that obtains an increase of 2-5 times available power.

A Shrouded Wind Turbine Generating High Output Power with Wind-lens Technology
Yuji Ohya and Takashi Karasudani
Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University/ Kasuga 816-8580, Japan

We have devised a diffuser shroud with a large brim that is able to increase the wind speed from approaching wind substantially by utilizing various flow characteristics, e.g., the generation of low pressure region by vortex formation, flow entrainment by vortices and so on, of the inner or peripheral flows of a diffuser shroud equipped with a brim. Although it adopts a diffuser-shaped structure surrounding a wind turbine like the others, the feature that distinguishes it from the others is a large brim attached at the exit of diffuser shroud. Furthermore, we placed a wind turbine inside the diffuser shroud equipped with a brim and evaluated the power output generated. As a result, the shrouded wind turbine equipped with a brimmed diffuser demonstrated power augmentation for a given turbine diameter and wind speed by a factor of about 4–5 compared to a standard micro wind turbine. Furthermore, for the practical application to a small- and mid-size wind turbine, we have been developing a compact-type brimmed diffuser. The combination of a diffuser shroud and a brim is largely modified from the one with a long diffuser with a large brim. The compact “wind-lens turbines” showed power augmentation of 2–3 times as compared to a bare wind turbine.

http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/3/4/634/pdf

This pdf provides sufficient detail to construct a shroud.

[no_wuckin_ferries_mate]

The problem is, even if it worked, they don't get into action. I have developed a completely new method of using wave energy and suggested the Japanese Government to use it as replacement for the shut down nuclear reactors which is possible given Japan's long coastline. I got a polite reply, yes they are interested, and will get back to me. That was in April.

[Serial_Worrier]

Why is it that other countries are more innovative when it comes to mechanical engineering, but the US is really great in terms of software?

[TreeFarmer]

In America a lot of the people who are good at math decided to not study engineering and studied finance instead. They went to where they could make 3x as much.

TF

[dorlomin]

Why is it that other countries are more innovative when it comes to mechanical engineering, but the US is really great in terms of software?

America has fantastic enigineers. Why do you think other wise?

[EnergyUnlimited]

We have devised a diffuser shroud with a large brim that is able to increase the wind speed from approaching wind substantially by utilizing various flow characteristics, e.g., the generation of low pressure region by vortex formation, flow entrainment by vortices and so on, of the inner or peripheral flows of a diffuser shroud equipped with a brim.

I have a big problem with such explanation.
Increasing a speed of approaching wind would require input of energy into approaching masses of air.
It just takes energy to increase speed of incoming mass of air.
So from where this energy is coming?
It is hard to believe that it is coming from "spent" wind, which is already leaving turbine...
And if so, it is even harder to believe that several-fold increase of power output would result.

[vision-master]

Maybe it works like the Gorge - hood river?

[SilentRunning]

Wind Energy Breakthrough: Japan Designs New Wind Turbine With Triple the Output of Traditional Models

The two major concerning issues with traditional turbines have been their general inefficiency and intolerable noise. However, Kyushu's researchers found that attaching an inward curving ring around the perimeter of a turbine's blades increases the focus of airflow faster through the blade zones at two to three times the speed as before. An improvement in safety from covering the outer edges of the blades and a reduction of the dreaded noise pollution of older models is just a bonus.

Sounds a lot like this design from a US manufacturer not too far from me (I have seen one of their turbines next to Interstate 81 in Scranton PA:


http://aristapower.com/wind/our-systems/windtamer-8-0-gt/

[SilentRunning]

Modern wind turbines are not very loud.

There is a maximum efficency called the Betz' law around 59,3%, modern wind turbines have efficiences near that limit at standard wind speeds, a 2-3 fold increase in efficiency is physically not possible.

Btw: If you increase wind speed by the factor 2-3, the energy of that wind would increase 8-27 fold.

Imho the article is bs...

Actually - they CAN improve above Betz' law, because they are intercepting more wind surface area than just the blades with the larger shroud. It's like focusing more sunlight on solar arrays with mirrors.

[Fiddlerdave]

Modern wind turbines are not very loud.

There is a maximum efficency called the Betz' law around 59,3%, modern wind turbines have efficiences near that limit at standard wind speeds, a 2-3 fold increase in efficiency is physically not possible.

Btw: If you increase wind speed by the factor 2-3, the energy of that wind would increase 8-27 fold.

Imho the article is bs...

Actually - they CAN improve above Betz' law, because they are intercepting more wind surface area than just the blades with the larger shroud. It's like focusing more sunlight on solar arrays with mirrors.

Indeed, its as if the shroud and even a little bit bigger (because of the edge turbulence) were the turbine blade size.

The effect the lower pressure would give the turbine blades more "torque", that is, more ability to spin a generator under heavier load, which is in fact BETTER than an increase of wind speed.

[Graeme]

Regulators Approve Power Line to Carry Electricity From Wind Farms Across States

A Houston-based company has received initial approval from Kansas regulators to develop a high-voltage transmission line across the state to carry electricity from wind farms to Missouri and states farther east.

The Kansas Corporation Commission on Wednesday approved an application from Clean Line Energy Partners to do business as a public utility in Kansas. The KCC decision is a big step in the company's efforts to get regulatory approval in three states to build a $2 billion, 700-mile transmission line from western Kansas to just over the Indiana border.

"It's clear that Kansas is serious about taking a leading role in shaping the future of the energy landscape in the United States," Clean Line President Michael Skelly said.

The transmission line, dubbed the Grain Belt Express, is one of four massive Clean Line projects in various stages of regulatory approval across the country. Company officials said the Kansas line, which will start around Spearville, will help resolve a shortage in transmission capacity that has kept some wind farm projects from getting off the ground.

foxnews

[PrestonSturges]

I googled for more sources of this story because I wanted to read the wingnut outrage over a large wind farm, but I could not find an article with comments.