Wind Energy: HOW LONG TO PAYBACK ENERGY INVESTMENT?

EPP - Energy Payback Period
  How long does it take to recover the energy used for manufacture, construction, operation  and decommission of the modern large-scale wind turbine?  Speaking strictly of  ENERGY, not monetary investment......   here's what the experts say...

    1.   6 - 7 months   
              ( vesta, treehugger, renewableenergyworld.com )1.1 years                                     (  parliament.uk )
   
    2.   3 - 5 months  
             IWEA  Irish Wind Energy Association

    3.   2 - 3 months 
                   ( busiunion.com)

    4.   3 - 8 months
                   ( Orion renewable energy group )

                      5.   10 months or less
                                  (uiowa.edu)

                  6.   4.8 - 8.1 months
                                       Danish Environment Ministry

                 7.   3.8 - 8.4 months 
                          German Ministry for Tech Development, 80m rotor dia, 3 MW

Dimmable Soft LED Light Bulbs are SERIOUS Energy Savers

       ref:
(1. parliament.uk  2. iwea.com  3. busiunion.com 4. orionrenewables.com 5. uiowa.edu 6. wind-works.org 7. wind-works.org)  EPP varies with location, turbine size, conditions, manufacturer,- detailed ref. on request.) 

Bigger and Better: Vestas V-164

Massive New Wind Turbine by Vestas:    The V-164
 
Projected actual annual output:    30,000 MegawattHours
Homes powered:    2787
v-164's required to power 1 Million homes:  359
Location:  North Sea, northern Europe
Production Date: 2014

 

(vestas)

Wind Turbine Rotors - What's Up?

What are those ROTOR BLADES made of?

1.  Wood laminates layered with epoxy, solid wood for small rotors

2. Steel and Aluminum Alloys
    Spar and Skin construction (skeleton and outer skin, aviation technology)

3. Glass Reinforced Polyester or Wood/ Epoxy


4. Synthetic composites:
   Polyester or epoxy matrix reinforced with glass fibers
  Resin soaked glass Strands wrapped around forms

5. Hybrid Composities
   Aluminum + thin Aramid (strong heat-resistant fiber such as Kevlar)  or Carbon fiber and Epoxy    Layers

6. Epoxy resin in Engineered Fabric

photo: ScienceDaily
ref: M Ragheb1-5
Owens Corning Ultrablade Fabric

(WindPowerEngineering)

Sizing up the Wind....

Wind Power Blows Away Solar in the square footage category..

SOURCE                                                     WATTS AT FULL CAPACITY

One - 2 MW Wind Turbine                                              2 MW

Solar Panels:  181,818 Square Feet of them                  2 MW


( 181,818 square feet is about 3.2 football fields )

(based on "nameplate capacity" - average capacity can be 75% lower than nameplate,  and varies considerably with conditions and may be different between wind and solar.  Solar calculated @ 11W/sq foot, field 360'x160'  )

The Answer, My Friend, Is Blowin' Harder In the Wind

WIND SPEED mph     ENERGY GENERATED BY WIND TURBINE

           20                                              X                                    

           25                                             2X

          31.7                                           3X

          40                                              4X

          50                                              5X

Energy generated is proportional to the cube of wind speed.  Make the tower a little taller, make the blades a little longer, get it in a little windier environment and the returns will be massive.

Three Cubed Equals Twenty Seven

What is your Mercury Footprint?

    Bulb type                        Source of electricity               Mercury released

Incandescent 75-watt                            Coal                               13.16 mg
    not recycled                                                                              

Incandescent 75-watt                            Coal                               13.16 mg
     recycled                                                                                    

Compact Fluorescent (equivalent)        Coal                                8.51mg
     not recycled                                                                                

Compact Fluorescent (equivalent)        Coal                                3.51 mg
   recycled                                                                                       

 Incandescent 75-watt Bulb                  Wind                                   0
     not recycled

Incandescent 75-watt Bulb                   Wind                                   0
    recycled

Compact Fluorescent (equivalent)        Wind                                   5 mg
   not recycled

Compact Fluorescent (equivalent)        Wind                                   0
   recycled

New GE Hybrid Halogen-CFL contains only 1 mg Mercury

  

( calculated for a typical cfl 7500 hour bulb life equivalent light output to 75w incand., assumes 5mg Hg inside CFL; some newer CFL bulbs have reduced Hg levels  ) (popularmechanics.com)

Thinking about Grass

LAWNMOWER TYPE               LBS. OF CO2 RELEASED TO ATMOSPHERE
 
Gasoline   ( 1 hour )                                          30.53 lbs

Electric, from Coal    ( 1 hour )                           .66 lbs. 

Electric, from Natural Gas ( 1 hour )                  .26 lbs.

Electric, from Wind Power  ( 1 hour )                   0 lbs.

Electric, from Solar Power   ( 1 hour )                  0  lbs.     

Hand        ( 1 hour )                                              0 lbs.


notes:
Gasoline and coal release a host of other greenhouse gasses as well as just CO2 - this post only looks at CO2.   / Gasoline is 87% carbon - when it burns it combines with Oxygen and resultant CO2 weighs 3.7 times the original weight of the Carbon and greatly exceeds the weight of the gasoline itself.  /  Sample electric lawnmower specs :  13 amp, 120 v. , generated from coal at .95kg CO2/5 KwH, from nat. gas @.6kg CO2/5 KwH /  sample Gasoline mower consumes 1.5 gal/hr ) (epa.gov , WolframAlpha )    Not reflected above, lawnmowers are particularly dirty and considerably more polluting than autos for a given amount of gasoline burned. //  Also, some claim that coal-fired power plants may sit around in stand-by mode to back up wind and solar sources when they fail to generate sufficient power,  and thereby increase their carbon footprint per KwH. Others claim that with good grid planning and design, this doesn't happen.

Lawnmower Injury ( flickr.com )

Offshore Wind Farms - Who's Hot and Who's Not

COUNTRY             NUMBER OF OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES

U.S.                                      0

SWEDEN                           80
NETHERLANDS              128
U.K.                                   436
DENMARK                      403
GERMANY                      101
JAPAN                                7+
CHINA                                34
SCOTLAND                        2

                

Tons and Tons of Concrete to Hold Up A Wind Turbine

                                                                                          TONS OF CONCRETE


Single On-Shore Wind Turbine Foundation                                    1200
             (vestas.com)
Single Majestic Farm Wind Turbine Foundation                             607
         (windsystemsmag.com)



        2000 Sq-Ft Home foundation, footing and slab                        106
            (4'x9" walls, 4" slab)

        Olympic-sized Pool, filled with concrete                                  6599

        One Average Cement Truck - filled                                            17

        One cubic yard of concrete                                                          2

Why so much concrete??  Oh...

Alternatives Leave Nuclear in the Dust: Latest Figures

                                                                                     installed capacity 
         
Alternatives                                                                     381 Gigawatts
Nuclear                                                                            375 Gigawatts

                            (World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2010-11: draft version)

"Capacity" and "actual production" are very different from each other, however.  It will be some time before nuclear production falls behind alternative production, though nuclear is on a slow decline and alternatives are on a rapid increase.    ( see www.cleantechnica.com for more depth ) 


"alternatives"
   wind                                 
   biomass
   waste-to-energy   
   solar                                    

Fukushima Explosion Creates some Dust

China Winning on Multiple Fronts

CARBON EMISSIONS ( Millions of Tons of Carbon Released into the Atmosphere )
       China has just started beating the U.S. in Emissions from Fossil Fuels:

ELECTRICITY FROM WIND  ( nameplate capacity )

                       CHINA        41,800 Megawatts
                         USA           40,181  Megawatts

ELECTRICITY FROM HYDROELECTRIC  ( nameplate capacity )

                     CHINA     200,000,000 Megawatts
                      USA                 97,000 Megawatts


POPULATION

                CHINA     1,331,460,000
                 USA          307,006,550

AUTOMOBILES

               CHINA       168,000,000
               USA              62,000,000

China not winning on all fronts, though .......
        U.S has more solar,  more square miles, and more nuclear power.

     

 

Solar Panel per-Watt Cost Drops over 57 years

1954         $250

1960's      $100

1970's       $20

1990          $7

2005        $3.50

2011        $1.48

                  (numerous sources, panel costs only, not-installed, averaged)

(NectarDesign solar panel sculpture)

Growth of Wind-Power Industry

A sampling of states and countries  to show  9-year change in installed Wind Power Capacity:   
                                 ( millions of watts )

                                2001                       2010 

Texas                      1096                     10,085
Washington              180                      2104
Oregon                    157                       2104
California                 1683                     3177
Utah                         0                          223
Iowa                         324                       3675
Colorado                 61                         1299
New York                 48                        1275

China                      400                        41,800             
India                        236                       13,000
United States           4275                     40,181
Germany                 8754                      27,214


                                                                           (windpoweringamerica.gov)
                                                                           (lmwindpower.com)
                                                    (wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_by_country)  

Problems Reported with Wind-Power

Here are the objections to Wind-Power and Wind Turbines that are tossed around by groups opposing the industry.  All should be discussed at length.    


They look bad.
They're unreliable.
They kill birds.
Vegetation is destroyed.
Access roads and sites cause erosion problems.
Leakage of oil.
Wind turbulence affects local climate.
Noise.
CO2 emissions from the production of the concrete.
Bright navigation safety lights atop towers.
Consumption of water in production.
Adverse effects on land value.
Wind tower litter.
Adverse effect on tourism.
Social conflict is created.
They are inefficient.
They are a fire hazard.
They mess with TV reception.
They cause sunlight flicker.
Flying ice comes off the blades. 
Electric bills will increase.
Ground wildlife is displaced.
New roads constructed through wilderness.
Existing roads damaged during construction phase.
Wind is unreliable.
Industry is subsidized by the taxpayer.
Desecration of sacred areas.
Disrupts radar and shipping lanes ( offshore wind )
Construction of massive new high-voltage transmission lines.
Farm animals are disturbed.
It doesn't make economic sense.
Greenhouse gas benefit overstated.
Price of coal-generated power goes up. 

For some fascinating more detailed analysis of many of these objections see
http://ramblingsdc.net/Australia/WindProblems.html#Wind_is_intermittent

Noisy Wind Turbines

Distance guidelines and proposals for locating wind turbines away from homes include such recommendations as these:

1.  1.5x tower height
2.  3x  blade height tip
3. 1000 feet
4. 2500 feet
5. 1 mile
6. 2 kilometers ( 1.24 miles )
7.  whatever the complex computer models recommend

   Noise is a REAL issue that affects enough people to be a serious concern - the sound is relentless and inescapable, and the annoyance levels, sleep disturbance, headaches and dizziness are concerns.   Actual noise levels are affected by terrain, noise frequency, turbine model, wind direction and of course, distance.   Perception of noise is affected by the personality of the person, the existing attitude about wind-power and the underlying ambient noise.

  While many people aren't bothered, protecting the rights of even the minority who are is important to consider for something like this that bombards people 24 hours a day.   

        ( see: www. windturbinenoises.org for one perspective )
  

Wind and Nuclear reality check

    1      Nuclear Power Plant         generates      12.3 million Megawatt-hrs/year
2708   Wind Turbines (1.8mw)       generate     12.3 million Megawatt-hrs/year
975   Wind Turbines (4mw)     generate            12.3 million Megawatt-hrs/year



    ( calculation based on a 28.8% capacity factor on a typical 1.8MW wind turbine   /   new 4mw offshore turbines with optimistic 36% capacity  factor   /   average U.S. nuclear output 2009 - US Dept. of Energy stats.)

Wind Turbine Capacity

    A 1.8 Megawatt Wind Turbine does not generate 1.8 MW 24-hours a day, 365 days a year!  If it did, it would generate 15,768 Megawatt-Hours per year.    On average in the U.S., wind turbines generate only 28.8% ( the capacity factor) of that amount, or 4541 MWh ( 4,541,000 KWh ) per year.   There are wind-speed and direction variations and down-times for maintenance or excessive wind speed all of which combine to prevent the turbine from reaching even near full capacity.  With the average home consuming  11,040 Kilowatt-hours per year (2008) assuming a 28.8% capacity factor, ...

   ...a 1.8 MW turbine will fully power 411 homes even with the down-time and wind variations.    On average.

Our Sources of Electrical Energy in the U.S.

Source                                   Millions of Megawatt-Hours (MWH)

Wind                                             71
Solar                                                .8

Fossil Fuels                                  2734
Nuclear                                         799
Hydro-electric                               272
Bio-mass                                       52
Geothermal                                   15

                                                                       (U.S. Dept. of Energy, 2009 stats)

100% Renewables?

The Scottish National Party has set a goal to achieve 100% of electricity generated in Scotland by renewable sources in 9 years ( 2020 ).  The economic and technological challenges are immense, but many say it could happen, others are skeptical. The Labour Party says that to go above 80% is unrealistic.  Others say that 185% is achievable by 2030. 


http://www.wind-watch.org/news/?p=8505