Wind energy Definition and 21 Threads

Wind power or wind energy is the use of wind to provide mechanical power through wind turbines to turn electric generators for electrical power. Wind power is a popular sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment compared to burning fossil fuels.
Wind farms consist of many individual wind turbines, which are connected to the electric power transmission network. Onshore wind is an inexpensive source of electric power, competitive with, or in many places cheaper than, coal or gas plants. Onshore wind farms have a greater visual impact on the landscape than other power stations, as they need to be spread over more land and need to be built in rural areas, which can lead to "industrialization of the countryside" and habitat loss. Offshore wind is steadier and stronger than on land and offshore farms have less visual impact, but construction and maintenance costs are significantly higher. Small onshore wind farms can feed some energy into the grid or provide power to isolated off-grid locations.
Wind power is an intermittent energy source, which cannot be dispatched on demand. Locally, it gives variable power, which is consistent from year to year but varies greatly over shorter time scales. Therefore, it must be used with other power sources to give a reliable supply.
Power-management techniques such as having dispatchable power sources (often gas-fired power plant or hydroelectric power), excess capacity, geographically distributed turbines, exporting and importing power to neighboring areas, grid storage, reducing demand when wind production is low, and curtailing occasional excess wind power, are used to overcome these problems. As the proportion of wind power in a region increases, more conventional power sources are needed to back it up, and the grid may need to be upgraded. Weather forecasting permits the electric-power network to be readied for the predictable variations in production that occur.
In 2019, wind supplied 1430 TWh of electricity, which was 5.3% of worldwide electrical generation, with the global installed wind power capacity reaching more than 651 GW, an increase of 10% over 2018.

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  1. keith0101

    Available Wind Energy Calculation

    For the avaliable power to be harvested in free-streaming wind: P=1/2QU^2_infinite (Q: mass flow rate, U_infinite: velocity of free-streaming wind) And Q is defined as: p x U_infinite x A_d. (p: density of air, A_d: Area of disc) I cannot understand the reason of taking the area of disc, A_d...
  2. P

    I Focussing on the Treadmill of Veritasium's Blackbird faster than wind

    Hi, Like many here I watched Veritasium's awesome videos on this*. And like many I found myself having to drag my mind into understanding why it works. The energy explanation makes the most sense to me. Derek explains that the fan is taking energy out of the existing wind - slowing it down -...
  3. I

    Why do wind turbines pitch their blades?

    Hi all. I'm new to this forum and to wind turbine technology in general, and I watched one of these one-minute videos explaining why wind turbines pitch their blades but it doesn not make sense to me. Why don't you just get a bigger generator? You'd get more energy for the same blades, same...
  4. J

    Automotive Wind Turbine on the grill of the car

    Hi, I'm currently in High school so I'm uncertain whether this could be feasibly possible. I read on another thread that Wind Turbine's produce too much drag to actually be beneficial to your car and energy. BUT, they all discussed the wind turbine being on the top of the car. I was thinking...
  5. F

    Transformations of Energy in Wind Power

    Homework Statement Choose one form of electrical generation and in point form outline the process through which electricity is generated and the energy transformations that occur. Homework Equations NA The Attempt at a Solution Hi, I am done my work and I used two reliable sources. This...
  6. unseeingdog

    Multiple rotors on a wind turbine

    Could multiple, smaller rotors on a wind turbine (on the same shaft) be more effective than a single, larger rotor? Why do most wind turbines have only one big rotor? I was thinking about doing a science fair project on this topic, but I have been unable to find a conclusive answer to this...
  7. SherLOCKed

    How can I interface a DFIG in a multi machine environment?

    Which will be my reference frame while modelling and control - the reference machine in the network or the network bus itself?And if so how do i relate the dfig to this reference frame?
  8. T

    Optimization of windmill power with use of gears

    < Mentor Note -- thread moved to HH from the technical Engineering forums, so no HH Template is shown > Okay so I'm a freshman BE student and one of our first projects is designing a windmill that can produce a voltage of 5 for 2 seconds or longer. We are having trouble find the optimal gear...
  9. zoobyshoe

    New Bladeless Design for Wind Energy

    Sounds pretty good: http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/16/8615089/vortex-bladeless-wind-turbines-shake-to-generate-electricity I like this particular idea a lot. With no blades, these take up much less space, and the claims about them being 50% less expensive to make, and lower maintenance, seems...
  10. Paradox101

    Harnessing Energy Of Jet Streams---Is It Really Possible?

    Here is something I read on a Wiki article: "Scientists are investigating ways to harness the wind energy within the jet stream. According to one estimate, of the potential wind energy in the jet stream, only 1 percent would be needed to meet the world's current energy needs. The required...
  11. M

    Energy project for Universities implementation

    Hello all, this is my first time posting here so please excuse if this maybe isn't the appropriate thread to post this in but I figured it may be the most relevant. I am working on writing a proposal (small, just 450 words), that aims to address the energy efficiency of a university, ie...
  12. L

    Solar Updraft Tower turbine design

    I'm attempting to design a turbine for a small scale solar updraft tower. It produces between 1-3 m/s of air flow in a 0.3m diameter tower. I'm in need of resources that can guide me on designing the turbine fan. I've already got the Wind Energy Handbook, however I'm not even sure if following...
  13. Chacabucogod

    Photovoltaic and Wind energy Inverter Question

    I have just begun my power electronics class, but have already seen what an inverter is. My question is: is there a difference between the topologies that function with photovoltaic systems and wind energy ones? Thankyou
  14. S

    Conducting a feasibility study on wind energy

    I'm in the final year of my bs. in mechanical engineering.For my senior project , I would like to conduct a study on the feasibility of harnessing wind energy for electricity in my country (I don't think it has been done here before and we have a power problem and a pollution problem). My...
  15. G

    Books on Wind Energy (offshore)

    Hello, I am doing research on on wind turbines and especially on offshore wind turbines for my MSc dissertation. My first degree is on electrical engineering so I have a basic knowledge on the matter I believe. I am looking for some books that can provide an in depth analysis on the...
  16. S

    Bringing wind energy to the ground through a giant pitot tube

    Ok not a great title, but let me try to explain the idea. Imagine that you have say a parachute attached to the top of a flag pole. In the center of the parachute a hole is cut and connected to a plastic tube that goes to the ground. When the wind comes up the parachute exerts a drag on the...
  17. I

    Calculating Wind Energy and Pump Size

    Hi, I'm having a little bit of trouble. I need to work out the amount of energy the wind provides at an average speed of 2.67m/s when the blades of a turbine are 0.5m in length? Also how would I use this energy in order to calculate the size of a reciporacting pump needed to pump a head of water...
  18. F

    Wind energy at 1,600 to 40,000 feet, Feasible

    http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/06/16/high-altitude.wind.power/index.html Basically two designs, one a helium-filled turbine. The other would be a kite that goes up and down. Is this feasible? I see a major issue being the weight of cable that the device would need to support.
  19. rohanprabhu

    The Disadvantages of Wind Energy [humour]

    http://bash.org/?131553 lol :D
  20. M

    Exploring Fresh Ideas for Wind Energy Harvesting

    There is a lot of talk about big projects to gather energy from wind. I have two ideas I don't see used that I was wondering about. 1. Using large stretches of canvas to redirect wind from a large cross sectional area to a smaller outlet, like some kind of wind nozzle. It would also form...
  21. J

    Construct a car which is propelled solely by wind energy

    I must construct a car which is propelled solely by wind energy. The car should be able to drive straight into the wind. Have you got any ideas?
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