Wind power is the fastest growing source of electricity in the world.
The total installed capacity of all wind turbines in the world is 432 gigawatts, which corresponds to 3% of all generated energy.
Harnessing energy from wind and converting it into renewable energy sources has many benefits. And although wind power has a long history dating back to 5000 BC, the technology has never been more cost effective than it is right now.
Indeed, in recent months, many states have been using this method of generating electricity.
In Denmark, this is 42% of all electricity produced;
in Portugal - 27%;
in Nicaragua - 20%;
in Spain - 19%.
Wind is a source of clean energy that has virtually no polluting properties or side effects.
Energy from air movement: uneven heating of water and earth creates wind
Wind is simply the movement of air. This is caused by the uneven heating of the earth's surface by the sun, because the earth's surface consists of different types of land and water, it absorbs the heat of the sun at different rates. During the day, air above ground heats up faster than air above water. Warm air above the ground expands and rises, while heavy, cool air rushes and takes place, creating wind. Winds change at night because the air cools faster over land than over water. In this case, the earth near the Earth's equator heats up more from the sun than the Earth near the North and South Poles.
Wind turbine technology
Wind energy technologies use wind energy for practical purposes such as generating electricity, charging batteries, pumping water, and grinding grain. Mechanical or electrical power is generated by the kinetic energy of the wind. The amount of wind energy is proportional to the cube of its speed, which means that the power available to the wind generator increases the power factor to eight if the wind speed doubles.
Turbine blades are similar to those found on an airplane. The turbines turn when the blades create force from the passage of the wind. This rotating action turns the generator, which creates electricity.
Since wind speed usually increases with height above the ground (due to reduced friction with the ground), wind turbines are tower mounted to capture more wind energy. At a height of 30 meters or more above the ground, the wind is faster and more uniform.
Wind power technologies can be used as standalone applications connected to the electrical grid system. Stand-alone turbines are commonly used to pump water. However, farmers in windy areas also use small wind systems to generate electricity.
Wind turbine design
There are various styles and many different sizes of wind turbines to suit different needs. The most common style is where the turbine with two or three blades is located on the leeward side of the tower.
There are small wind turbines used, for example, to charge batteries on a 250 W yacht and up to 50 kW turbines for dairy farms and remote villages.
In percentage terms, wind power is currently the fastest growing source in the world. Strong commitments to reduce carbon dioxide have fueled the development of wind power in Europe, while avoiding constant fuel imports to developing countries like India.
Is wind energy economical
Wind power is one of the most affordable forms of electricity today. It . In many cases, it is cheaper than traditional fuels. The cost of this energy is a penny per kilowatt-hour, a price that is competitive with new gas-fired power plants. Wind power is also produced without emissions or waste and is used when water is not available, making it a prime choice for new power generation.
- Stonehedge
Wind is one of those resources that surrounds us always and everywhere. It is one of the most environmentally friendly alternative energy sources and has been in existence for thousands of years.
This energy source has many uses, some of which you are familiar with and others you are not very familiar with. So let's take a look at 5 ways to use wind power wisely:
1) Generating energy with turbines.
Wind turbines are installed to capture the force of the wind and convert it into energy. This can be on a large scale, such as wind turbines found on farms, or on a smaller scale, such as individual wind turbines that are used by people to generate energy for their homes. Commercial companies also want to benefit from the use of wind.
For example, Sam's Club was the first retailer to be reported using a “significant” number of its own micro-wind turbines.
Video commentary:
Interview with Vice President of Energy Walmart & Sam's Club, Kim Sailors-Luster
2) Cars powered by wind power.
You've probably heard about this recently. The machine, powered by a wind turbine (using kites, i.e. inflatable steerable kite) traveled 3,100 miles across Australia.
Although not 100% wind powered, it served as a good example of how machines can be powered using alternative energy sources.
She used a combination of wind, kite and batteries. All in all, the car was supposed to use $ 10-15 of energy for the entire 3100 mile journey. Note, this is not even bad at all!
Video commentary:
On the road - "Wind Explorer"
3) Wind / kite powered cargo ships.
Another amazing example of wind power can be found at Cargill. Cargill has introduced and expanded the innovative idea of installing a large kite on one of its cargo ships in order to harness wind power and thus reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
Naturally, the wind has been used for hundreds and thousands of years to navigate with this "energy" and for smaller ships, but today it is also used as an auxiliary power source for cargo ships.
You can watch a short video of this innovative design that reduces emissions (see the video link in the source).
4) Sports that use wind energy.
For many, many years, the wind has been used to drive our love of sports, both literally and metaphorically. Everything from simple kite flying to sailing, kite surfing, hang gliding, parasailing, wind skiing and more.
Video commentary:
Wind Sports Video
5) Water pumps using wind energy.
Using wind to help pump water out of the ground is nothing new. But nevertheless, it is a very useful and sometimes very necessary tool when it comes to certain communities and states. Using wind power makes sense, especially when it comes to pumping work.
One of the first stable sources of energy mastered by man was wind.
Thanks to the wind, great geographical discoveries took place, mankind was able to travel, irrigate fields, grind grain, and, finally, it learned how to convert wind into pure energy in the form of electricity.
If Noah's ark existed, it probably sailed.
Energy "from the mouth of the Aeolus" (Fig. 4.1) was first used on sailing ships, which served as the main vehicle for transporting goods along the Nile in ancient Egypt.
The ancient Greeks attributed the invention of the sail to the same distant times when fire was mastered and wild animals were tamed. In a long line of blessings with which Prometheus made the human race happy, Aeschylus also mentions the sail:
"He supplied ships with linen wings, and boldly drove them across the seas."
From old documents it is known for certain that already four thousand years ago the brave Phoenicians, who lived on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, used sailing intensively. He was primitive and imperfect, but with his help the Phoenicians swam to the mouth of the Nile, where they organized a brisk trade with the Egyptians, and two and a half thousand years ago they even made the first voyage around Africa described in history. The oceans opened up to the people who had mastered the energy of the wind. The beginning of the development of new lands and new markets is connected with the sail. Wind energy contributed to the development of civilization.
The power of the wind was appreciated and knew how to use it since ancient times in many countries. And although on land wind energy has never been used as widely as at sea, nevertheless it is reliably known about the existence of wind wheels thousands of years before our era. For example, in the region of Alexandria, the remains of windmills, which are at least three thousand years old, have been preserved. The Babylonians used them to drain swamps, in Egypt, the Middle East, and in Persia they built windmills and mills.
For 200 years BC in Persia, simple windmills with a vertical axis of rotation were used to grind grain, and even earlier they were used in China.
Mills of this type revolved around a vertical axis like a spinning top or a toy gyroscope. Ancient Persian windmills were made by attaching bundles of reeds to a wooden frame that rotated when the wind blew. The wall surrounding the mill directed the wind towards the frame (Figure 4.2).
Recorded a mention of a windmill in Iran in 644, when in the indictment against a certain Abu Lulua, who killed Caliph Umar ibn al-Qattab, he was called “the builder of windmills”. A little more than 200 years later, windmills appear in the town of Sietek on the border between Iran and Afghanistan.
The use of mills with a vertical axis of rotation later became widespread in the Middle East. Later, a horizontal-axis mill was developed, consisting of ten wooden posts equipped with transverse sails. This primitive type of windmill is still used today in many countries of the Mediterranean basin.
In the 11th century, windmills were widely used in the Middle East and with the return of the Crusaders they ended up in Europe. The first mention of a windmill in Europe, first in France, dates back to 1105: a permit issued to a certain monastery for the construction of a mill has been preserved in the archives. The French chronicles of 1180 and the English ones of 1190 already speak directly of working windmills, but not at all about those with which the cunning hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha subsequently fought! These were clumsy structures with horizontally rotating blades mounted on a wooden hull. According to the principle of operation, the English and French mills were of the same type. In Germany, the first mill was built in 1393. From Germany, they spread to other countries.
The windmill, through the work of many generations, has been improved and acquired a more familiar look. It turned out to be much simpler than water, much cheaper. Its main disadvantage was the inconstancy of the energy carrier - wind.
The wind is a capricious helper, as it quickly and constantly changes its direction. This problem has prevented the use of wind power for a long time. Finally, in the 13th century, a solution was found - the wind
ny wheel, which with the help of a primitive lever turned and thus the wings were always exposed to the wind. In the 1270 manuscript, called the "Water Mill Psalter", there is an image of one of the first windmills.
The representative of the improved design of this direction is the windmill of the Bock type (Fig. 4.3). On a wooden lower frame, the so-called "Bock", there was a mill body rotating on a vertical trunnion. With the help of an outwardly inclined beam, the mill body was turned and the wings were set in the direction of the wind. These mills have been grinding grain for hundreds of years. They were reliable, simple and durable. If necessary, millers could manually repair them on their own. From an economic point of view, the use of a Bock-type windmill was so profitable that the authorities could not stand aside and began to put forward their demands. In the middle of the century, the miller had to pay his feudal lord a tenth of the proceeds that the mill gave. The Bishop of Utrecht even publicly announced that all the winds and breezes of the province are his personal property. True, it has not come down to this day whether the wind also blew when its owner ordered him. But Bock mills were used everywhere.
a
b
Rice. 4.3. General view (a) and section (b) of a windmill of the "Bock" type
In the XIV century, the Dutch became leading in the improvement of the design of windmills, since in Holland (Netherlands) these mills served as the basis of the energy base. We can say that the country owes its very existence to them: after all, most of the territory of the Netherlands ("low-lying country" in literal translation) lies below sea level. It was the wind turbines that made it possible to carry out grandiose work on draining swamps and pumping out water. The force of the wind was opposed to the force of another element - the sea, which constantly threatened to flood the land of a small country.
The Dutch made many improvements to the design of windmills. Mills, as a rule, had four wooden lattice wings with coarse canvas stretched over them. By folding or unfolding these "sails", people accordingly reduced or increased the area of the wings and thus converted the changing wind force into a relatively uniform wind turbine. Some mills had up to eight wings (Fig. 4.4, 4.5).
The wings of some windmills, made entirely of wood, were in the form of louvers. Instead of canvas, they used movable plates to regulate the wind pressure. In the 16th century, primitive transverse sails on wooden shelves gave way to sails fixed on wooden bars on both sides of the swing (Fig. 4.6).
Later, to improve the aerodynamic shape of the wings, bars were attached to the trailing edge. In more modern designs, sails were replaced with thin sheet metal, steel flaps and various types of louvers and shields were used to regulate the speed of the propeller at high wind speeds.
Wind wheels worked on the same principle as water wheels, and therefore had very large dimensions: a wingspan of up to 28 m, a wing width of 2 m, and the height of the entire tower structure of the mill reached 30 m.Large windmills could develop power at high wind speeds up to 66 kW.
Windmills, like watermills, were not for long simply devices for grinding grain. In 1582, the first oil mill using wind energy was built in Holland, in 1586 the first paper mill to meet the increased paper requirements caused by the invention of the printing machine, and in 1592 sawmills for the production of timber using wind energy appeared. The mills also ground snuff and spices, and weaved linen.
The economic prosperity of Holland, where Peter I (1672–1725) went to study wisdom, in the 16th century was caused precisely by the development of wind energy in this country. The Dutch have successfully moved from the initial use of wind turbines to drain low coastal lands to their adaptation as a drive for various industries. As a result, Holland became the most energy-equipped country in Europe at that time.
The most successful design of the windmill was proposed by the Dutchman Jan Andriaanesoon in the 17th century (later it was called "Dutch" all over the world). With the help of this mill, he drained 27 lakes, earning his compatriots the honorable nickname "Leegvater" - "water devastator".
The maximum spread of windmills in pre-industrial Europe was observed in the 1700s, when wooden giants regularly rotated their wings on the plains of Germany, Italy, Russia, Ukraine, Spain and, of course, Holland - the classical country of windmills. In the 30s of the 18th century, 1200 wind turbines operated in Holland, which protected 2/3 of the country from turning back into swamps. And by the end of the 19th century in Holland there were more than 10,000 of them (in 1923 - only 2,500, and in our time - barely a thousand), and in small Denmark - 30,000 for domestic purposes and 3,000 wind turbines that were used in industry.
Our natural wizard, without arms, without legs, opens the gate, is strong, powerful, drives flocks of clouds. And these are just "flowers"! which is constantly moving parallel to the earth's surface, everything and even more can be done. It is very important that he represents energy. How does a person use the wind? Everyone has probably already guessed that it is about him.
Brings first coolness, then warmth
Man has appreciated the power of the wind since time immemorial. Even before the onset of our era, the natural assistant “drove” boats along the rivers and seas, pumped water to irrigate fields, and grind grain. As a result, geographical discoveries were made, lands were earing, and bins were filled with flour.
Once a reasonable man figured out how to turn the wind into electrical energy, radically changing the conditions of his existence. Below we will talk in detail about how a person uses the wind, but first, let's pay tribute to the "Flying Dutchman" himself.
Were it not for the movement of air, hot countries would turn into a hellish frying pan, cold ones - frozen completely and irrevocably. But our glorious assistant "dilutes" the extremes, bringing coolness and warmth to where they dream about them, like the Wind, like disobedient lambs, chasing eternal clouds across the sky. This is how precipitation is distributed over the globe - rain, snow.
Two-way communication
How does the wind arise? The earth is surrounded by an atmosphere - a powerful life-giving gas layer (air), which has weight and presses on the surface of the planet and on all objects on it. This pressure is distributed unevenly, depending on the degree of heating of the earth by the sun's rays.
The "battery" of the lithosphere is somewhat reminiscent of an apartment (almost everyone will understand: at the top it is hot, below it is cold, in the middle - "so-so"). In the global version, everything is much more complicated: the angle of inclination of heat fluxes from the luminary is important (whether they fall directly or touch the earth's surface in passing), as well as the nature of the underlying surface (land, sea, forest, field, plain, mountains).
Under the influence of the two-way relationship "pressure-heating", the air acquires the familiar features of impermanence: warm moves up, cold - down. At the same time, the "flying imp" shies to the right and to the left (the greater the difference, the stronger the wind). Let's discuss how a person uses the wind, the movement of air.
Leap in the development of civilization
Scientifically speaking, the processes of vertical and horizontal movement of air masses are continuously going on on Earth. Monsoons, trade winds, breezes (types of winds) are fraught with many possibilities. The man understood: it is a sin not to use them. And he began to curb the rebellious gift of nature - he invented the sail.
Here is an example of how a person uses the wind, or rather used it. The ancient Egyptians were active in trade with neighboring states. The Nile was prowled loaded with goods and trophies, which included slaves. One can imagine the melancholy glances of the slaves, directed to the sky. The huge dense pieces of light-colored cloth on the mast, filled with the wind, looked black to them.
The inhabitants of the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, the Phoenicians, used the sail. “With a breeze,” reaching the place where the Nile flows into the intercontinental water pearl, they discovered the “Egyptian market” for goods, found what to buy from partners. Later, the mighty "racer of clouds" helped the representatives of Phenicia to go around Africa. Thus, the horizons of the development of civilization gradually expanded.
Everything will change
Seas and oceans are the main habitats of the wind: "revelers" have where to accelerate, where to turn. On land it is cramped. But this does not frighten a reasonable person: for millennia before the onset of a new era, wind wheels existed (the main detail of the mill). On the globe, there are aerodynamic mechanisms for grinding grain 3000 years old (Alexandria).
The rich flour-grinding history of mankind tells about how people use the power of the wind. For two hundred years BC. NS. in Persia they worked with a vertical axis of rotation (in China they appeared even earlier). We are used to images of a windmill with wings in the form of a huge axial fan. The movement of the vertical blades resembled the whirling of a whirligig.
They were made from reeds, which were fixed on a frame. The mill was surrounded by a wall: the atmospheric "tramp" hit it and "bounced" in the right direction. With the help of wind wheels, the Babylonians drained the swamps (pumped out water). History stores information about the existence of oil mills, sawmills, papermills, working with the help of the wind. When studying the facts of how man uses the wind (air movement), the mill is far from being "alone."
In a big balloon
We have already mentioned that heated air rushes upward. Realizing this, people decided to use this property for their own purposes: from a dense fabric they sewed a huge balloon with a hole at the bottom through which they filled it with hot air.
The experimenters, the Montgolfier brothers, did this in 1783. They put domestic animals in a basket tied to a ball. The first "Sharonauts" - a duck, a golden comb and a lamb, soared for some time in the blue sky, after which they landed safely. Soon, the balloon began to lift a man into the air. Talking about how a person uses the wind (air movement), it is impossible to ignore the balloon.
To help observers
Served people in many fields of activity. Thanks to them, they were able to inspect the surrounding territories from a bird's eye view (this is especially important for military purposes), and draw up plans for the area. The first air travelers appeared.
In August 1887, Russian chemist Dmitry Mendeleev, who was studying the properties of gases and liquids, as well as the upper layers of the atmosphere, in a balloon filled with hydrogen, rose up to observe a solar eclipse. It was 18 miles from Klin. The balloon flight aroused great interest among contemporaries.
The 53-year-old luminary of science flew alone. The balloon could not rise to the required height, but soared almost 4 kilometers (3.8). Clouds obscured the sun, but Mendeleev managed to partially study the solar corona.
Can the wind be controlled?
The balloon does not obey human control, but it is completely obedient to the wind. Scientists could not agree with this state of affairs. They invented control levers (the rudder and So balloons appeared. Only the air gives up its positions reluctantly. So the atmospheric "rascal" landed Mendeleev after 100 kilometers where Dmitry Ivanovich "sat down" and did not guess: in the estate of the writer Saltykov-Shchedrin, between Kalyazin and Pereslavl-Zalessky.
During the study of the question of how a person uses the wind (air movement), the fan is mentioned in the following context: will the boat move if the sail is filled with a powerful artificial air flow? Some suggest that if the fan is installed at the bottom (that is, it fills the sail from below), the impulse of the air flow is directed at an angle to the horizon and, reflected from the sail, is also horizontal, it will float. Others say: an unambiguous answer to the question requires an experiment under ideal conditions.
Natural "brother" does not need ideal conditions. He lives for himself in the open, serves people, from time to time showing his rebellious disposition. Polemising on the topic "How does a person use the wind?"
The sun heats the earth's surface unevenly, as a result, winds of varying strength are formed. For a long time, wind energy and its use have been of great importance in people's lives. The wind filled the sails of ships, twisted the blades of windmills, however, no one seriously thought about the reasons for this phenomenon. At present, the nature of wind formation has been studied well enough that it can be used with maximum efficiency.
Where does the wind come from
The earth's surface is characterized by a heterogeneous landscape located at the same latitude. Land alternates with oceans, mountains replace forests. All this causes uneven heating of the Earth's surface. Air masses can also be deflected due to the rotation of our planet. All these factors cause the appearance of various winds. There are winds that have a constant direction, depending on the climatic zone and the time of year. The most famous are monsoons and trade winds, as well as local winds and breezes in the form of offshore coastal winds arising from temperature changes during the day and night.
Layers of warm air rise up, and cold air enters in its place. This circulation is considered to be the main cause of wind formation. One and the same area can be divided into several zones with different wind regimes. In order to expediently and effectively use wind energy, the average annual wind speed in a specific area is determined.
Use of wind energy
Moving air masses generate kinetic energy, which directly affects the blades of wind turbines and sets them in motion. Rotating wings, in turn, transfer energy to mechanisms designed to perform a particular job.
Thus, wind energy and its use can be observed in a wide variety of areas. With its help, electrical energy is produced, water is extracted, many other works are performed that are useful to humans.
Modern wind turbines take into account the speed and direction of the wind. This makes it possible to work steadily and continuously at any time. Unlike hydroelectric dams, they do not violate the natural balance, preserving the ecology in its original form. There is no need for fuel costs, since wind is a renewable energy source supplied by nature itself. This is one of the most promising areas in the energy sector, constantly developing and improving.
Wind turbine from a cooler
Loading...
