By Devin Hodge, Sustainability Program Manager, Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne has installed a 100-foot tall, 10 kW wind turbine. It’s used by Argonne scientists and engineers to study the interaction of wind energy, electric vehicle charging and grid technology and it’s also estimated to save more than 10 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually.
At 112 feet tall, Argonne’s wind turbine is considered small to medium height. To put this in perspective, the monster turbines we can see off the highway are about 300 feet tall.
Wind turbines capture the kinetic energy of the wind and their rotary motion turns a magnetic alternator, or gears in a gearbox, that convert the kinetic energy to direct current electric energy. Turbines produce power most efficiently when wind speeds are at optimum levels. That’s why wind farms are located in specific areas, so they can harness wind energy efficiently and cost-effectively.
When I’m teaching kids about optimum wind speeds and variability, and how it is necessary for efficient and cost-effective energy generation, I like to use an app on my smart tablet that kids can interact with directly. Kids are able to spin virtual wind turbine blades on the smart tablet with the touch of a finger, and as they do this, they can see what the mile-per-hour wind speed is, where the speed sits on the scale of optimum wind speed, and how much power is being generated in kilowatt hours. Too much or too little wind, and the turbine can’t produce power efficiently, but if the wind spins the turbine just right…
Parents may find apps like the one I use to be a useful tool when teaching their children about wind power at home. When conducting tours with older students, it’s easy to demonstrate the variability of wind energy while standing under our wind turbine on a windy day. Interesting discussions about wind energy, grid stability and the need for energy storage take place as a result of this sensory observation.
To learn more about Argonne’s Sustainable energy research and the laboratory’s on-site sustainability efforts, visit Argonne’s GreenLab Initiative website at blogs.anl.gov/greenlab.
When you get some facts from authoritative sources instead of fabricated "assumptions", drop on by and we'll debate the issue! T. Boone Pickens once tried to do that, but he quickly found out that inaccurate numbers like yours were just a sad fiction. HOW about providing the source of your misinformation, Hugger?
From todays Chicago Sun Times business section, which really should be front page news in terms of it's significence: New Evenston Walgreens Store To Become Nations First Net Zero Retailer: http://www.suntimes.com/business/18691034-420/evanston-walgreens-store-will-be-countrys-first-net-zero-retailer.html Store will meet it's own energy needs. Amazing and inspiring.
When you dislike news, you diss the news source. E News, like Drudge, only copies it's news from other news sources, including the news releases from TEPCO & the Japanese Government, and, yes, I read the story and it states, as you well know, that the molten fuel is UNDER the containment, not inside where it belongs. Sorry if the facts fail to prop up the nuclear cartels official spin but it is what it is nonetheless http://enenews.com/china-syndrome-japan-times-on-melt-through-molten-lava-melted-bottom-of-containment-vessel-says-nuclear-engineer-given-access-by-top-official-huge-amounts-of-fission-materials-released Some scarey and very dangerous stuff going on in Fuk wouldn't you agree ?
eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/er/electricity_generation.cfm supports my assumptions for a CCGT The EIA NCF for wind is low for the new wind turbine technology. My assumptions are based on the new GE 1.7MW 100m in Texas, Kansas, Nebraska and North Dakota. The entire energy industry is subsidized mostly through the tax code and in some cases loan guarantees. The tax code subsidies include but not limited to MLP structures (which explicitly exclude renewables), Production Tax Credits (which were initially used to encourage shale gas) and accelerated depreciation. I don’t believe it is possible to build a new nuclear plant without a loan guarantee (i.e. the $8.3 loan guarantee to South Company to build their NUC) T. Boone Pickens' plan had several fatal flaws; one of which was opening up ERCOT to federal regulation. And he took a big financial hit when gas pricing dropped. Finally, the utilities have a duty to their shareholders to protect and expand their rate based. Low cost energy running through a fuel filling does not expand the rate base. The regulatory body is responsible for protecting the rate payers in the franchise. Sometime this means "forcing" the utilities to buy cheaper power (i.e QFs w/a PURPA Put)
Molten specifically refers to liquids which are extremely hot, and whose usual form is as a solid. It is used as an adjective. By contrast, something may be melted (whether used as a transitive verb, or an adjective), but need not be hot, and it need not be liquid (something that has begun to lose solidity can be considered melted), nor does it even need to still be subject to the melting process (i.e. it may have fully resolidified). From these definition you can conclude that melting describes the process from the moment the object starts changing its shape (due to the fact that it is not solid anymore); melted is used for object that changed its shape due to melting, even though it might not be melted (in stricter sense) anymore and it completely re-solidified; and molten is typically used with glass, lava, rock, all of which all require to be very hot to be melted, so high temperature is usually implied (though strictly speaking it is not necessary)
Once in the store, they might see lights dimmer than usual, with daylight supplementing artificial light."
Either way this cannot be good. What are your thoughts on this news article? http://enenews.com/japan-times-melted-fuel-burned-holes-in-fukushima-reactors-then-explosions-cracked-containment-vessels
So, Susan so we can all stop beating one particular dead horse... ~~~~ " dead horse " ? Is that how you see this ONGOING nuclear meltdown in Japan ? It is exactly this cavalier attitude and approach toward safety which has brought about 2 major catastrophic enviormental disasters within the last few years: Fukuchima Diachi nuclear meltdown and The BP Gulf Of Mexico oil volcano. Cost cutting to improve profits and outright forgery of documents required to ensure safety in drilling are among the charges being brought against BP. Are you aware that there is a trial going on with BP the defendent ? Some very interesting testimony being given. You posted : <snipped> Susan inquires "Some scarey and very dangerous stuff going on...? " YES. But <end snip> "YES. But " was your response as you went on to haggle over details and meanings of words such as " melted v molten " Lets quibble over words and not where the melted/molten MISSING fuel may be. Bob seems to know where the missing fuel is. Lets ask him.
Dead Horses, brain dead people,two headed fish and radioactive salmon , retreating Glaciers and qtr size mosquitos in the Fla evergreens, sinkholes in Fla and La all related to vampire or non regulated Capitalism, these downwinders are not going to be affected or bothered by any of this here in Illinois. The hysteria on design flaws is misplaced especially the casks buried at Red Gate Woods Gate, nuclear reactors in Yakima and San Onofre, Savanaah river and Fukishima which was the result of building on a fault line nothing to do with testicle Bob's 1950 designs or something we would never do in Murka according to Testicle cancer Bob we are not Commies and would do what they did in Chernobyl maybe Red Army Capitalist BAINLAND but not in Murka
I have to say I'm definitely with Bob on one aspect here - Please work on comprehension in context. The 'dead horse' I'm alluding to was regarding your ERRONEOUS use of the word MOLTEN versus MELTED. God forbid you should just acknowledge your error and we can move on to the reactor issues. No, instead, you start your retort with a spin attempting to infer that I was describing the reactor meltdown itself as a dead horse. The only way I was displaying a "cavalier attitude and approach " was towards your consistently misspeaking yourself with "Molten" ..... sheesh...and you wonder why folks don't want to play nice with you. Catch ya later !
Now the sea food industry is regaining their lost revenue after the cebs lobsters and all the shell and most fish that survived are mutated thanks to BP and a special thanks to HELLIBURTON (where did we hear that before? ) It is doing what Vampire Capitalism in China does best mislabel the poisons for the grocery stores and restaurants, this is where the downwinders love their shushi, Tuna and Wash state Salmon, In Europe where the banksters can be more secretive they put horse and donkey MEAT in the hamburgers at Burger king, AND NOW WE KNOW THE REST OF THE DEAD HORSES STORY! All you proud blue blooded Capitalists must have a different source for yer fish and burgers unless of course u are real Cayman islanders.
iT IS a given the non functioning thyroid , immune systems disfunction and removal of now useless glands is now a part of human remediation so called for a large segment of the Japanese population in the immediate and future just anothe atrocity among the thousands going on in the race to oblivion in Japan and whereever downwinders live!
but LOOK, Patch was nice enough to get a new sandbox for you to play in ! ENJOY! http://geneva.patch.com/articles/earth-week-approaching-some-facts-about-energy-in-the-u-s
Some rather ominous news from the New York Times
Any comments Bob-Sagan or will you deflect from this by claiming the news source is " bias "