Time to Redesign Our Wind Energy Future

By Lance Winslow

image: depositphotos

From an engineering stand point, I'd say all these very large modern wind turbine designs are rather cumbersome and less-than-optimal. No, I am not taking anything away from the brilliant engineering designers using high-tech materials to make all this work, truly it's an amazing feat. We now have carbon-composite blades with special aerodynamic tricks, one design even uses the organic evolutionary design from the leading edge on the fin of a hump back well, and to that I say; Bravo, and Well Done!

Still I'd like to talk about this for a moment, because I was having a recent discussion with a graduate engineering student from the University of Maryland Baltimore County who has spent considerable time researching wind turbines. It seems that we really need to take all this to the next level, the next step, and do a complete re-design on the current modern day wind turbines. Today, they are top heavy, dangerous in high-winds, and the ROI is not anywhere near what's been purported, thus, it isn't the answer for inexpensive energy generation.

Many months ago, we were having a similar discussion on all this at our Think Tank considering all the challenges which have inadvertently been created with these wind turbine designs currently in use. Okay so, let's talk about this for a moment shall we?

Wind Power - Is It Safe for Humans?

By Lance Winslow

image: depositphotos

Over the years, I've been completely amazed at the environmental crowd which is usually out in full force when it comes to any type of man-made energy generation which is killing wildlife, and yet, merely passes on the challenges with wind power generation. Today, we realize that wind turbines are killing birds, and bats, and creating ultrasound which is bad for biological health of living organisms, yes, that would include humans.

Still, somehow this is considered to be okay by the environmentalists, because wind power has been put on the pedestal of the eco-friendly energy schemes. The reality is it takes quite a bit of CO2 to make the concrete which is used for the base of these large wind turbines, and it takes over 15 years to offset that amount of CO2 which is created in discharged in the atmosphere for that amount of concrete.

Perhaps you are unaware of the tremendous problems which are caused by ultrasound and frequency pollution near these large wind farms. Living out in the Coachella Valley, not more than 20 miles from Palm Springs California where there are thousands of wind turbines, we can attest to the challenges to health from these wind turbines.

Wave Energy Generation Finally Getting Some Much Needed Praise

By Lance Winslow

image: depositphotos

As the coordinator for a think tank, I've always fancied the idea of ocean wave energy, much more than wind and solar. Wind for instance is 750 times less dense than air, and solar is already 50% inefficient before you start your high-end MIT mathematics calculations to determine its capture - the Sun does not shine at night - that's 50% of the time remember.

There was an interesting announcement on the Department of Energy DOE website on January 28, 2012 titled; "DOE Reports Show Major Potential for Wave and Tidal Energy Production Near U.S. Coasts, and in the press release it stated:
"The DOE released 2 US resource assessments showing that waves and tidal currents off the nation's coasts could contribute significantly to the total annual electricity production, further diversify the nation's energy portfolio, and provide clean, renewable energy to coastal cities and communities. These new wave and tidal resource assessments, combined with ongoing analyses of the technologies and other resource assessments, show that water power, including conventional hydropower and wave, tidal, and other water power resources, can potentially provide 15% of our nation's electricity by 2030."

Okay so, if you are like me you are saying "no kidding" and wondering what on Earth took so long? Well, I'll tell you what;
Bureaucracy
Politics
Lobbyists
Slow Motion Archaic Thinking