Weaker Hurricanes Research Paper
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
Abstract
Currently, fossil fuels plague our planet, destroying the environment and increasing the rate of global warming. This increases the frequency in which hurricanes are created, contributing to the end of numerous lives and billions of dollars in damages. The systems devised to protect cities from these natural disasters are often flawed, costing a large sum of money or requiring an excessive amount of land. However, according to a recent simulation conducted by Stanford University, if
Hurricane Katrina had encountered an array of offshore wind turbines, their peak wind speeds would be reduced by 92 mph and storm surge would be decreased by 79 percent (
Carey 2014
). The
primary …show more content…
drawback of the idea is that current turbines can only withstand up to Category 3 hurricanes. However, with stronger materials, an additional set of hidden blades, and an improved base, wind turbines can develop into a economical, protective system.
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Present Technology
Currently, wind power is one of the most popular renewable resources in the world, with more than 46,100 wind turbines supplying 15.5 million homes with energy in the US alone (American
Wind Energy Association). Despite its success in comparison to other renewable resources, the revolutionary technology seems insignificant in the shadow of its nonrenewable competitors. The failure of wind energy in comparison to nonrenewable resources like coal and natural gas is primarily due to the difference in cost. However, as the cost of wind turbines decreases due to a greater capacity (from 1.2 to 2.3 megawatts, with 7-megawatt turbines available soon), wind energy shows potential to match its competitors. Opponents of wind power cite additional reasons for the failure of wind power in comparison to nonrenewable resources. Often, building wind turbines on tempestuous areas is not the most profitable use of the land. In addition, the turbines cause excessive noise and make a negative visual impact on the surrounding environment, leading to complaints from nearby residents. Current wind energy involves the sacrifice of nearby residents for the 66,000 megawatts of energy capacity currently available in turbines across the U.S.
The mechanics of wind energy are fairly simple compared to its renewable counterparts. The blades on wind turbines are uneven, resulting in different amounts of air pressure on either side of blade and causing the propeller to spin. The propeller blades, placed on a tower about 100 feet in the air for maximum efficiency, are connected to a rotor. This rotor is attached to the main shaft, which runs through the wind turbine and is connected to the generator. It spins the generator, which takes the mechanical energy and transfers it into electricity. Below, a picture provides a visual aid to assist in the understanding of the mechanics of the wind turbine.
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
History
Although wind turbines may seem like a relatively modern technology, they have been utilized since 5000 BCE when they first propelled boats along the Nile River. Four thousand years later, the Persians harnessed the wind’s energy to “pump water and grind grain” (U.S. Department of
Energy). It was not until 1,000 BCE that wind mills spread to countries in Europe. Despite wind power’s long history, most of the substantial advancements in wind turbines have happened over the past two centuries (History of Wind Energy). During the 1850s, the U.S. Wind Engine Company came into being, and windmills were installed in the American West to obtain additional energy. Around the start of the 20th century, the technology became increasingly economical with the adoption of steel blades. Although windmills were not very popular during the mid-1900s, scientists started to invest more time in the development of wind energy because of the increase in oil prices. By the end of the
20th century, “more than 2,200 MW of wind energy capacity [was] installed around California, creating more than half of the world’s capacity for wind power.” (U.S. Department of Energy). Later, the price of wind energy fell to 3 to 4 cents per kWh while wind energy contributed to 5% of the renewable energy used in the United States.
By 2030, the U.S. Department of Energy hopes to raise
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
this to 20%. Overall, although wind turbines have been around for 7000 years, most of the technology’s progress developed in the past 200 years.
In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina proved to New Orleans that the current system of protection from hurricanes, comprised of levees and floodwalls, is inadequate. The earthen levees required an increased width to supplement height, therefore occupying space and impacting adjacent structures. As an alternative, I-walls and T-walls were built. Though the T-walls, shaped like an inverted T, were more robust than I-walls, shaped like the letter I, they were significantly more expensive. Despite the expense of the aforementioned floodwalls and their supposed ability to protect cities against hurricanes., Hurricane Katrina cost New Orleans $200 billion in damage (The effects of Hurricane Katrina on the New Orleans economy). The Category 5 hurricane coupled with a makeshift protection system resulted in one of the most economically costly hurricanes ever to strike the United States.
Future
Technology
To increase efficiency and prepare wind turbines for the 175 mph winds of Category 5 hurricanes, there are three primary developments that should be made on current wind turbines.
First, the design of the base was altered to adapt to deep water. The base, made of steel (an economically feasible material), provides stability and balance by maintaining the weight at the bottom of the structure. The tripod design allows a turbine to lie flat on any surface, despite any possible roughness, due to the mathematical principle that any three points must form a plane. Also,
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
to accommodate for the non-horizontal plane upon which the wind turbine must be built, the legs must have an extension allowing the length of certain sides of the base to increase.
Another improvement made to the wind turbine includes the addition of a second set of three blades (made of economical, lightweight aluminum) behind the primary set, with each evenly spaced blade set between the two blades in front of it. This allows the blades to gain speed, and therefore rotations per minute, at times when there are lower wind speeds. However, as the wind speed increases, a greater number of blades could act as a detriment to the wind turbine. Therefore, as the wind speed increases, the aluminum set of blades in the back will slip behind the front blades, allowing the wind to ignore the back set. The wind vanes attached to current wind turbines ensure that the turbines will always face in the direction that the wind is blowing, allowing the blades to catch the majority of the incoming wind.
The final addition to current wind turbines in consideration of the strength of hurricanes is a high-entropy metal in substitution of the substance currently used to manufacture the blades in a wind turbine. This metal offers a higher weight-to-strength ratio, comparable to ceramics, yet less brittle. The primary drawback with this substance is the expense of the material. Twenty percent of the alloy is scandium, an extremely rare, and therefore expensive, metal. However, as scientists progress in the development of this alloy, offshore wind turbines come closer to realizing their potential as a revolutionary protective system against hurricanes.
Breakthroughs
There are various breakthroughs that must be researched and made through experimentation in order for the aforementioned features of a stronger wind turbine to become a
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
reality. The optimal wind speed at which the six-bladed wind turbine folds into a three-bladed turbine, the most favorable angle of the blades during a hurricane, and a reasonable substitute for the expensive scandium in the high-entropy alloy used in the blades of the envisioned wind turbine are all examples of calculations and discoveries that must be made through calculation and experimentation. Discovering the best wind speed at which to fold in the extra three blades, for example, is a discovery that requires the use of models and an experiment. Scientists must perform a similar investigation to the one done at Stanford University in which Professor Mark Z. Jacobson used computerized models of wind turbines to observe whether wind turbines would make a significant impact on hurricanes. Instead, for this experiment, analysts would model 5-6 identical wind turbines with the exact same wind speed. However, each wind turbine would fold in the extra three blades at different wind speeds. In the end, scientists would analyze which turbine not only withstood the hurricane, but weakened the wind speeds as well, and then they could produce a model wind turbine from these findings. The other two breakthroughs could be researched by a similar means. In one experiment, scientists could change the angle of the blade and see which structure withstands a hurricane most optimally, while, in the other, they could vary scandium alloys and other metals in the blades. After these three breakthroughs are tested, scientists would be able to create wind turbines that are efficient, economically cost-effective, and durable.
Design Process
To utilize wind turbines in weakening a hurricane, the windmills would need to become significantly stronger. Thus, several different proposals were reviewed when choosing the optimal way to reinforce the structure of the turbines. The first idea was to increase blade length. It was
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
hypothesized that lengthy blades would cause the hurricanes to dissipate more easily, thus putting less strain on the turbine. However, it is also important to take into consideration the greater cost required to manufacture longer blades, due to the utilitarian approach required in the production of wind turbines. Also, the longer blades would result in a greater surface area, and therefore a more fragile wind turbine. The next conclusion was that fewer blades would make the wind turbines stronger. After thorough research, this proposal was proved to be a fallacy. Decreasing the number of blades from three to two reduces the efficiency by 3 percent (Hau 21). Finally, while surveying the wind speeds of offshore areas in which large amounts of wind turbines can be built, the northeastern coast, bordering Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine appeared to be the best choice, since the average wind speed measure at about 36 km/h (22.5 mph) (U.S
Department of Energy).
Though the wind speed in the aforementioned areas is above average, this specific region on the coast is not severely affected by hurricanes, especially compared to its southeastern counterpart.
Although the region’s wind speed averages 32.4 km/h (20.25 mph) (U.S. Department of Energy), it
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
is more important that the improved wind turbines be constructed here, due to the region’s vulnerability to hurricanes.
Consequences
The implementation of wind turbines will affect not only the hurricane-prone areas, but they will also impact other locations significantly. As previously mentioned, a large array of wind turbines would weaken a hurricane’s wind speed by up to 92 mph and decrease storm surge by up to 79 percent (Carey 2014). If the wind turbines were implemented during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, they would have saved New Orleans $75 billion and prevented approximately 1200 deaths (National
Hurricane Center). In addition to saving lives and money, the turbines will decrease fossil fuel emissions. Fossil fuels are nonrenewable resources made from the organic material of dead organisms that are millions of years old. Coal and petroleum are by far the most widely used energy resources in the United States (U.S. Energy Information Administration). The combustion of these fossil fuels releases a large amount of carbon dioxide (CO
) into the air, thus having extremely
2
pernicious effects on the ozone layer (United States Environmental Protection Agency). Therefore, people around the world have to endure the harmful consequences of the holes in this layer, such as ultraviolet rays and climate change. The use of wind turbines to combat hurricanes would encourage people to convert from fossil fuels to wind power. This, after a period of time, could potentially end the prospect of climate change, thus saving the lives of people and animals around the world.
Conversely, these turbines could also have a harmful effect on the environment around them.
Critics of wind power convey three main arguments against the energy source: the turbines result in avian fatality, occupy too much land, and cause sound disturbance. According to a study
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
conducted by Benjamin Sovacool of the Center on Asia and Globalization, wind farms cause 0.3 to
0.4 avian fatalities per gigawatt-hour of electricity generated (Fischetti). To combat this assertion,
Jacobsen claims that fossil fuel plants cause 5.2 fatalities per gigawatt-hour because of “mining, habitat destruction, acid rain, mercury poisoning and climate change” (Fischetti). Also, since wind turbines would be constructed offshore, they would not obstruct with land and sound, yet they could jeopardize the habitats of fish and other aquatic organisms. Finally, a vast array of wind turbines would be expensive, but the wind turbines would detract from the large cost of hurricane destruction and prevention, as well as the deaths of thousands of people. Thus, an array of wind turbines has various positive and negative impacts, and it is clear that most of the world will be affected by it.
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Web Pages
Project ID # 970G
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Graphics
Windmill
Courtesy: http://energy.gov/eere/wind/history-wind-energy How Wind Turbines Work
Courtesy:http://energy.gov/eere/wind/how-do-wind-turbines-work
Production of Wind Power
Project ID # 970G
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Courtesy: http://energy.gov/eere/wind/how-do-wind-turbines-work
Number of U.S. states with operating utility-scale wind energy projects
Project ID # 970G
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Courtesy: http://www.awea.org/Resources/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=5059 Offshore Wind Projects
Courtesy:http://energy.gov/maps/accelerating-offshore-wind-development
Implementation of the Wind Turbines
Courtesy:Worldwatch Institute
Professor Mark Z. Jacobson Discussing his Experiment
Project ID # 970G
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
Courtesy: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/february/hurricane-winds-turbine-022614.html Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
Works Cited
Andersen, Christine F. "Chapter 4: Hurricane Protection System."
The New Orleans Hurricane
Protection System: What Went Wrong and Why
. Reston, VA: ASCE, 2007. 17-24. Print.
"Carbon Dioxide Emissions."
EPA
. Environmental Protection Agency, 2 July 2014. Web. 27 Jan.
2015. <http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases/co2.html>.
Carey, Bjorn.
Offshore Wind Farms Could Tame Hurricanes before They Reach Land,
Stanford-led Study Says
. Issue brief. Stanford News, 26 Feb. 2014. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
<http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/february/hurricane-winds-turbine-022614.html>.
"CONSUMPTION & EFFICIENCY." Consumption & Efficiency. U.S. Energy Information
Administration, 25 Nov. 2014. Web. 28 Jan. 2015. <http://www.eia.gov/consumption/>.
Dolfman, Michael L., Solidelle F. Wasser, and Bruce Bergman. The Effects of Hurricane Katrina on the New Orleans Economy. Rep. N.p.: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistcs, 2007. Print.
Global RSS
. Scientific American, 26 Feb. 2014. Web. 24 Nov.
2014.<http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/offshore-wind-farms-could-knock-downhurricanes1/>.
Hau, Erich. "Scientific and Technical Development of Windmills." Wind Turbines: Fundamentals,
Technologies, Application, Economics. Berlin: Springer, 2006. 21. Print.
"History of Wind Energy."
Energy.gov
. Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, n.d.
Web. 15 Nov. 2014. <http://energy.gov/eere/wind/history-wind-energy>.
Home. Ready, 27 May 2014. Web. 24 Nov. 2014. <http://www.ready.gov/hurricanes>.
"How Do Wind Turbines Work?"
Energy.gov
. Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy,
n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2014. <http://energy.gov/eere/wind/how-do-wind-turbines-work>.
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
"Hurricanes in History." Hurricanes in History. National Weather Service, n.d. Web. 27 Jan.
2015. <http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/outreach/history/>.
Koch, Carl. NC State News New High Entropy Alloy Is As Light As Aluminum As Strong as Titanium
Alloys Comments. Rep. NC State University, 10 Dec. 2014. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.
<https://news.ncsu.edu/2014/12/koch-high-entropy-alloy-2014/>.
Maki, Kyla. "Cost of Wind vs. Fossil Fuels." Cost of Wind vs. Fossil Fuels. Montana
Environmental Information Center, n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2015. <http://meic.org/issues/monta na-clean-energy/cost-of-wind-vs-fossil-fuels/>. Messmore, Teresa. "Taming Hurricanes." UDaily. University of Delaware, 26 Feb. 2014. Web.
24 Nov. 2014. <http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2014/feb/hurricanes-wind-turbines-022614.h tml>. "Offshore Wind Projects." Offshore Wind Projects. Energy.gov, 2011. Web. 28 Jan. 2015.
<http://energy.gov/maps/accelerating-offshore-wind-development>.
Wilburn, David R.
Wind Energy in the United States and Materials Required for the Land-Based
Wind Turbine Industry
(2011): 7-11. U.S. Geological Survey. Web. 22 Nov. 2014."Hurricanes."
"Wind Energy Facts at a Glance." Wind Energy Facts at a Glance. American Wind Energy
Association, n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2015.
<http://www.awea.org/Resources/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=505 9>.
Project ID # 970G
Abstract
Currently, fossil fuels plague our planet, destroying the environment and increasing the rate of global warming. This increases the frequency in which hurricanes are created, contributing to the end of numerous lives and billions of dollars in damages. The systems devised to protect cities from these natural disasters are often flawed, costing a large sum of money or requiring an excessive amount of land. However, according to a recent simulation conducted by Stanford University, if
Hurricane Katrina had encountered an array of offshore wind turbines, their peak wind speeds would be reduced by 92 mph and storm surge would be decreased by 79 percent (
Carey 2014
). The
primary …show more content…
drawback of the idea is that current turbines can only withstand up to Category 3 hurricanes. However, with stronger materials, an additional set of hidden blades, and an improved base, wind turbines can develop into a economical, protective system.
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Present Technology
Currently, wind power is one of the most popular renewable resources in the world, with more than 46,100 wind turbines supplying 15.5 million homes with energy in the US alone (American
Wind Energy Association). Despite its success in comparison to other renewable resources, the revolutionary technology seems insignificant in the shadow of its nonrenewable competitors. The failure of wind energy in comparison to nonrenewable resources like coal and natural gas is primarily due to the difference in cost. However, as the cost of wind turbines decreases due to a greater capacity (from 1.2 to 2.3 megawatts, with 7-megawatt turbines available soon), wind energy shows potential to match its competitors. Opponents of wind power cite additional reasons for the failure of wind power in comparison to nonrenewable resources. Often, building wind turbines on tempestuous areas is not the most profitable use of the land. In addition, the turbines cause excessive noise and make a negative visual impact on the surrounding environment, leading to complaints from nearby residents. Current wind energy involves the sacrifice of nearby residents for the 66,000 megawatts of energy capacity currently available in turbines across the U.S.
The mechanics of wind energy are fairly simple compared to its renewable counterparts. The blades on wind turbines are uneven, resulting in different amounts of air pressure on either side of blade and causing the propeller to spin. The propeller blades, placed on a tower about 100 feet in the air for maximum efficiency, are connected to a rotor. This rotor is attached to the main shaft, which runs through the wind turbine and is connected to the generator. It spins the generator, which takes the mechanical energy and transfers it into electricity. Below, a picture provides a visual aid to assist in the understanding of the mechanics of the wind turbine.
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
History
Although wind turbines may seem like a relatively modern technology, they have been utilized since 5000 BCE when they first propelled boats along the Nile River. Four thousand years later, the Persians harnessed the wind’s energy to “pump water and grind grain” (U.S. Department of
Energy). It was not until 1,000 BCE that wind mills spread to countries in Europe. Despite wind power’s long history, most of the substantial advancements in wind turbines have happened over the past two centuries (History of Wind Energy). During the 1850s, the U.S. Wind Engine Company came into being, and windmills were installed in the American West to obtain additional energy. Around the start of the 20th century, the technology became increasingly economical with the adoption of steel blades. Although windmills were not very popular during the mid-1900s, scientists started to invest more time in the development of wind energy because of the increase in oil prices. By the end of the
20th century, “more than 2,200 MW of wind energy capacity [was] installed around California, creating more than half of the world’s capacity for wind power.” (U.S. Department of Energy). Later, the price of wind energy fell to 3 to 4 cents per kWh while wind energy contributed to 5% of the renewable energy used in the United States.
By 2030, the U.S. Department of Energy hopes to raise
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
this to 20%. Overall, although wind turbines have been around for 7000 years, most of the technology’s progress developed in the past 200 years.
In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina proved to New Orleans that the current system of protection from hurricanes, comprised of levees and floodwalls, is inadequate. The earthen levees required an increased width to supplement height, therefore occupying space and impacting adjacent structures. As an alternative, I-walls and T-walls were built. Though the T-walls, shaped like an inverted T, were more robust than I-walls, shaped like the letter I, they were significantly more expensive. Despite the expense of the aforementioned floodwalls and their supposed ability to protect cities against hurricanes., Hurricane Katrina cost New Orleans $200 billion in damage (The effects of Hurricane Katrina on the New Orleans economy). The Category 5 hurricane coupled with a makeshift protection system resulted in one of the most economically costly hurricanes ever to strike the United States.
Future
Technology
To increase efficiency and prepare wind turbines for the 175 mph winds of Category 5 hurricanes, there are three primary developments that should be made on current wind turbines.
First, the design of the base was altered to adapt to deep water. The base, made of steel (an economically feasible material), provides stability and balance by maintaining the weight at the bottom of the structure. The tripod design allows a turbine to lie flat on any surface, despite any possible roughness, due to the mathematical principle that any three points must form a plane. Also,
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
to accommodate for the non-horizontal plane upon which the wind turbine must be built, the legs must have an extension allowing the length of certain sides of the base to increase.
Another improvement made to the wind turbine includes the addition of a second set of three blades (made of economical, lightweight aluminum) behind the primary set, with each evenly spaced blade set between the two blades in front of it. This allows the blades to gain speed, and therefore rotations per minute, at times when there are lower wind speeds. However, as the wind speed increases, a greater number of blades could act as a detriment to the wind turbine. Therefore, as the wind speed increases, the aluminum set of blades in the back will slip behind the front blades, allowing the wind to ignore the back set. The wind vanes attached to current wind turbines ensure that the turbines will always face in the direction that the wind is blowing, allowing the blades to catch the majority of the incoming wind.
The final addition to current wind turbines in consideration of the strength of hurricanes is a high-entropy metal in substitution of the substance currently used to manufacture the blades in a wind turbine. This metal offers a higher weight-to-strength ratio, comparable to ceramics, yet less brittle. The primary drawback with this substance is the expense of the material. Twenty percent of the alloy is scandium, an extremely rare, and therefore expensive, metal. However, as scientists progress in the development of this alloy, offshore wind turbines come closer to realizing their potential as a revolutionary protective system against hurricanes.
Breakthroughs
There are various breakthroughs that must be researched and made through experimentation in order for the aforementioned features of a stronger wind turbine to become a
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
reality. The optimal wind speed at which the six-bladed wind turbine folds into a three-bladed turbine, the most favorable angle of the blades during a hurricane, and a reasonable substitute for the expensive scandium in the high-entropy alloy used in the blades of the envisioned wind turbine are all examples of calculations and discoveries that must be made through calculation and experimentation. Discovering the best wind speed at which to fold in the extra three blades, for example, is a discovery that requires the use of models and an experiment. Scientists must perform a similar investigation to the one done at Stanford University in which Professor Mark Z. Jacobson used computerized models of wind turbines to observe whether wind turbines would make a significant impact on hurricanes. Instead, for this experiment, analysts would model 5-6 identical wind turbines with the exact same wind speed. However, each wind turbine would fold in the extra three blades at different wind speeds. In the end, scientists would analyze which turbine not only withstood the hurricane, but weakened the wind speeds as well, and then they could produce a model wind turbine from these findings. The other two breakthroughs could be researched by a similar means. In one experiment, scientists could change the angle of the blade and see which structure withstands a hurricane most optimally, while, in the other, they could vary scandium alloys and other metals in the blades. After these three breakthroughs are tested, scientists would be able to create wind turbines that are efficient, economically cost-effective, and durable.
Design Process
To utilize wind turbines in weakening a hurricane, the windmills would need to become significantly stronger. Thus, several different proposals were reviewed when choosing the optimal way to reinforce the structure of the turbines. The first idea was to increase blade length. It was
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
hypothesized that lengthy blades would cause the hurricanes to dissipate more easily, thus putting less strain on the turbine. However, it is also important to take into consideration the greater cost required to manufacture longer blades, due to the utilitarian approach required in the production of wind turbines. Also, the longer blades would result in a greater surface area, and therefore a more fragile wind turbine. The next conclusion was that fewer blades would make the wind turbines stronger. After thorough research, this proposal was proved to be a fallacy. Decreasing the number of blades from three to two reduces the efficiency by 3 percent (Hau 21). Finally, while surveying the wind speeds of offshore areas in which large amounts of wind turbines can be built, the northeastern coast, bordering Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine appeared to be the best choice, since the average wind speed measure at about 36 km/h (22.5 mph) (U.S
Department of Energy).
Though the wind speed in the aforementioned areas is above average, this specific region on the coast is not severely affected by hurricanes, especially compared to its southeastern counterpart.
Although the region’s wind speed averages 32.4 km/h (20.25 mph) (U.S. Department of Energy), it
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
is more important that the improved wind turbines be constructed here, due to the region’s vulnerability to hurricanes.
Consequences
The implementation of wind turbines will affect not only the hurricane-prone areas, but they will also impact other locations significantly. As previously mentioned, a large array of wind turbines would weaken a hurricane’s wind speed by up to 92 mph and decrease storm surge by up to 79 percent (Carey 2014). If the wind turbines were implemented during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, they would have saved New Orleans $75 billion and prevented approximately 1200 deaths (National
Hurricane Center). In addition to saving lives and money, the turbines will decrease fossil fuel emissions. Fossil fuels are nonrenewable resources made from the organic material of dead organisms that are millions of years old. Coal and petroleum are by far the most widely used energy resources in the United States (U.S. Energy Information Administration). The combustion of these fossil fuels releases a large amount of carbon dioxide (CO
) into the air, thus having extremely
2
pernicious effects on the ozone layer (United States Environmental Protection Agency). Therefore, people around the world have to endure the harmful consequences of the holes in this layer, such as ultraviolet rays and climate change. The use of wind turbines to combat hurricanes would encourage people to convert from fossil fuels to wind power. This, after a period of time, could potentially end the prospect of climate change, thus saving the lives of people and animals around the world.
Conversely, these turbines could also have a harmful effect on the environment around them.
Critics of wind power convey three main arguments against the energy source: the turbines result in avian fatality, occupy too much land, and cause sound disturbance. According to a study
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
conducted by Benjamin Sovacool of the Center on Asia and Globalization, wind farms cause 0.3 to
0.4 avian fatalities per gigawatt-hour of electricity generated (Fischetti). To combat this assertion,
Jacobsen claims that fossil fuel plants cause 5.2 fatalities per gigawatt-hour because of “mining, habitat destruction, acid rain, mercury poisoning and climate change” (Fischetti). Also, since wind turbines would be constructed offshore, they would not obstruct with land and sound, yet they could jeopardize the habitats of fish and other aquatic organisms. Finally, a vast array of wind turbines would be expensive, but the wind turbines would detract from the large cost of hurricane destruction and prevention, as well as the deaths of thousands of people. Thus, an array of wind turbines has various positive and negative impacts, and it is clear that most of the world will be affected by it.
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Web Pages
Project ID # 970G
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Graphics
Windmill
Courtesy: http://energy.gov/eere/wind/history-wind-energy How Wind Turbines Work
Courtesy:http://energy.gov/eere/wind/how-do-wind-turbines-work
Production of Wind Power
Project ID # 970G
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Courtesy: http://energy.gov/eere/wind/how-do-wind-turbines-work
Number of U.S. states with operating utility-scale wind energy projects
Project ID # 970G
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Courtesy: http://www.awea.org/Resources/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=5059 Offshore Wind Projects
Courtesy:http://energy.gov/maps/accelerating-offshore-wind-development
Implementation of the Wind Turbines
Courtesy:Worldwatch Institute
Professor Mark Z. Jacobson Discussing his Experiment
Project ID # 970G
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
Courtesy: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/february/hurricane-winds-turbine-022614.html Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
Works Cited
Andersen, Christine F. "Chapter 4: Hurricane Protection System."
The New Orleans Hurricane
Protection System: What Went Wrong and Why
. Reston, VA: ASCE, 2007. 17-24. Print.
"Carbon Dioxide Emissions."
EPA
. Environmental Protection Agency, 2 July 2014. Web. 27 Jan.
2015. <http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases/co2.html>.
Carey, Bjorn.
Offshore Wind Farms Could Tame Hurricanes before They Reach Land,
Stanford-led Study Says
. Issue brief. Stanford News, 26 Feb. 2014. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
<http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/february/hurricane-winds-turbine-022614.html>.
"CONSUMPTION & EFFICIENCY." Consumption & Efficiency. U.S. Energy Information
Administration, 25 Nov. 2014. Web. 28 Jan. 2015. <http://www.eia.gov/consumption/>.
Dolfman, Michael L., Solidelle F. Wasser, and Bruce Bergman. The Effects of Hurricane Katrina on the New Orleans Economy. Rep. N.p.: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistcs, 2007. Print.
Global RSS
. Scientific American, 26 Feb. 2014. Web. 24 Nov.
2014.<http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/offshore-wind-farms-could-knock-downhurricanes1/>.
Hau, Erich. "Scientific and Technical Development of Windmills." Wind Turbines: Fundamentals,
Technologies, Application, Economics. Berlin: Springer, 2006. 21. Print.
"History of Wind Energy."
Energy.gov
. Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, n.d.
Web. 15 Nov. 2014. <http://energy.gov/eere/wind/history-wind-energy>.
Home. Ready, 27 May 2014. Web. 24 Nov. 2014. <http://www.ready.gov/hurricanes>.
"How Do Wind Turbines Work?"
Energy.gov
. Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy,
n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2014. <http://energy.gov/eere/wind/how-do-wind-turbines-work>.
Project Title: Stronger Turbines, Weaker Hurricanes
Project ID # 970G
"Hurricanes in History." Hurricanes in History. National Weather Service, n.d. Web. 27 Jan.
2015. <http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/outreach/history/>.
Koch, Carl. NC State News New High Entropy Alloy Is As Light As Aluminum As Strong as Titanium
Alloys Comments. Rep. NC State University, 10 Dec. 2014. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.
<https://news.ncsu.edu/2014/12/koch-high-entropy-alloy-2014/>.
Maki, Kyla. "Cost of Wind vs. Fossil Fuels." Cost of Wind vs. Fossil Fuels. Montana
Environmental Information Center, n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2015. <http://meic.org/issues/monta na-clean-energy/cost-of-wind-vs-fossil-fuels/>. Messmore, Teresa. "Taming Hurricanes." UDaily. University of Delaware, 26 Feb. 2014. Web.
24 Nov. 2014. <http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2014/feb/hurricanes-wind-turbines-022614.h tml>. "Offshore Wind Projects." Offshore Wind Projects. Energy.gov, 2011. Web. 28 Jan. 2015.
<http://energy.gov/maps/accelerating-offshore-wind-development>.
Wilburn, David R.
Wind Energy in the United States and Materials Required for the Land-Based
Wind Turbine Industry
(2011): 7-11. U.S. Geological Survey. Web. 22 Nov. 2014."Hurricanes."
"Wind Energy Facts at a Glance." Wind Energy Facts at a Glance. American Wind Energy
Association, n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2015.
<http://www.awea.org/Resources/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=505 9>.