At the end of 2003, global wind energy generating capacity reached 39,294 megawatts of electricity. Wind plants now power the equivalent of 9 million average American homes, or 19 million average European homes, worldwide. In my term paper, I will further explore the current status of wind power globally and in the US. I will investigate how much energy wind can realistically supply to the US, what areas have the greatest potential for wind power, and what is needed for wind to reach its full potential. Finally, I would also like to focus on wind power on the smaller scale. I will discuss how residential wind turbines work, the economics of small wind energy systems, and the environmental impact of wind power.
Possible Sources
- Toke, D. (2002). Wind Power in UK and Denmark: Can Rational Choice Help Explain Different Outcomes? Environmental Politics., Vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 83-100.
- Barrios, L. and Rodriguez, A. (2004) Behavioural and environmental correlates of soaring-bird mortality at on-shore wind turbines. Journal of Applied Ecology, Vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 72-81.
- Segal, M; Pan, Z; Arritt, RW; and Takle, ES. (2001). On the potential change in wind power over the US due to increases of atmospheric greenhouse gases. Renewable Energy. Vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 235-243.
- Moore. (1999) Gaining Momentum. International Journal of Risk Assessment & Management Vol. 24, Issue 4.
- Gipe, P. (1993). Wind power for home & business : renewable energy for the
http://www.awea.org/faq/index.html : American Wind Energy Association website
http://www.windpower.org/en/core.htm : Danish Wind Industry Association website 1990s and beyond. Chelsea Green Pub. Co.
Posted at Mar 29/2005 08:24 PM:
Peter Saeta: Great ideas for a paper, Nicole. You might wish to explore the support structure supplied by various governments (Denmark, U.S., Netherlands, ...) and suggest a position to recommend to either California or the U.S. government.
Posted at Apr 15/2005 07:10 AM:
Peter Saeta: I was speaking with Andy McIlroy (the liaison for the physics clinic project) who mentioned a recent paper in the Journal of Geophysical Research (I think) on the potential impact of wide-scale wind power generation on wind patterns and climate. His recollection was that the report was inconclusive; in a quick search, I was unable to find the paper.
As I mentioned yesterday, I'm curious about the build-out rate we could hope to attain for wind power, and whether wind-to-hydrogen is really a viable long-term solution. However, you shouldn't feel constrained to go in that direction.
WIND!.doc (your draft)
WIND!.doc (my commented version)
Final Research Paper
WIND!.doc
