Makes sense, but I hadn't thought about it before.
I predict that this thread will get a maximum of three posts, just for the record. I don't know that the subject line would really intrigue anyone but climatologists, and we aren't exactly swarming with those.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
Actually, there is quite a heated debate regarding wind farms in Kansas right now (proposed ones). Several companies want to put them up in the Flint Hills (which I'm sure you're familiar with Noemon) and others are fighting them.
But I haven't been aware of this aspect of the issue... (the affect on local weather)
posted
I've always wondered about this and am glad someone's studying it.
I've also wondered about huge solar energy farms. If they're converting sunlight to electricity and shipping that energy a significant distance away, wouldn't that lower the tempature at the collection site and raise the tempature at the use site? Seems like that could have effects as well.
Finally, if we were to put solar collectors in space and beam the energy down, wouldn't that dramatically increase global warming by increasing the amount of solar energy absorbed by the Earth as a whole?
posted
I am strongly for wind farms. This is an interesting little piece - I hadn't really thought of it before, I'm ashamed to say. Unfortunatly, the piece didn't say how big the microclimate is - does it only affect the area under the turbines? If not, how far out do the effects reach?
I'm happy to see that the turbines can likely be redesigned to cut down on turbulance. It seems to me that even if they couldn't, though, the damage caused to the small area immediatly around the wind farm would be far outweighed by the benefits of getting our power from such a renewable source.
Posts: 3214 | Registered: Apr 2002
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Dagonee, you are quite right--well, in general. I am not sure about your details, but any energy source will increase the temperature to some degree. It's a matter of entropy.
3001 comes to mind...for all the things that irritated me about that book, I was ROTFL about Clarke's mention of how our global warming crisis was made to look like a matchstick by the invention of vacuum-energy power....
Posts: 1114 | Registered: Mar 2004
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They might be able to use the effect to advantage. Would the slight increase in temperature extend growing seasons if the fans were set up in crop areas?
Posts: 4625 | Registered: Jul 2002
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quote: Makes sense, but I hadn't thought about it before.
Noemon, have you read Red Mars? I would have thought you would have, but I would also think that if you had read that, you would have thought about their climate change effect.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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posted
I support wind farms, so hopefully I can state this clearly.
I think most of the reasons some people are fighting the development of wind farms here is mostly aesthetic in nature. "Will destroy the natural beauty of the tallgrass prairie", "will be an eyesore" "will make too much noise" (if you've ever actually been next to a wind farm - there is NOT much noise), etc. And Landowners who just don't want a windfarm next door, so to speak.
Personally, I'm willing to give up aesthetics in this case, in order to use a renewable energy source and decrease dependence on oil. But that's just my two cents. I often wished for my own personal wind generator at my farm, but they are too expensive at this point.
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Windfarms need to be set up on the ocean (convert drilling platforms) as well as the Antarctic and "wind tunnel" areas such as canyons and moutaintops.
Posts: 1533 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Aesthetics to me is a no-brainer - renewable energy takes precedence.
But the climate effects and the much more documented effects on migratory birds do need to be studied.
I don't think we need to wait until all questions are answered before doing so, but we should certainly keep studying and be prepared to require changes to in-place systems if we discover something nasty.
posted
Porter, I have, but it's been awhile. It would probably have been more accurate for me to say "I have no memory of having thought of this before"
I remember some years ago reading about windfarms being dangerous for migratory birds, in that large numbers of them were slaughtered when they flew into the fan blades. That could probably be solved, though, by taking migratory bird paths into account when choosing windfarm locations, and perhaps by building something that would make the birds see the farms as dangerous and avoid them. Could be as simple as mounting plastic owls at the tops of some of the poles, for all I know.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
I seem to remember reading something recently about ways they were correcting the migratory bird problem. I can't remember what it was though.
Posts: 4625 | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
I've had arguements about this, actually, when I was supporting wind energy and my opponent was saying taking the energy could change climate patterns. This was several years ago, and the opponent in question was very pro-oil.
As far as the aesthetics, I actually think wind farms are visually pleasing, and go well with their surroundings. It adds some vertical interest to what is usually a mostly horizontal landscape... plus, they just look cool.
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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