...Winds of Change Sonya Marquis BUS440-801 Introduction Wind energy is a renewable resource, which means that future supply will not be affected by current use. The rising concerns about global warming, pollution, and depletion of natural resources makes wind a viable and logical source of energy for the near and distant future. There are many advantages to wind energy; it is a sustainable energy source that is non-polluting. With a 30 percent annual increase, wind is the world’s fastest-growing bulk power electricity source. Montana has a bright future in wind energy. The American Wind Energy Association ranked Montana’s wind-energy potential in the top five in the nation. Currently, the state has several utility-scale wind farms in operation. History of Wind Energy Wind energy has been used by civilizations throughout time. As early as 5000 B.C., wind energy propelled boats up and down rivers. Simple windmills pumped water in China in 200 B.C. Wind energy technology and its applications continued to grow and diversify throughout the ages. By the late 19th century, settlers of the New World were using windmills to pump water, and eventually, to generate electricity. Small windmills were used until the late 1920s to bring electricity to rural Americans. Farm and ranch communities in Montana used wind generators that produced direct current (DC) electricity that was often stored in batteries. However, these systems were short-lived due to the Rural Electrification...
Words: 1879 - Pages: 8
...Current Event 09-07-12 Wind Turbines I First Willacy County Turbine Farm Opens, More to Follow: A little over a year ago, a Chicago-based renewable energy company E.ON held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new site and began construction in October of 2011. The Magic Valley Wind Farm is what they decided to call it and it is located roughly 5 miles east of Raymondville. It is Willacy County's first wind farm. Within the last year, they put up 112 Danish-produced Vestas 1.8 megawatt turbines that generate more than 200 megawatts together, which is enough to power 60,000 houses. There was over 200 people hired for the construction phase of this wind farm and a staff of around 20 people on site. The project was approximately a 200 million dollar investment for E.ON and is the company’s 16th operational wind farm in North America upping the company’s generating power to 2,000 megawatts in Texas. The location of this wind farm is supposed to have minimal impact on wildlife and the environment due to environmental studies. During construction of this wind farm, more than 24 miles of public roads where constructed. Why do you think that is? I’m assuming they were constructed to cart in the enormous shafts and blades. There were more than 60,000 cubic yards of concrete poured and more than 50 miles of underground cable laid. Now if you head South of the Magic Valley project you will run into two more wind farms owned by Duke Energy that are supposed to operational at the end of the...
Words: 600 - Pages: 3
...However, in Texas we have a unique system which allows and accommodates for change throughout...
Words: 1919 - Pages: 8
...and Inexhaustible Energy Sources: Wind Power For over two thousand years, mankind has harnessed the wind for power in one way or another. The first uses were for water travel, by letting manufactured sails catch the wind and allow the boats or vessels to travel seamlessly across the water. Eventually, it was realized that the wind all around the world will not run out, it is a semi-constant force. Therefore, wind started to be used to power other things; mainly for farms and small workshops, wind power was harnessed using the old-fashioned windmill. They were primarily used to pump water from wells, and some to grind grains down to a fine consistency. Today, there are many other uses for wind power. As an ever-growing society, we have realized that the resources we rely on day to day will not always be around, i.e. oil, so we have harnessed wind power to our advantage, because like our early ancestors also realized, the forces of wind will never be depleted. With the widespread development of electric power in the early 20th century, wind power found new applications in sending power remotely from a centrally-generated power source. Throughout the century, small wind plants suitable for farms or residences were soon built, and also larger utility-scale wind generators were produced so they could be connected to electricity grids for a greater remote use of power. Out here in West Texas, we rely heavily on wind powers because the wind is an abundant force of nature to us...
Words: 868 - Pages: 4
...The grid operaTor, power MarkeT & prices under Texas eLecTric dereguLaTion ERCOT THE GRID OPERATOR, POWER MARKET & PRICES UNDER TEXAS ELECTRIC DEREGULATION THE STORY OF FEBRUARY 2011 A SPECIAL RESEARCH PROJECT BY THE STEERING COMMITTEE OF CITIES SERVED BY ONCOR & THE TEXAS COALITION FOR AFFORDABLE POWER The sTory of ercoT AMARILLO LUBBOCK PLANO FORT WORTH ABILENE MIDLAND/ODESSA WACO DALLAS ALPINE AUSTIN HOUSTON SAN ANTONIO CORPUS CHRISTI LAREDO THE ERCOT REGION The grid operaTor, power MarkeT & prices under Texas eLecTric dereguLaTion THE STORY OF ERCOT ABOUT THIS REPORT The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, also known as ERCOT, is the non-profit corporation that oversees the Texas power grid. The organization also has responsibility for settling transactions in the state’s wholesale spot market for electricity. But the term “ERCOT” also is used loosely in other ways. For instance, the term can describe the geographical footprint for retail electric deregulation in Texas. It is also sometimes used to describe the state’s wholesale energy market. This report touches upon policy questions relating to all these conceptualizations of ERCOT: as an organization, as an energy market, and as the area of Texas with competitive electric suppliers. To distinguish between these meanings, the term “ERCOT” will be used whenever practicable to refer to the organization, “the ERCOT region” will be used to refer to deregulated areas of the state...
Words: 40863 - Pages: 164
...demand for power in the United States. by Gwyneth Cravens Four years ago this month, James Lovelock upset a lot of his fans. Lovelock was revered in the green movement for developing the Gaia hypothesis, which links everything on earth to a dynamic, organic whole. Writing in the British newspaper The Independent, Lovelock stated in an op-ed: “We have no time to experiment with visionary energy sources; civilisation is in imminent danger and has to use nuclear—the one safe, available energy source—now or suffer the pain soon to be inflicted by our outraged planet.” Lovelock explained that his decision to endorse nuclear power was motivated by his fear of the consequences of global warming and by reports of increasing fossil-fuel emissions that drive the warming. Jesse Ausubel, head of the Program for the Human Environment at Rockefeller University, recently echoed Lovelock’s sentiment. “As a green, I care intensely about land-sparing, about leaving land for nature,” he wrote. “To reach the scale at which they would contribute importantly to meeting global energy demand, renewable sources of energy such as wind, water, and biomass cause serious environmental harm. Measuring renewables in watts per square meter, nuclear has astronomical advantages over its competitors.” All of this has led several other prominent environmentalists to publicly favor new nuclear plants. I had a similar change of heart. For years I opposed nuclear power, but while I was researching my book Power to Save...
Words: 1389 - Pages: 6
...gas a weak weapons against climate change ------------------------------------------------- Texas and Antarctica attacked, Rocks hint ------------------------------------------------- 2011 Among Hottest years, marked by extreme weathers ------------------------------------------------- Planting Wind Energy on Farms May Help Farmers ------------------------------------------------- With Gas Prices High, U.S. Refinery Closures Hit Workers and Drivers How to Win the War On GLOBAL WARMING NATURAL GAS WEAK WEAPONS AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE Nathan Myhrvold found "some really counterintuitive results" when he and study coauthor Ken Caldeira set out to see what the climate effect would be if the world switched from coal power plants (like the one seen above in West Virginia) to natural gas and other sources. INDEX ------------------------------------------------- Natural gas a weak weapons against climate change pg 3 ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- 2011 Among Hottest years, marked by extreme weathers pg 8 ------------------------------------------------- Texas and Antarctica attacked, Rocks hint pg 4 ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Planting Wind Energy on Farms May Help Farmers pg 5 ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ...
Words: 1262 - Pages: 6
...Going Green Using the Power of Wind Kimberly Whitaker SCI 207 Shameema Sarker August 5, 2012 I. Introduction A. Thesis Statement With so much concern about reaching the peak in oil production on the world's mind, as well as the worry for the effects that humans are having on the environment, wind power is one of the greenest options available to replace oil. II. Body paragraph #1 - Topic Sentence #1 The way humans have been living for thousands of years has had a devastating effect on the environment. A. Supporting Evidence The use of fossil fuels, especially coal is destroying the environment because it releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and the extraction of these fossil fuels has a devastating effect on the environment. (Turk & Bensel, 2011) B. Explanation Fossil fuels are nonrenewable because once they are extracted from the earth and burned or used, they can never be replenished in over a thousand years. (Turk & Bensel, 2011) C. Further Explanation The use of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is destroying the quality of air, changing the climate, and destroying our aquatic ecosystems. D. So What? While there may be enough fossil fuels for humans to use for the next fifty to one- hundred years, eventually these resources will end up being used up and there will be none left for future generations, who will need a different source of energy to be able to...
Words: 767 - Pages: 4
...Agnes Kurthy BUS 140 – Research Paper December 2, 2013 Should the State of California Permit Fracking on a Large Scale Despite a recent decline attributed to a relatively nominal growth over the past couple of years, California continues to rank among the top 10 of the world’s largest economies. It is currently ranked as the world’s ninth largest economy, surpassing many developed nations with an annual GDP exceeding two trillion Dollars, according to a report by CNN last year.1 California’s crude oil and natural gas deposits are located in six geological basins in the Central Valley and along the coast. California has more than a dozen of the United States' largest oil fields, including the Midway-Sunset Oil Field, the second largest oil field in the contiguous United States. California is sitting on a massive amount of shale oil and could become the next oil boom state. But only if the industry can get the stuff out of the ground without upsetting the state's powerful environmental lobby. Running from Los Angeles to San Francisco, California's Monterey Shale is thought to contain more oil than North Dakota's Bakken and Texas's Eagle Ford, both scenes of an oil boom that's created thousands of jobs and boosted U.S. oil production to the highest rate in over a decade. In 2010, California produced 12% of the natural gas, 71% of the electricity, and 38.11% of the crude oil it consumes. The remaining electricity and natural gas was purchased from Canada, the Pacific Northwest...
Words: 3421 - Pages: 14
...carbon dioxide which is a destructive greenhouse gas, it has historically dragged its feet when it comes to alternative energy. Wind energy is arguably the most important alternative energy source currently available. It is relativity inexpensive, abundant, and climate-benign, and most importantly, inexhaustible. By 2020, wind energy is expected to provide for half of Europe’s energy needs. The world’s wind-generating capacity is currently growing by 29 percent a year. Figueroa 2 According to a study conducted by the Department of Energy, the states of North Dakota, Kansas, and Texas alone receive enough wind to provide electricity for the entire nation. By the same token, offshore wind farms could provide enough energy to power the entire nation. Wind energy systems require very little maintenance, and could potentially produce electricity for as little as $0.02 per kilowatt-hour. The average US household consumes about 10,000 KWh of electricity each year. Fact, a 250-kw turbine installed at the elementary school in Spiril Lace, Iowa, provides an average of 350,000 KWh of electricity per year, more than is necessary for the 53,000-square-foot school. We have the potential to generate enough energy to meet our needs in such a way that is beneficial to both humanity and the environment. So why are we not developing wind power concept sooner rather than later? Figueroa 3 Authors: Morley, David C., and Rich, Alex K....
Words: 348 - Pages: 2
...On August 29th, 2005, the winds whipped outside at a fierce 175 miles per hour, rain pounded on the rooftops, flooding imminent as levees strained and gave way pouring into New Orleans. The Category 5 hurricane terrorizing all cities and states on its war path of destruction; Katrina is what they call her and her storm surge reached 20 feet high. 1,836 was the final death toll that Hurricane Katrina caused and her affects were impacted over approximately 90,000 square miles. 80% of New Orleans was underwater and some places were up to 20 feet under. (11 Facts About Hurricane Katrina) This destruction is unimaginable to most of us but for those that experienced it, it is something they never want to experience again. Along Katrina’s route of destruction, tornados were developed wreaking havoc in other states. In this paper I will discuss, in depth, hurricanes and tornados and the destruction they cause to our nation. The word hurricane was derived from the Spanish word “huracan” this word originated from a Mayan storm god. The word hurricane was used in the West Indies where they described any tropical cyclone. (Hurricane: What is a Hurricane?) The accurate definition of a hurricane is a “tropical cyclone with sustained winds that have reached speeds of 74 mph or higher” the storms are labeled as hurricanes when they gain their strength over days and weeks time. (Hurricane: What is a Hurricane?) Storms developing over the Atlantic Ocean or eastern Pacific Ocean are coined...
Words: 3615 - Pages: 15
...Hydraulic Fracturing Does More Bad than Good Oil is a very important asset in life today. Everyone needs oil for one thing or another, especially transportation. Generally, the United States imports most of its oil from foreign countries for American use, however, in order to limit how much America relies on foreign oil, hydraulic fracturing is used. Hydraulic fracturing sounds like it would solve a lot of problems for the United States. Having a supply of oil for its own citizens rather than importing oil from foreign countries sounds like a convenience, but hydraulic fracturing is not safe for people, wildlife or the environment. There are several steps in the fracking process. Hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as fracking, forces open fissures in subterranean rocks by introducing liquid at high pressure to extract oil or gas and there are more than 500,000 active natural gas wells in the U.S. (dangersoffracking.com). Each and every gas well requires at least 400 tanker trucks to carry water and supplies to and from each site and it takes 1-8 million gallons of water to complete just one fracturing job alone (dangersoffracking.com). After the water is brought in to the site, it is then mixed with chemicals and sand to create the fracking fluid. Nearly 40,000 gallons of chemicals are used per fracturing, some of which include lead, mercury, radium, and formaldehyde (dangersoffracking.com). After the fracking fluid is made, it is then injected into the ground at a high...
Words: 978 - Pages: 4
...Green Wind Energy All we hear about anymore is green this and green that along with what are you doing to contribute to the green way of living? What changes have you made in your daily life to ensure the future of our earth? A lot of information and talk centers on our energy generating techniques and safer ways it can be done without the use of fossil fuels. One of them being the use of wind energy, harness the air that it already moving around without causing anymore damage to our earth. Sounds like a reasonable request but what does it all entail… Lets do some research into how long this idea has been used and the different approaches that have been taken to make it happen. Wind is caused by sunlight unevenly heating the surface of the Earth. During the day, air over the land heats up more quickly than air over water, making it expand and rise. As it does so, cooler, denser air rushes in beneath it, creating an air current. Some giant wind currents are drive by hot air at the equator and cool air at the poles (Aldred, 2007). I was surprised to find that wind energy sources have been around since the tenth century in Persia and the thirteenth century in China. The uses focused on windmills with the grinding of grain, pumping of water and sailboats. Windmills and water mills were the largest power sources before the invention of the steam engine. The main long-term use of wind (except for sailing) has been to pump water for the irrigation of fields (Nelson, 2013,). The...
Words: 1629 - Pages: 7
...down. When this was to happen the winds picked up and caused all the topsoil to go with it causing massive clouds of sand. This Dust Bowl was bad timing because around this time the Great Depression was happening. Another cause of the Dust Bowl was drought, the topsoil was now dry and loose, any wind could pick up and bring the dirt with it. Many farmers were forced to migrate because of all the sand covering everything leaving them with nothing. The Dust Bowl lasted for about a decade it started in the 1930 s and did not end until 1940. This disaster is not natural it was a man made disaster. Farmers ripped up all the roots and grasses holding that soil to plant things,then later did not plant anything due to costs.Then the Great Depression hit and farmers could not pay their loans or keep their farming equipment. The farmers could not pay for equipment they needed which lead to the soil being bare.”The region’s exposed topsoil, robbed of the anchoring, water-retaining roots of its native grasses, was carried off by heavy spring winds.”(Cited from: "Dust Bowl." Britannica School, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15 May. 2007. School. Eb. com /levels/high /article/Dust -Bowl/31604#. Accessed 1 Mar. 2017.)...
Words: 538 - Pages: 3
...hurricane is “A storm with a violent wind, in particular a tropical cyclone…a wind of force 12 on the Beaufort scale (equal to or exceeding 64 knots or 74mph). As I read through the National Hurricane Center website by NOAA, our National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration it shares with us what a hurricane is, and how it reaches hurricane status. A hurricane is a type of tropical cyclone, which is generic term for a low pressure system that generally forms in the tropics. The cyclone is accompanied by thunderstorms and, the Northern Hemisphere, a counterclockwise circulation of winds near the earth’s surface. Much like the trim levels of a vehicle, Hurricanes have a similar ranking. Starting off with a system of clouds, thunderstorms, and maximum wind speeds of 38 mph, the system becomes organized and categorized as a Tropical Depression. A step above that brings you into the category of a Tropical Storm where you will find: stronger winds speeds from 39 mph to a max of 73 mph, stronger thunderstorms, and a defined surface with an eye. Finally starting at 74 mph the storm becomes classified as a Category I Hurricane. Once the system reaches its Hurricane status, there are five categories. |Category |Wind Speeds (from xxx mph up to xxx mph) | |Tropical Depression |Maximum sustained winds of 38 mph ...
Words: 1252 - Pages: 6
