Dan M wrote: > >> I simply can't get wind into my head as an important source of energy. >> >> Meddlying with the natural wind systems all over the planet will >> cause such an horrible impact in the ecosystem that would make the >> AGW scenarios look like the Garden of Eden. > > Well, we do it when we build cities, right? The annual energy budget of > the world is about 5e17 Joules. A quick back of the envelope calculation > reveals that the energy in the earth's wind is greater than 1e20 Joules. > So wind could be an efficient way to extract solar energy.
Ideal solar energy would give, per year, 1410 W/m^2 x pi x (6378160 m)^2 x 365.25 x 86400 = 5e24 How much of that can be turned into biofuels? > And, of course, that's constantly being replensihed as friction slows the > wind down. Think of how quickly a hurricane can winds down when cut off > from its primary source. So, the fraction of a percent of the total energy > budget of the earth's wind that we would be changing by having wind farm > would produce effects that would be hard to measure. If the average wind > speed were to drop from, say, 5.678 to 5.677 m/s, do you think that the > ecosystem would be changed much? > No. Alberto Monteiro _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
