Alvia There was a previous paper on wind turbines and evaporation at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_/ai_n6366674
I would expect that using wind energy to pump well water could very rapidly depress the water table. This happened in Fuerteventura in the early part of the 20th century. They had a ten-year water binge followed by dreadful drought. Evaporation should be increased with offshore wind turbines which leads to the observation that evaporation from the sea seems too slow. In spare moments I am trying to design a form of wind system which does nothing but increase turbulence over the sea so as to increase evaporation from the Red Sea and the Gulf. If anyone can help me predict the life of an array of contra-rotating, horizontal-axis vortices, please get in touch. Stephen Emeritus Professor of Engineering Design School of Engineering and Electronics University of Edinburgh Mayfield Road Edinburgh EH9 3JL Scotland tel +44 131 650 5704 fax +44 131 650 5702 Mobile 07795 203 195 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/~shs Alvia Gaskill wrote: > When renewable energy crosses paths with geoengineering. Note how the > article is quick to dismiss this as an extreme example. Yet, when > geoengineering ideas are discussed in news articles, the worst case is > the only one presented. An example of media bias? > > http://www.livescience.com/environment/081126-wind-farms-change-weather.html > > > > Wind Farms Could Change Weather > > > Robert Roy Britt > <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/byline/windfarmscouldchangeweather/30039581/SIG=11qqe5uu2;_ylt=Aje1SSje6IIK3JbEz6t4WE2zvtEF/*http://www.livescience.com/php/contactus/author.php?r=rb> > Editorial Director > LiveScience.com > <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/byline/windfarmscouldchangeweather/30039581/SIG=10sog4vj6;_ylt=AktfhcahqavMDjQa4Sk5NCKzvtEF/*http://www.livescience.com> > > robert Roy Britt > <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/byline/windfarmscouldchangeweather/30039581/sig=11qqe5uu2/*http://www.livescience.com/php/contactus/author.php?r=rb> > editorial Director > livescience.com > <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/byline/windfarmscouldchangeweather/30039581/sig=10sog4vj6/*http://www.livescience.com> > > – Thu Nov 27, 9:47 am ET > Turbines from China's largest wind farm dot a windswept plain in the > remote > <http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/wind-farm-September-14-Turbines-China/photo//081126/photos_ts/2008_11_26t080542_450x326_us_eu_emissions_ets//s:/livescience/20081127/sc_livescience/windfarmscouldchangeweather;_ylt=AoJ32XtE4I0BHz_FktQhqjCzvtEF>Reuters > – Turbines > from China's largest wind farm dot a windswept plain in the remote > northwest Xinjiang region … > > A new study suggests that massive wind farms could steer storms and > alter the weather if extensive fields of turbines were built, > according to a news report. > > It is not the first study to come to this conclusion. > > The new research is an interesting "what if," but the installation of > large wind turbines > <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/windfarmscouldchangeweather/30039581/SIG=11t1co33q;_ylt=Auufl0uugEh54_B6mfzIjLazvtEF/*http://www.livescience.com/common/media/video.php?aid=22953> > > would have to be taken to the extreme to have the global effects > portrayed. > > The scientists, Daniel Barrie and Daniel Kirk-Davidoff of the > University of Maryland, calculated "what might happen if all the land > from Texas to central Canada, and from the Great Lakes to the Rocky > Mountains, were covered in one massive wind farm," according to > Discovery News > <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/windfarmscouldchangeweather/30039581/SIG=122itlp3h;_ylt=AkmfuTdkIuD6Q3jMApY1.WGzvtEF/*http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/11/25/wind-farms-weather.html>. > > The result of such an unlikely installation: a real serious Butterfly > Effect > <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/windfarmscouldchangeweather/30039581/SIG=121dpdh5n;_ylt=AtDLksA2_QxuAnf0ZopsGeSzvtEF/*http://www.livescience.com/history/080417-ap-Edward-Lorenz.html>. > > > > Such massive wind farming would slow wind speeds by 5 or 6 mph as the > turbines literally stole wind from the air. A ripple effect would > occur in the form of waves radiating across the Northern Hemisphere > that could, days later, run into storms and alter their courses by > hundreds of miles. > > The researchers "acknowledged the hypothetical wind farm was far > larger than anything humans are likely to build," according to the Web > site, but if Department of Energy projections for wind farming are met > by 2030 (for the country to get 20 percent of its electricity from > wind), "it could probably have an effect," James McCaa of 3Tier, Inc., > a renewable energy forecasting company based in Seattle, is quoted as > saying. > > In 2004, two separate groups of scientists did similar calculations > <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/windfarmscouldchangeweather/30039581/SIG=11v2ohncg;_ylt=AkYl8MyQt4qouM5PORqI62SzvtEF/*http://www.livescience.com/environment/041109_wind_mills.html>. > > > > One group found the opposite effect. > > Somnath Baidya Roy of Princeton University and colleagues simulated > the effect of extensive wind farms > <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/windfarmscouldchangeweather/30039581/SIG=12e0hkm17;_ylt=AmNoV4bir9jSK5h7Qv1srZmzvtEF/*http://www.livescience.com/environment/081117-energy-debates-wind-farms.html> > > on local weather. They found a drying and warming effect in the > morning that would warm the air across moist and cool overnight soil, > causing the local wind speed to increase slightly. > > Also in 2004, David Keith of the University of Calgary and his > colleagues estimated the drag from wind farms if they covered 10 > percent of the Earth's land surface. They concluded that global > cooling would occur in polar regions and global warming would result > in temperate regions such as North America at about 30 degrees North > latitude. > > When that study was released, Keith had an interesting take on the > possibility: "The message here is climate change, but that doesn't > equal global warming," Keith said. "It's possible this would have > benefits," by working against the atmospheric effects of fossil fuel > consumption on global climate, he said. > > > > -- The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
