On 2009/09/17, at 07:00 , Stan Jakuba wrote:
Nobody will know the actual amount of energy generated until after a
few years of operation; predictions and extrapolations are a dime a
dozen. The production must be measured 24/7, regardless how many
shut-downs for modifications and updates occurred, and not just the
net time when the wind blows and everything works just as predicted.
Also, the output should be NET, meaning the power needed to feed the
field and to operate, including starts and stops, the machinery is
deducted from the output - just like any non-renewable-energy power-
plant is judged. Then 1 W/m² is a pretty good output during, say, a
5-years existence.
Stan Jakuba
Dear Stan,
Since our goal is to help journalists to use quantity names and unit
names correctly, it is probably best if we use these words accurately
ourselves. In your first paragraph, you use the word energy correctly
to mean 'the ability to do work'. Unfortunately, I am having trouble
with the second paragraph because it seems to me that you have used
the quantity name, power, to mean energy on both occasions where you
use it.
This letter, that I sent to the editor of 'The Age' newspaper in
Melbourne Australia, might help to explain my position on this issue.
The Editor
'The Age'
Melbourne
Dear Editor,
Power has a problem.
I am writing to alert you to two serious defects in your use of the
word, power. Power is regularly misused, and it is also one of the
most overused words in politics and in the media. Both misuse and
overuse mean that the many different meanings of power often become
hopelessly muddled.
Misuse
Misuse of the word, power, is the more serious problem as it a major
cause of confusion. You sometimes use energy when you are writing
about power and, far more often, you use power when you mean energy.
Power is so often misused from both sides of debates about global
warming, the greenhouse effect, peak energy, and peak oil, that there
is a danger of making any discussion about these important issues
almost meaningless. This paragraph uses examples from 'The Age'.
As Minister, he felt he had real control over power because he could
supply or deny power to the community by increasing power bills or
ordering power rationing in emergencies. He could also manage power
stations from when they start to produce power, to maintaining power
supplies during their lives of power production, until the end of
their power producing life. This applied to all forms of power such
as: chemical power, electrical power, nuclear power, solar power, and
wind power.
Here, the word, power, is used as though it is synonymous with energy.
It is not. All technical people such as engineers have known since
they were in senior high school science classes that energy (measured
in joules) is defined as the ability to do work and that that power
(measured in watts) is the rate at which you do work or use energy;
and that these are quite different concepts. Using these definitions,
the above paragraph now reads:
As Minister, he felt he had real control over energy because he could
supply or deny energy to the community by increasing energy bills or
ordering energy rationing in emergencies. He could also manage energy
conversion stations from when they start to produce energy, to
maintaining energy supplies during their lives of energy production,
until the end of their energy producing life. This applied to all
forms of energy such as: chemical energy, electrical energy, nuclear
energy, solar energy, and wind energy.
Overuse
Overuse means that I have to stop each time I see the word, power,
long enough to decipher your current meaning. This is necessary
because the word, power, in addition to its scientific definition, has
about a dozen other different dictionary meanings, all with their
associated connotations. For example, I need to pause when you use the
word, power, in the sense of (say) 'political power' that has nice
alliteration but lacks a definite meaning, or 'electrical power' that
has a quite specific scientific definition, which you might not
intend. Here is another paragraph using examples from 'The Age' that
uses power in non-technical senses:
The Minister was a large powerful man, who exuded physical power doing
his power walk along the corridors of power. He got his power position
when his party came to power at the last election, and as the only
engineer in the party in power, the powerful leadership team appointed
him Minister.
This time, you could purge power altogether to improve readability by
writing:
The Minister was a large man, whose fitness was obvious as he
vigorously walked around Parliament House. He became Minister when,
after his party won the last election, he was appointed to his present
position.
Cheers,
P.S. I will try to find the time to develop this letter into an
article for wider distribution. The misuse and overuse of the word,
power, are not confined to a single newspaper in Australia!
Pat Naughtin
Author of the ebook, Metrication Leaders Guide, that you can obtain
from http://metricationmatters.com/MetricationLeadersGuideInfo.html
PO Box 305 Belmont 3216,
Geelong, Australia
Phone: 61 3 5241 2008
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