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Posted By:
Hal Brown
Date Posted:
Aug 12, 2008
Description:
Northwest of Lafayette giant windmills rose out of the cornfields. A great crop of wind turbines is being grown in an area predicted to have some of Indiana’s most favorable winds (see http://www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/windpoweringamerica/
images/windmaps/in_50m_800.jpg ). According to the U. S. Department of Energy estimate, wind power density in this area is predicted to be 300 to 400 W/m2 at a height of 50 meters (giving an average wind speed of 14.3 to 15.7 mph based on a Weilbull k of 2.0). What the heck is a Weilbull k some might ask?
How should I know? Well, the Internet, of course. And since all pilots should know about wind, a Weilbull k might just be worth knowing about (or not). I’ve read it is simply a function depicting the distribution of wind power (with distribution shapes from Gaussian to exponential). Maybe you have to be really green to understand, I suppose (because I don’t).
Anyway, the important thing is that an average wind speed of 10 mph really spins a wind mill. One really wants a steady wind, instead of gusts, to keep the turbines turning happy. As it turns out, very flat lands with smooth average speed winds are great locations for wind turbines. That makes this part of Indiana perfect for wind harvesting. (And windmill jousting by SeaRey?)
Date Taken:
Aug 12, 2008
Place Taken:
Boswell, IN
Owner:
Dan Nickens
File Name:
Growing_Power.jpg - Photo HTML
Full size - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZTHV0000h">
Medium - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZTHV0000m">
Thumbnail - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZTHV0000s">
Category:
325, Demonstrative Flying
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Read what others had to say:
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Kenneth Leonard - Aug 13,2008
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Careful Dan - this is how the first 'clipped wing' cub was invented! Seriously, although these beasts are tough on any local bird population, especially big birds like raptors, and they have been limited in the US by lack of adequate power distribution capability, they are exploding in population. I believe T.Boone Pickens just put up a few hundred million to build the biggest wind farm in the US. Doing it in the Texas panhandle and since he wasn't willing to wait for the Gov to build the distribution lines, he is doing that himself too! I hope he makes another fortune. Besides, I think they look good too.
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Chris Vernon-Jarvis - Aug 13,2008
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Ken<br />When we go down to Califonia and Nevada there are enormous wind farms, in some p;laces almost literally windmills as far as the eye can see. When there are that many they get ugly and frankly, in the long run, I think it will be seen as a hugely expensive red herring, but then that is politics!
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