in which she gets all excited about the wind

snapped at 7:43 this morning

i had the most amazing day. i attended a course today that was an introduction to the wind industry. a wind course in a place called middelfart (giggles), what more can you ask? and in the interest of learning something better yourself by passing it along, i have to share it with all of you. 

some facts about wind power:

~ there are 160,000 installed megawatts of wind power in the world (as of end 2009)

~ China supports their wind turbine producers by giving funding to every turbine produced (caring nothing about whether they're installed).  all of those pretty turbines dotting the landscape around Beijing for the Olympics? not in operation or hooked to a grid.  however, because of this government subsidy, china has three of the fastest growing wind turbine producers in the world and all three are in the top ten.

~ the blades are key...it all happens with the blades as the energy is "captured" there.

~ the blades are also the primary brakes on a wind turbine, but there are, of course, backup brake systems. however, it's best for the turbine to change the pitch on the blades in order to stop them.

~ the colder it is, the more megawatts you can access, tho' the loads are greater (meaning it's harder on your turbine).

~ turbines constantly adjust themselves to face the wind optimally. even being 5° off equals a 10% loss in production. since the wind is constantly changing, so is the turbine.

~ denmark has 3,408MW of installed turbines. (the US leads with 35,159MW). on an average day, that produces 20% of denmark's electricity needs (far higher percentage than any other country in the world) and on a windy night, it produces 150% of denmark's electricity needs, enabling the utility to sell further into the european grid.

~ the accessible energy in the wind for a 3.2MW wind turbine in optimal wind conditions at optimal temperature (15°C, 4000m2 area with wind at 11 meters per second) is 59% (with three blades on the turbine).

~ there are actually wind atlases.

~ wind is free. and endlessly renewable.

i have so many ideas bubbling. a day filled with inspiration and and energy mainlined into my brain was precisely what i needed.

i'll leave you with this....

and because i can't resist....this: