Slashdot Mirror
Will Wind Power Change Earth's Climate?
lommer writes "The Globe and Mail is currently running an article on a recent wind power study. A group of Canadian and American scientists has modelled the effects of introducing massive amounts of wind farms into North America and have come up with surprising results. While still having only 1/5th the impact of fossil fuels, wind power will still adjust the earth's climate with the equatorial regions warmed while the arctic grows colder. Could this be a boon for the nuclear lobby, or is this just further evidence for a diversified power-generating system?"
So does this mean the United States is going to start invading windy countries?
Don't listen to him ! It's just this kind of thinking which is keeping people from investing in my perpetual motion machine !
Be quick about it, OK? OH, and when you kill yourself, do it in a forest by yourself so that you can be converted into plant material with the minimum of impact.
We can't get all of that last fifth of the 5 fifths -- though you worthless schmuck should do your part ASAP and stop ruining the environment with each extra breath or moment that you block the wind.
Thanks!
A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
would it help if they make the turbines spin the other way?
Quite an amazing piece of gear; if you ever get the chance to get up close to one, take it.
take it? and where the heck am I gonna go with a big noisy windmill sticking out of my pocket?
1. Walk to Taco Bell.
2. Buy 2 bean burritos.
3. Walk home.
4. Wait 8-16 hours.
5. Energy in the form of gas.
6. Sell gas to power company.
Repeat steps 1-6.
I'm sorry Mr. Newton, but in THIS universe we have friction...
"Faith: Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel." - A.B.
But would not the availability of free energy eventually cause people to use huge amounts of energy? Sooner or later we would have the new problem of efficiently radiating all that extra heat (the energy would turn into heat sooner or later) off this planet.
Ah, that's easy. Giant fusion powered air conditioning units.
</humor>
The problem with "free" is that there is no free lunch. The problem with Thermonuclear fusion is that it is producing HEAT. Even used to produce electricity, the end result (at my computer or light bulb or whatever) is HEAT.
That HEAT changes the environment, because it is a net addition of energy. The earth must dissipate that energy (presumably the atmosphere losing heat into space) or the environment will still be changing.
Hmm... maybe we could use wind turbines to remove some of this energy from the air?