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12 Small Windmills Put To the Test In Holland
tuna writes "A real-world test by the Dutch province of Zeeland (a very windy place) demonstrates that small windmills are a fundamentally flawed technology (PDF of tests results in Dutch, English summary). Twelve much-hyped micro wind turbines were placed in a row on an open plain. Their energy yield was measured over a period of one year (April 1, 2008 — March 31, 2009), the average wind velocity during these 12 months was 3.8 meters per second, slightly higher than average. Three windmills broke. The others recorded ridiculously low yields, in spite of the optimal conditions. It would take up to 141 small windmills to power an average American household entirely using wind energy, for a total cost of 780,000 dollars. The test results show clearly that energy return is closely tied to rotor diameter, and that the design of the windmill hardly matters."
It would take up to 141 small windmills to power an average American household entirely using wind energy...
I think this sais more about American household power consumption than it does about small windmills. Doesn't it?
I think it's a little sad and I would love to see a power-meter that shows exactly how much power you use when you use it. I think that would make people think.
Also it's a little amusing to read this site on how "bloated" KDE and Gnome are, or how bloated the linux kernel is, but still people use their terrible inefficient cars and houses that are energy-hogs.
Why isn't everyone here trying to make their home and car as efficient as comfortably possible? It's the "techie" thing to do.
And the tech is already available.
Remember that the cheapest energy unit is the one that you don't use.
You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. -- Harlan Ellison
I was going to use my mod points to mod you informative, but when I got to the web site I got this little conundrum:
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If you provide a link, please at least make it one where I don't have to pay, or provide the full text here.
As it is I can hardly determine if your thoughts about the EPA are a troll, or true. Try again.
Life is a great ride, the vehicle doesn't matter
There is original research posted to Slashdot all the time, mostly in the field of computer science.
If there is enough data in the article to draw your own conclusions, then there is enough to discuss. This is a discussion site. If Slashdot only posted agreed-upon facts, then we would all just sit here with our dicks in our hands.
What the fuck is wrong with you people lately? This isn't wikipedia. We don't need anything filtered for truthiness by the retards responsible for that site.
"I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"
Repeat after me: slashdot is not wikipedia.
Original research must appear somewhere in journals and the like. When it appears it becomes news. Slashdot is, guess what? news for nerds.
Now someone please mod the parent down.
Or nuclear. It's proven, it's working today, and there's phenomenal amounts of energy.
When did America become so retarded?
Modding me -1 troll doesn't make me wrong.
Hypocrite.
The second law of thermodynamics has nothing to do with a discussion on future energy sources for the Earth. You could have just as easily mentioned that the sun is eventually going to kill off all life on the planet. Neither fact is relevant.
Honestly, if you hadn't quoted my post, I'd question whether you were actually replying to it, and not some other post. This is not a physics problem, it's a question of resources. If you have some evidence that our readily available nuclear fuel will not be exhausted in a relatively short (i.e. centuries) amount of time, please post it here.
In other words, prove me wrong before acting like a supercilious douchebag.
Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.