Wind Power - Gizmodo

posts about #windpower more →
Remainders: Stuff We Didn't Post (and Why)
Dubiously Named Inflatable 'Speed' Boat Navigates Pools At Blistering 2MPH
K3 Harnesses the Power of the Sun, the Wind, and the Electric Grid
U.S. Flew to the Top in Wind Power Production Last Year
19th Century vs 21st Century Wind Power
Aliens Send a Message to UK: Wind Power Sucks
Kinesis K2 Puts Solar and Wind Charging Power In a Handheld Unit
Febot Concept Recharges AA Batteries With Wind Power
Wind Turbine Laser System Detects Gusts Before They Arrive
Ericsson's Pretty Tower Tube Cell Towers Now Wind-Powered

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exoren22
11/03/09

In reply to Remainders: Stuff We Didn't Post (and Why)
Not to mention that windfarms reduce wind and make the surrounding area heat up as a result. #gizmodoremainders
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EBone
11/03/09

@exoren22: I don't even know how to reply to the stupidity of your statement, other than I hope you forgot your sarcasm tag. #gizmodoremainders
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exoren22
11/03/09

@EBone: Well, considering it's a real world problem, I don't even know how to reply to your ignorance, except to tell you to go to San Francisco in the summer time, when they used to have a cooling wind coming down from the mountains.

You know we can't get energy for free, right? Hydroelectric power reduces water flow and causes the destruction of wildlife both upstream and downstream. Solar power has local heating problems that CANNOT be fixed, and massive wind farms destroy the natural heat transfer created by wind patterns. #gizmodoremainders
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EBone
11/03/09

@exoren22: You really believe that the turbine blades take the wind "away"? That the wind doesn't turn the blades and keep on blowing past, over, and around the blades?

I have no words. #gizmodoremainders
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psychiccheese
11/03/09

@EBone: I think he's actually right, but he's blowing it way out of proportion. It's more on the same scale of dumping a bottle of filtered water into a lake to change the pH. #gizmodoremainders
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runamok1001
11/03/09

@EBone: exoren22 is right though I don't know to what degree. Conservation of energy means there is no free ride and no perpetual motion machines. Just like a hydroelectric dam can slow a river to a trickle, wind farms use the wind to do work, thus depleting some of the kinetic energy in that wind. But once again, I have no idea of the total energy of the wind or how much energy is extracted so I could not testify to the effect.
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EBone
11/03/09

@runamok1001: Do yourself a favor and look at an isobar map of the United States. They measure pressure gradients. Wind is generated when air moves from high pressure areas to low pressure areas.

Isobar front lines are hundreds to thousands of miles long. Wind projects don't even show up on the scale we're talking about here. It would be the equivalent of trying to stop the Mississippi River with a 2x4. #gizmodoremainders
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mnerd
11/03/09

In reply to Remainders: Stuff We Didn't Post (and Why)
The wind farm thing really speaks more to how we really need to upgrade our air traffic control to newer modern technology stat. #gizmodoremainders
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70watts
11/03/09

In reply to Remainders: Stuff We Didn't Post (and Why)
Wind turbines really don't kill that many birds in comparison to things like planes, trucks and... trees. That's a common myth.

Here's the google results for that.
[www.google.com]
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Don Nguyen promoted this comment Edited by 70watts at 11/03/09 12:40 AM 70watts was starred 70watts was unstarred

Fractal the Meek
11/03/09

In reply to Remainders: Stuff We Didn't Post (and Why)
Thank you for being a champion for the essence of e-readership! And also, I've seen at least one notably less comfortable bike design.
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curious-character
11/02/09

In reply to Remainders: Stuff We Didn't Post (and Why)
Grandpa bikes excluded (upright riding), a bike seat needs only provide support to the bony part of your bottom while minimizing interference and chaffing with your thighs. This is why racing seats look so terrible, but are actually quite comfortable. This seat seems to give you a choice of supporting your weight on your anus or testicles. #gizmodoremainders
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92BuickLeSabre
11/02/09

In reply to Remainders: Stuff We Didn't Post (and Why)
The obvious solution is to put the wind farms in Manhattan, so they'll kill all these fucking pigeons. #gizmodoremainders
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Gordonium
11/02/09

@92BuickLeSabre: Mmm... Gotta love those post-windfarm mornings, with the surreal pink mist of pigeon guts over Manhattan, and little feet and feathers falling to the streets below... #gizmodoremainders
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92BuickLeSabre
11/02/09

@Gordonium: Sounds heavenly. #gizmodoremainders
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weatherman
11/03/09

@92BuickLeSabre: a wind turbine of the vertical axis variety, about the size of a water tower, would probably do very well at both generating electricity and getting rid of pesky pigeons. And properly designed it could also have a receptacle for the remains so that they could be put to good use. Then we'd have cheap electricity and we wouldn't have to make soylent green out of people anymore.

PS I'm trademarking the term "squabchoppers" #gizmodoremainders
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seriously, saycarramrod
11/03/09

@weatherman: Plus when the pigeons hit the side of the turbine, it would actually make it go faster. #gizmodoremainders
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92BuickLeSabre
11/03/09

@weatherman: and @saycarramrod: It's exactly this kind of ingenuity that made America what it is today! #gizmodoremainders
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Toastie
11/02/09

In reply to Remainders: Stuff We Didn't Post (and Why)
I want a picture of a person trying to sit on that bike. #gizmodoremainders
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Toastie
11/02/09

@Toastie: Oh no, it's on a mission to grind that man's genitals into a fine powder. #gizmodoremainders
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twoeightnine
11/02/09

@Toastie: Damn, that looks so awkward to pedal. #gizmodoremainders
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The Lab
11/03/09

@Toastie: I loved this bike until I saw what a person looks like on it. A good idea but needs some work. #gizmodoremainders
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weatherman
11/03/09

@The Lab: yeah, the first pic looks like it makes some sense, but then you realize there's almost no leg extension (which means no power). Cool look though. #gizmodoremainders
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badhatharry
05/31/09

In reply to Dubiously Named Inflatable 'Speed' Boat Navigates Pools At Blistering 2MPH
Why is this kid wearing a life vest? He's in a POOL. He's not puttering away from the still-sinking Titanic. This kid's parents are idiots.
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GitEmSteveDave_OverSleptThisMorn
04/24/09

In reply to K3 Harnesses the Power of the Sun, the Wind, and the Electric Grid
So when will Obama mandate these for the Seante/Congress/Supreme Court/Oval Office to capture all that wasted breath?
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Shadowlayer
02/05/09

In reply to U.S. Flew to the Top in Wind Power Production Last Year
Thats enough to power more than 20 DeLoreans!

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EBone
02/04/09

In reply to U.S. Flew to the Top in Wind Power Production Last Year
I'm proud to say that 252 megawatts of that new power was developed, constructed, and is managed by my company. In case you're curious, that's enough energy for about 100,000 homes annually.
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
02/04/09

In reply to U.S. Flew to the Top in Wind Power Production Last Year
Wait, this can't be true! We became #1 in Wind Power production while Dubyah was in office! But, that's not right! Awwww people of Sherwood Forest we've been had, bamboozled, flimflammed... We didn't land on wind power, wind power landed on us.
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Luke Thornton
02/04/09

In reply to U.S. Flew to the Top in Wind Power Production Last Year
This is great news! Obama is going to DOUBLE the production of renewables...so in the next few years it's going to be very promising, slowly releasing our thirst for oil.

I just can't wait for a time when electricity and clean energy are rife, clean air....mmmmmm. Knowing that using energy is not damaging anything, so i can use things without any 'guilt'.....twenty years from now the world will be a very different place, especially when considering China is making HUGE efforts to come out of the recession in a 'green' way
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VakeroRokero
02/04/09

@Luke Thornton: double? he barely can get money to lend people, where is he going to get 30 trillion to spend on energy?
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GitEmSteveDave_OverSleptThisMorn
02/04/09

@VakeroRokero: I can't pay the mortgage on the terms I agreed to, but I can afford a windmill for my house!
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
02/04/09

@Luke Thornton: People keep talking about reducing the thirst for oil, but there really aren't enough electric powered vehicles on the market to do this, or even coming to market in the next 4 years.

Most plants are coal or natural gas powered in the US. Not OIL powered anyway.

I think you mean cleaner energy sources here. It's going to be a LONG time until we're really off of oil.

But, what about the noise pollution from windmills? Or, you know, the fact that they kill birds? Even wind power isn't perfect here.

I'm glad we're pursuing alternative fuel sources, but I can tell you that ethanol is a sham and yet another way to starve poor people.

What we need, is energy from space!
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GitEmSteveDave_OverSleptThisMorn
02/04/09

@Lite: must go faster.: OK, seriously. If a bird can't spot a whirling 150 foot blade, perhaps it's good we eliminate that bird. It seems that's the kind of bird who would ignore a plane flying at it until it gets sucked into the engine.
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Purple Dave
02/04/09

In reply to U.S. Flew to the Top in Wind Power Production Last Year
I just saw our governor giving some line about how she's going to set it up so that everyone in Michigan can sell solar power back to the power companies. And I though to myself...so what will we do the other nine months of the year?
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
02/04/09

@Purple Dave: In most states your meter can run forward or backward. So if you produce more energy than you consume, the power company must pay you.
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Purple Dave
02/04/09

@Lite: shops smart. He shops at S-Mart.:
In Michigan, we have these things called "clouds". That and the blanket of snow that's likely to be covering the solar panels during the winter months means that solar panels are pretty much just a fancy way to dress up your roof for most of the year. I understand the whole thing with being able to sell excess home-generated power back to the company (and indeed, I didn't think it required a new law for that to work). It's just that solar power would be a lot more cost-effective if we were, say, a desert. Wind-power would make more sense, especially given how much coastline we have, but people don't like having those things parked in their backyards.

No, the only way you're likely to be able to sell solar power back to the power company while living in Michigan is if you cover every square inch of your property in solar panels and go on vacation for most of the summer. Otherwise it'll just cut down on your power bill a little bit.
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Geisrud
01/19/09

In reply to 19th Century vs 21st Century Wind Power
Guess which one is WAY more efficient and a decent ROI?
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