subject: Urban Wind Turbines: 3 Ways They Will Improve The Economy [print this page] The concept of urban wind turbines changing the future of the energy landscape in America and the rest of the world. Urban wind turbines are simply residential and commercial wind turbines that are mounted on roofs in cities large and small.There is just so much more untapped energy there to be harvested than anywhere else in the world.
These are the ways urban wind turbines will improve things for all of us
Take advantage of roof space that is currently unused - If you drive down the street in a major city nowadays you will still find the the majority of roofs are not being utilized at all. Yes, some are used for microwave and radio towers, but that is typically only for the tallest buildings. So much of the roof real estate in cities and towns all over America and for that matter all over the world is just simply not being utilized for anything productive.
Roof wind is turbulent and excellent for powering a wind turbine - Although the best winds are always found 30 to 40 feet over the tree line, wind turbines installed on roofs are in a perfect position to take advantage of the stronger wind that is up high. While the wind there is not perfect by any means, it is perfectly good for our purposes with a wind turbine. The chaotic nature of the wind on the roof due to the angular geometry of the structures there, lends itself well to power creation with a wind turbine device. These are typically horizontal axis wind turbines. These simple devices have the ability to change direction quickly and then make the most efficient use of chaotic wind conditions.
Reducing the need for extra power that is very expensive - The baseload power that we make in the United States today is primarily generated from fossil fuels. However, the additional generation load we are taking on to power expansion and growth during peak times, like the summer, is driven by natural gas primarily. Natural gas is a very volatility priced commodity and can swing drastically in the course of a short period of time as evidenced by the price spikes after the recent hurricane near New Orleans. Prices of natural gas went up fourfold during that crisis because many of the extraction points in the Gulf of Mexico were compromised or destroyed by the storm.
The reason that is important is electric utilities are increasingly using natural gas for these peaking purposes. That means that when the power grid is at an absolute maximum the utility must deploy all the electricity generating resources that they have. When that happens they pull out all the stops and end up using natural gas driven turbines to supply the extra capacity they need. Since the price of this commodity is so volatile, the price of this extra layer of power can be very expensive depending on the time of year.
So, by using a home wind turbine kit on or roof and in an urban setting you are removing that last little bit of power that is very expensive from your personal mix and thereby lowering your costs overall. Albeit only by a small amount now, it is potentially massive as time moves on.
In conclusion, urban wind turbines have the potential to really make a difference in the price of the energy we consume. Even a small offset of traditionally generated power can make a big difference. Wind turbines utilize a perpetual energy source and the more we utilize them to offset the need to build more power generation facilities, the cheaper power will be for all of us in the long run.
by: Roger Brown
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