Want to make the energy generated by wind turbines even greener? Make them much bigger than they currently are, say researchers in Switzerland.
Findings published in May by Marloes Caduff of the Institute of Environmental Engineering in the journal Environmental Science & Technology quantify a general move towards bigger and bigger turbines. Because bigger turbines can generate much more power while not requiring proportional increases in materials and technology than smaller ones, the resulting power that they do generate is greener. The report states that “the results showed that the larger the turbine is, the greener the electricity becomes. This effect was caused by pure size effects of the turbine (micro level) as well as learning and experience with the technology over time (macro level).”
In the last 30 years, wind turbines have grown in size from 50 feet in diameter in 1980 to about 500 feet today. The future could see 1,000-foot diameter turbines.
While the idea of even greener power being generated by larger wind turbines is certainly appreciated, one has to wonder how they would go over with the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) crowd. Communities across the world are fighting the construction of wind turbines within view of their homes and word of even bigger turbines on the horizon could step up their battle. I, for one, would welcome bigger turbines if it meant for even greener power. Anything we can do to wean ourselves off fossil fuels is good with me.
[via UPI]
Image Source: Environmental Science & Technology