World Wind Watch | Green Energy News

May 22, 2005 – Vol.10 No.9

WORLD WIND WATCH.

The higher the elevation, the stronger the wind - even if that elevation is the hub of a state-of-the-art, megawatt-class, wind turbine.

According to a study sponsored by Stanford University and NASA, there’s enough wind energy potential at 300 feet (80 meters), the hub height of that modern wind turbine, to energize the entire planet - many times over. Energize the entire planet means powering everything: houses, cars, ships, airplanes, industry, etc.

That’s the conclusion of the study by Cristina Archer and Mark Jacobson, researchers at Stanford University. And, they’ve provided a map to show were the best sites for wind development are likely to be.

In the study Archer and Jacobson were specifically looking for Class 3 winds, and above, at hub height using a new interpolation technique to reflect that height. Data was gathered from 7500 surface and 500 balloon launched stations. Class 3 winds, or 15 miles per hour (6.9 meters per second) are considered the tipping point where wind energy becomes economically viable.

They concluded that 13 percent of those stations would have Class 3 winds at 300 feet. Further, they noted an even greater number of locations around the globe are likely suitable for wind power but no wind data is available for those sites. Given what is known about the location, environment, weather and terrain in those locations wind energy potential is likely.

However, the researchers do recognize that many, if not most of these wind resources, may never be tapped. To harness all the wind available many, very large wind farms would have to be built. Tightly packed turbines would be a hazard to birds and be noisy. The public too, would consider mega-wind farms near populated areas to be unsightly.

Every region of the world has Class 3 winds suitable for development, but generally the best areas are in North America, followed by Northern Europe and the North Sea. The southern tip of South America as well as the Australian island of Tasmania also have significant wind resources. Antarctica would be a wind power house too.

The best spots for wind energy in the U.S are in the Great Lakes Region as well as along the nation’s East, West and Southern coasts.

On average, the researchers calculated that at 300 feet wind travels over the ocean at 20 miles per hour (8..6 meters per second) and 10 miles per hour (4.5 meters per second) over land.

Overall they determined that 72 terawatts of electricity could be generated globally by wind energy which would be far more than the world needs. In 2000 only 1.6 -1.8 terawatts were generated world-wide. If just 20 percent of the world’s wind resources were harnessed, the wind would supply the world with all its energy for all purposes, even that for transportation. (Wind generated electricity could be used to make transportation fuels, for instance.)

The researchers supported what most have known all along. Wind farms are often inefficient because they’re built in areas where winds are often inconsistent and intermittent. Focusing on developing wind farms where winds are more or less constant would make them more viable. For the report (an earlier version with the maps) click

http://www.stanford.edu/group/efmh/winds/global_winds.html