Breakthrough will make wind power cheaper than nuclear

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Mr. G
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Breakthrough will make wind power cheaper than nuclear

Post by Mr. G »

Japanese breakthrough will make wind power cheaper than nuclear

A surprising aerodynamic innovation in wind turbine design called the 'wind lens' could triple the output of a typical wind turbine, making it less costly than nuclear power. The International Clean Energy Analysis (ICEA) gateway estimates that the U.S. possess 2.2 million km2 of high wind potential (Class 3-7 winds) — about 850,000 square miles of land that could yield high levels of wind energy. This makes the U.S. something of a Saudi Arabia for wind energy, ranked third in the world for total wind energy potential.

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Kyosan
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Re: Breakthrough will make wind power cheaper than nuclear

Post by Kyosan »

The 'wind lens' looks like a really great idea. It's simple and looks like something that could be added to existing windmills to increase their efficiency.

I wonder whether windmills can run at lower wind velocities when using a wind lens. I'm sure that there are many people who would like to use a windmill but can't because the wind velocities aren't high enough where they live.
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Virgo
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Re: Breakthrough will make wind power cheaper than nuclear

Post by Virgo »

Well I would hope it would be cheaper than nuclear power! You can make an incredible amount of energy with little effort with nuclear plants but just imagine the costs of maintenance.

Also: "850,000 square miles of land that could yield high levels of wind energy. This makes the U.S. something of a Saudi Arabia for wind energy, ranked third in the world for total wind energy potential." from the ICEA

Those figures are probably distorted. How much of that is private property? Probably a great deal of it. Some people on private properties might adopt 1 or more of these lance turbines, but most of areas aren't going to be turned into giant wind based energy production plants. So more energy based on wind technology, yes. "Saudia Arabia" of wind energy, unlikely.


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