Two Wind Energy Helpers
The next time someone tries to tell you that wind energy is a non-starter because “the wind will not always blow” (and I’m looking at Lubbock’s own Mr. Conservative here), share these two promising technologies:
* compressed-air energy storage (scroll down to #10) — part of the ambitious Pickens Plan for using wind and solar energy effectively is storing extra energy as compressed air in underground caverns. The energy can be released later for peak demand periods.
* Put a curve in front of a wind turbine — the same principle lets us fly around on airplanes will also increase the speed of wind going into a wind turbine, thus increasing the energy output of the turbine
Of course, the real power of wind and solar will come on the demand side of the equation. Low profile solar panels and wind turbines can reduce energy pulled from the grid at homes and businesses.
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