[ RadSafe ] World's Biggest Wind Park -Capacity Factor vs. Nuclear

[Bob Hearn]

When will you ever stop milking this story from the little newspaper article
on the APT bulletin board?

Kidding aside, a repeat posting here may well be enjoyed by radsafers
subscribed in the last decade or so... ;>)

Best regards,

Bob Hearn

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stewart Farber" <farbersa at optonline.net>
To: "James Salsman" <james at bovik.org>; "Flood, John" <FloodJR at nv.doe.gov>
Cc: "James Salsman" <james at bovik.org>; <radsafe at radlab.nl>
Sent: Friday, February 24, 2006 1:24 AM
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] World's Biggest Wind Park -Capacity Factor vs.
Nuclear


> RE: Lies, damned lies, and statistics
>
> Hello all,
>
> A modern 1 MW wind turbine typically has a blade diameter of 62 meters or
> greater and turns up to 23 rpm. Thus these 3 bladed 1 MW wind generators
> have a tip velocity of about 245 feet/second, a much higher tip speed than
> the older 1970s vintage wind turbines.  Smaller turbines  had higher rpm
but
> much lower blade velocity along the outer blade elements vs. today's 1 MW
or
> larger turbines.  In part,  the high tip speed of modern wind turbines is
> what led me to author a satire about the serious hazard of a "Loss of
Blade
> Accident" [LOBA] in wind power generation back in 1981. This satire was
> based on an actual LOBA at a windmill in California when the President of
> the company which supplied a turbine to a windfarm was inspecting the
tower,
> and fell to his death when the windmill threw a blade.
>
> The main point is that  modern large wind turbines have proven very
damaging
> to birds and especially raptors and migrating birds,  which are totally
> fooled by the 203 foot diameter blades with their extremely high tip
element
> velocity, which is almost 25% the speed of sound.
>
> Comparing what is claimed by Mr. Salsman about what house cats may or may
> not do in an urban setting to starlings and grackles vs.the  large numbers
> of raptors and migrating birds killed near wind farms covering huge areas
is
> a completly inappropriate and meaningless comparison.
>
> Stewart Farber, MS Public Health
> Air Pollution Control
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "James Salsman" <james at bovik.org>
>
> > Otto Raabe wrote:
> >
> >> Wind farms are dangerous to birds, they can kill flocks of birds.
> >
> > That was also true in the 1970s, when the fast 25 kW turbines killed
> > many raptors.  The new multi-megawatt turbines spin much more slowly,
> > and kill fewer birds per acre of wind farm usage than house cats over
> > the same suburban area.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> > James Salsman
>
>
>
> -- 
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