[ RadSafe ] RE: Turn off nuclear power, environmentalists urge

[Gary Damschen]

I apologize for the delayed response, I have been away from email for
several days.

I am comfortable with the idea that you can retrieve some amount of energy
from the wind with minimal effect, and the line of windmills referred to may
well be within the bounds of the negligible effect domain. I wonder what the
total output of the windmills is and how reliable the output is, though. Do
you have a name for the wind farm or perhaps a web site or other publication
with that information?

A quick look online indicates that replacing a nuke plant (1200MWe) requires
about 140 sq. miles of wind turbines. It seems to me that if high-rise
buildings in city centers can substantially affect weather patterns, that
many square miles of wind turbines could also affect them, so I am looking
for references to studies on the subject. After all, the energy that is
being removed was already accounted for in the local ecosystem. If it is
removed, what stops happening that is happening now? What is the impact of
the change? I think these questions would be important in evaluating the
relative impacts of conventional (e.g., nuclear) and "green" power sources.

I never see the questions asked, so I thought I would ask them.

Thanks,
Gary

 
>reply
...There is a rather extensive line of windmills on a ridge at the border of
Washington and Oregon (just downwind of me). If it were affecting Oregon in
any way I'm sure there would be extensive protests, and I haven't heard
about any negative impact on the skiing at Sun Valley or the potato crop in
Idaho, so I'm assuming that they haven't had a problem either. Since farmers
typically expect a wind barrier (fence or trees) to provide a calm distance
equal to twice the height of the barrier, I would be hard pressed to accept
the Butterfly Effect as plausible even for windmills. I've also noticed no
detrimental effect on my property an hour east of my house, downwind of the
windmills...

>reply
... Do you know of any international and reliable investigations which put
wind-mills and sun-energy farms as well as some other potential energy
sources compared to nuclear power into perspective? This request is directed
to all of the recipients of the list.

>reply

A few years ago (2002) I heard a talk by Mike Foreman of the Institute for
Ocean Studies in Victoria, BC that asked and at least partially answered the
same question regarding the use of underwater turbines to remove energy
(turning it into electricity) from ocean currents around Vancouver Island.
His answer was that there is a limit on how much energy you can remove
without essential changes in the system of ocean currents.  A Google or
Yahoo search might turn up more information...

>original

Has anyone studied the environmental impact of removing the equivalent of
1000MWe of solar irradiation from a concentrated area or what would happen
to New Jersey's weather patterns if the entire state's electrical energy
needs were met by removing gigawatts of energy from the prevailing winds...