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In reply to the discussion: It's scary that anyone would believe this bullshit.. Even scarier that people voted for this idiot.. [View all]IronLionZion
(45,442 posts)40. "This is not a monkey court" but there are some roots in truth
Wind turbines extract kinetic energy from the air around them, and since less energy makes for weaker winds, turbines do indeed make it less windy. Technically speaking, the climate zone right behind a turbine (or behind all the turbines on a wind farm) experiences what's called a "wind speed vacuum," or a "momentum deficit." In other words, the air slows down.
The effect has implications for wind-farm efficiency. Upwind turbines in a densely packed farm may weaken the breeze before it reaches the downwind ones. It could even have a more general impact. If wind farms were constructed on a truly massive scale, their cumulative momentum deficit could conceivably alter wind speeds on a global scale (though how winds would change is complexthey'd likely slow in places and speed up in others).
Wind farms can also affect the local temperature. According to Somnath Baidya Roy, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Illinois, as a breeze passes over a wind farm, the turbines create an atmospheric wake where wind speeds drop and turbulence increases. The rotors spawn a set of eddies that mix air from above with air from below. The eddies can lift cool air and sink warm air or vice-versa. That turbulence could raise or lower local temperatures. In a paper published in 2012, one group of researchers studied areas over several wind farms in Texas and found that local surface temperatures had risen by a small but significant amount.
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-05/fyi-do-wind-farms-make-it-less-windy
The effect has implications for wind-farm efficiency. Upwind turbines in a densely packed farm may weaken the breeze before it reaches the downwind ones. It could even have a more general impact. If wind farms were constructed on a truly massive scale, their cumulative momentum deficit could conceivably alter wind speeds on a global scale (though how winds would change is complexthey'd likely slow in places and speed up in others).
Wind farms can also affect the local temperature. According to Somnath Baidya Roy, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Illinois, as a breeze passes over a wind farm, the turbines create an atmospheric wake where wind speeds drop and turbulence increases. The rotors spawn a set of eddies that mix air from above with air from below. The eddies can lift cool air and sink warm air or vice-versa. That turbulence could raise or lower local temperatures. In a paper published in 2012, one group of researchers studied areas over several wind farms in Texas and found that local surface temperatures had risen by a small but significant amount.
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-05/fyi-do-wind-farms-make-it-less-windy
We found that when wind turbines are present, they slow down the outer rotation winds of a hurricane, Jacobson said. This feeds back to decrease wave height, which reduces movement of air toward the center of the hurricane, increasing the central pressure, which in turn slows the winds of the entire hurricane and dissipates it faster.
The researchers found that 78,286 large wind turbines arrayed off the coast of New Orleans would have dropped Hurricane Katrinas wind speeds by 81 miles per hour, and reduced storm surge by up to 71 percent. Covering most of the Gulf Coast with wind turbines (meaning over half a million individual turbines) slowed down a modeled Katrina even more (wind speeds by 90 mph and storm surge by 79 percent). The same area covered by half as many turbines would still cut storm surge by 63 percent. Hurricane Isaac would have lost up to 60 percent of its storm surge and 57 mph of wind speed. Their model of Hurricane Sandy found that 112,014 offshore turbines would cut wind speed by 80 mph and drop storm surge by 21 percent.
The purpose of a wind turbine is to transmit kinetic energy from wind into electrical energy used to power homes and businesses. The wind that comes out the backside of a wind farm has less energy than it did when it entered the array. And a recent study found that wind farms, even on a huge scale, do not affect the climate as some have claimed. And Archer and Jacobson said in 2012 that 4 million turbines spread around the world could generate half the worlds energy needs without interfering with atmospheric circulation too much.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/02/26/3332521/offshore-wind-turbines-slow-hurricanes/
Joe Barton is an idiot for many reasons. But not because of this. The energy comes from somewhere, which reduces the energy somewhere else. There are consequences to everything.
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It's scary that anyone would believe this bullshit.. Even scarier that people voted for this idiot.. [View all]
Playinghardball
Apr 2014
OP
There was no image when I first viewed the thread. I see it now. Don't know why it did not show up
lostincalifornia
Apr 2014
#1
When I saw the post there was no body in the message, now it has something
lostincalifornia
Apr 2014
#46
No problem. I was only trying to tell the OP that I didn't see any content. I should have just
lostincalifornia
Apr 2014
#53
For one reason or another the image did not show on my computer. But please,pile on. Assume the
lostincalifornia
Apr 2014
#52
I would say "welcome to DU", but you've been here, so you should know what to expect.
7962
Apr 2014
#80
That is because I did not see the embedded image when I first looked at the OP. I see it now though
lostincalifornia
Apr 2014
#55
It did not show up for me initially, either. I had to wait for the image to load. A DU glitch?
freshwest
Apr 2014
#105
Barton's rambling full-length comment is absurd. And he has a degree in industrial engineering.
John1956PA
Apr 2014
#8
In all fairness, it was his much more recent experience of working with monkeys that influenced his
okaawhatever
Apr 2014
#37
Bonzo did his best to educate Reagan about politics, but I can't see he was successful. NT
Jerry442
Apr 2014
#39
Perhaps he got treated by Faith Healers for his heart attack and diabetes. nt
Bernardo de La Paz
Apr 2014
#72
Infinitesimally correct, but why play the oligarchy's profit-centric game for them?
Bernardo de La Paz
Apr 2014
#78
The scary thing is, he actually sounds smart compared to some of the Texas Delegation.
Fuddnik
Apr 2014
#26
And said that it was the responsibility of the taxpayers to clean up and cover BP's loses.
DhhD
Apr 2014
#92
It's scary that anyone would believe this bullshit.. Even scarier that people voted for this idiot.
The CCC
Apr 2014
#27
The global effects are probably negligible, but the local effects are probably significant
IronLionZion
Apr 2014
#113
It's embarrassing to those who stand on one technicality and miss the boat.
Bernardo de La Paz
Apr 2014
#77
I'll bet Joe Barton is full of enough hot air to provide plenty of energy.
mountain grammy
Apr 2014
#59
Let me guess, this same asshat denies climate change and thinks oil will last forever.
liberal N proud
Apr 2014
#62
thanks for reminding me about this particular tidbit of utter stupidity. certainly
niyad
Apr 2014
#94
As an American average citzen of average age fairly well read and educated, raised with enough
bkanderson76
Apr 2014
#102