Wind Energy Essentials
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IMPACTS OF ENERGY AND ELECTRICITY ON SOCIETY
1.1 WHAT ARE "SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS"?
1.1.1 Interactions and Effects of Technology on Society and the Environment
We begin with two fundamental characteristics of human nature. First, humans develop and use technology, beginning with stone tools, the use of fire and heat, the plow, and agriculture-to modern times where we have developed electric utilities, computers, and cell phones. Second, humans are social beings and live in groups. Since the earliest times, these two elements of human development have been major contributors to modern civilized society. Technological developments used to the benefit of society usually provide a general improvement in the quality of life (QOL), to include security (such as defense against other people or animals; warfare activities; or natural phenomena such as earthquakes, floods, and windstorms). Other developments, such as politics, economics, philosophy, and education have also been key elements in this development, but our focus in this text is on the interactions of technology, society, and the environment with a particular emphasis on the impacts of wind energy development.
In addition to societal impacts, technology development often impacts the natural environment. The process of generating energy has very significant impacts on the natural environment. This began from the earliest cave dwellers harvesting wood to burn for warmth and light through today where modern society depends on fossil fuels to provide the majority of our energy needs. As will be discussed, the environmental impact of the production, distribution, and use of energy has significant impact on the natural environment, especially as the need for energy has grown with an expanding population.
1.1.2 Sustainable Development
Over the last several decades, the impact of rapid technological progress on the global environment, as well as growing populations, has heightened concerns about negative environmental effects and the growing demand for limited natural resources. These concerns have led to the concept of "sustainable development." The word "sustainability" is derived from the Latin word sustinere (tenere, to hold; sus, up). Dictionaries provide more than 10 meanings for sustain, the main ones being to "maintain," "support," or "endure." However, since the 1980s sustainability has been used more in the sense of human sustainability on Earth and this has resulted in the most widely quoted definition of sustainability and sustainable development-that of the Brundtland Commission of the United Nations on March 20, 1987:
Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. [1]
In other words, sustainable development minimizes the impact of resource use so that the needs of the present generation are met without diminishing the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
1.1.3 Wind Power, Technology, and Society
Our study will focus on one of the most basic elements of our planetary environment: the wind. This chapter will examine wind technologies developed over many centuries to harness the power of the wind for an improved QOL and how it has impacted society, both in centuries past and today. We will begin with a historical overview of wind power technological accomplishments, such as the age of discovery using sailing ships, the importance of wind power in providing transportation across the developing United States and settling the central Great Plains, to early electricity production using wind power. This will be followed by an overview of wind science and technology with an in-depth focus on modern global utility-scale wind power development for electrical power production.
1.2 EARLY WIND POWER INNOVATION AND DISCOVERY
1.2.1 Age of Sail Power
Using wind to power sailing vessels has had major impacts on society throughout the history of civilization. Sailing vessels have allowed humans greater mobility for thousands of years and have increased the capacity for fishing, trade, commerce, transport, naval defense, and warfare. The earliest image of a ship under sail was painted on a disk found in the Middle East dating to the fifth millennium bc. In the sixth century, development of the Lateen Rig in Arabia, shown in Figure 1.1, allowed vessels to travel in an upwind direction. Sails used previously could only develop a motive force moving with the wind direction (downwind) and required oarsmen to travel in an upwind direction. This was a major innovation since the vessel could now travel in all directions solely with the power of the wind.
Figure 1.1 A Dhow sailing vessel with Lateen rigged sails (a) and one of the most popular recreational sailboats, the Sunfish (b), which use the same ancient sail design. This was the first sail design that allowed sailboats to tack (go back and forth at an angle) allowing travel upwind. Modern wind turbines are driven by similar crosswind (lift) forces. See more about lift forces in Figure 4.5
(Photo Credit-upper photo: Xavier Romero-Frias, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sd2-baggala.JPG; lower photo: Dierde Santos, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SunfishRacing.jpg).
Sailing ships became considerably larger over the centuries, as well as more seaworthy, with improved techniques for harnessing the wind. These advances along with improved navigational techniques allowed sailors to travel the seas worldwide. Sailors learned to use global wind patterns to reduce the time of long trips connecting distant societies in ways that were previously not possible.
One of the periods of most significant change and impact occurred during what is often referred to as the "Age of Discovery" from the fifteenth through the seventeenth century. During this time, such familiar names as Columbus and Magellan set out on famous and historical sailing journeys. Columbus discovered the "New World," while Magellan was the first to lead an expedition that circumnavigated the globe. Leaving Portugal in 1519 with five ships, his fleet returned to Spain in 1522 led by Juan Sebastian, due to the death of Magellan in the Philippines during the 3-year voyage.
The golden age of sail, however, is usually considered to be during the nineteenth century, when sailing vessels had become quite large and the efficiency of long-distance sailing was at its peak. Trade during the golden age was dominated by huge numbers of sailing vessels, following routes defined by the "Trade Winds" and navigating to all parts of the globe providing trade, commerce, and immigration of large numbers of people-changing societies and cultures around the world. This was also a time when the most powerful nations on Earth had large naval fleets of sailing vessels, not only for their own sovereign protection but also to protect shipping lanes and spread power and influence throughout the world. The British Empire, for example, depended heavily on its strong navy of sailing warships to build, to expand, and to protect its empire during this period in the nineteenth century. Figure 1.2 shows the USS Constitution. Named in 1797 by President George Washington, it was one of the ships commissioned for the newly formed U.S. Navy. The ship is best known for her actions in the War of 1812 where she earned the name "Old Ironsides."
Figure 1.2 The restored USS Constitution under sail, a warship of the first U.S. Navy
(Source: Photo Courtesy of U.S. Navy).
In addition to trade, immigration, and national defense, nineteenth century commercial sailing vessels harvested the seas for food and commodities-the most well-known being the whaling fleet. Whaling ships, like the Charles W. Morgan shown in Figure 1.3, would embark on multiyear journeys to hunt whales. In the nineteenth century, whales were abundant and were harvested for the high-quality oil they contained, as it was a valued commodity due to the clean-burning light provided by a whale oil lamp.
Figure 1.3 Charles W. Morgan Whaling Ship, Mystic Seaport, CT
(Photo Credit: Mystic Seaport, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Charles_W_Morgan.jpg).
Without electricity, candles and lamps provided the only light. Whaling ships could hold in the order of 2000 barrels of oil, valued between $200 and $1500 per barrel (2003 US dollars). Voyages would last until the ship's hold was full, sometimes up to 5 years. Driven by the high value of the whale oil and ever-improving sailing vessels, the industry flourished in the nineteenth century, driving the whale population to near extinction. The discovery of petroleum products, in particular kerosene, led to the replacement of whale oil and the decline of the industry. None of these aspects of world history would have been possible without the use of wind-driven ships.
1.2.2 Wind Power and the Transcontinental Railroad
Late in the eighteenth century, the steam locomotive was invented nearly simultaneously in England and in the United States. England, however, was the location of the development of the first railway system, built at the turn of the nineteenth century. The...
