Re: Wind Farms Don't Bother Birds

On Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:30:54 GMT, "JC" <dontbother@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:


"Ron" <ron@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:2v0je4pkcsrt6m8vnkdhcgqhofh1jikm8t@xxxxxxxxxx
On Sun, 05 Oct 2008 15:21:15 GMT, "JC" <dontbother@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:


"Ron" <ron@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:b4sfe4hn50c1nddc9ik6a1kg470ndth101@xxxxxxxxxx
On Sat, 04 Oct 2008 13:32:24 GMT, "JC"
<dontbother@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:


"clams_casino" <PeterGriffin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:CSHFk.3961$Bt4.2875@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ron wrote:

On Fri, 3 Oct 2008 09:54:09 -0400, "Joan F \(MI\)"
<jjfahl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


I bet more bird than that are killed by automobiles.

Ron wrote:
|
| Depends on where you do your study. See:
|
http://www.canhydro.com/projects/wolfeislandwind/planning_docs/BSC_Bird_Report(May2004).pdf
|
| Anywhere from 10 to 1,000 birds a month are killed by wind
turbines in
| the U.S.
|
| Ron



I don't know Joan. I traveled the Los Angeles freeway system
for
17
years when I was working. I only hit one bird in all that time.
I
don't recall ever seeing a bird carcass along the side of the
freeway,
but then birds are usually pretty small. I did see a few dead
dogs
possums, and the occasional skunk, but no birds.

Ron



I've never (knowingly) hit a bird driving, but at least one a
month
kill themselves flying into the windows on our home.


I doubt any of you have seen one of those wind turbines in action.
Hell, you could practically walk through them they are so slow.


I've been to the wind farm at Tehachapi and the blades ARE turning
(apparently) slow. I didn't bother to try to count the blades per
minute so I looked it up on the Internet and found the rpm to vary
between 40 and 80 rpm depending on the wind velocity. Too slow
and
the turbines can't produce enough electricity to pay and too high
and
the turbines can sustain damage. In either case they just shut
down
by feathering the blades. If you calculate tip speed for a 60 ft
diameter turbine going at 60 rpm you get 188 ft/sec or 128 mph. I
wouldn't try to walk between them if I were you. When you see
them
in
action in person or on TV, the blade speed is not evident due to
the
sheer size of the blades. Get close enough and they are moving
pretty
fast.

Ron

You can calculate all you want to, I've walked between them and
watched others walk between them. You don't actually walk between
the
blades themselves because they are well above you, but you can
easily
walk across the path they make between the time one blade passes and
another appears. I posted a youtube yesterday, look at it. Granted,
the original ones they installed out in California are quite fast,
but
they are a joke. They are so inefficient that they have already
wasted
5 times as much money as they originally invested. The ones in Texas
couldn't go 128 miles an hour in hurricane and they produce a whole
lot of power. 25% of the power used in Texas and increasing every
day.



Depends on how fast the wind is blowing when someone takes the
movies.


Not necessarily. They are geared. It's the same theory as a standard
transmission in a car. Try going 128 miles an hour in first gear.

It appears I might not have made myself clear about the 128 mph. I
was not saying the wind speed or the rotor speed of the wind turbines
was 128 mph. The rotor speed varies from 40 to 80 rpm (revolutions
per minute) or about 1 revolution per second. I took the average at 1
revolution per second and calculated the speed of the rotor blades at
their tips. That speed is 128 mph. It is not just the wind turbines
at Tehachapi, which are not old by the way. The oldest were replaced
quite some time ago and new ones are being installed as investors pump
more money in. Turbines at San Gorgonio and Altamont run at similar
speeds. Check out the video at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wD1fd9yWOc

By the way... I've spent some time in West Texas on many business
trips and I can safely say the wind there may just possibly approach
128 mph on occasion. ;-)

Ron

.

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