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Forgive me if this is an utterly ignorant question, or already answered: but with the plan to make 40-50% of power wind-based, is there any potential impact on
by vermilingua 8y ago
Forgive me if this is an utterly ignorant question, or already answered: but with the plan to make 40-50% of power wind-based, is there any potential impact on the environment? Intuition tells me that if wind is able to generate so much power, the energy is coming from somewhere.
For solar, the power is coming from “waste” energy from the sun, but wind takes all its energy from the natural activity of our climate, which is more or less a closed system is it not?
If we’re extracting all this energy from our weather systems, could we not in theory cause some major disruption?
- opportune 8y agoIt's not a closed system, the wind patterns on the earth are due to heat differentials which are constantly being created due to... the sun. You can think of it as a way of harvesting more concentrated solar energy
- vermilingua 8y agoIf that were true, wouldn’t the weather get progressively more energetic over time? Wouldn’t we now be living with constant planetoids storms?
- opportune 8y agoNo, because the friction between the air and itself/the rest of the planet slows down the winds and dissipates the energy as heat
- vermilingua 8y agoAaahh, I see; thanks. Also, *planetary.
- imtringued 8y agoWhere do you think does the energy in fossil fuels come from? It comes from the same place wind energy and solar energy come from: The sun.