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And tell me, what do you think would happen if they started building wind turbines in the middle of cities? There is no reason you couldn't fill Central Park i

And tell me, what do you think would happen if they started building wind turbines in the middle of cities? There is no reason you couldn't fill Central Park in New York with them. Maybe put one on top of every building? You could have thousands of huge turbines powering every city. I wonder why no one ever seems to suggest that?

mdp2021 5y ago
(First of all, Sean, I am glad you are still with us and I plan to see your last television appearance in a few hours, as it will be broadcast tonight. You will remain unforgotten, Mr. Jangles, or should I call you "Ron".) There may be a misunderstanding there, if my reference to people minimizing the idea of the impact of noise because they live in the screams already, is taken as a suggestion that wind turbines should be placed on every roof. The messages were, (1), that noise is a problem even if you think it does not bother you, and, (2), if you had unpolluted places and you ruin them, you destroy your alternatives left. Noise pollution should be fought, period. The expression «It may be a minor inconvenience for those who live in some metropolitan areas» was rhetoric, as in "Some people used to noisy environment may tend to minimize the issue [but that kind of infrastructure is often placed there where living things go look for quiet]".
pjc50 5y ago
Years ago, there was a bit of a fad for small turbines on roofs. However, wind turbine cost efficiency scales positively with size. They also "shade" nearby turbines from the airflow, and the presence of buildings and ground clutter further reduces the efficiency. You may have noticed that it's not as windy in Central Park (or any other park) as it is on the Atlantic coast. So the optimal wind turbine is (a) extremely large and (b) at sea or near the coast. You get things like this with 100m blades: https://www.ge.com/renewableenergy/wind-energy/offshore-wind/haliade-x-offshore-turbine https://www.ge.com/renewableenergy/wind-energy/offshore-wind... There is also a little bit of a safety issue. The possibility of losing a 100m blade or part thereof is low, but you wouldn't want that in a city. (I appreciate the "I don't want that near me" view, but that means that person wants it near someone else? Or some other solution that nobody wants to be near either?)
- nomel 5y ago
  If it’s in the countryside, it’s being put far away from the people/regions that benefit the most, and closer to those that are undesirably impacted the most. edit: This was just an observation in response to ""I don't want that near me" view, but that means that person wants it near someone else?" There's a huge imbalance between the major consumer (cities) and people in the countryside (where the turbines end up).
kobalsky 5y ago
construction would be waaaay more expensive. there are also video compilations of wind turbine failures, tons of raining debris in a metropolis is not a good idea so construction and quality control standards would have to improve which would make it even more expensive.
tzs 5y ago
Here's a company working on small rooftop wind turbines [1]. There are several other prototype wind power generation designs that would also probably be suitable for building-top use. Here's a 17 minute video looking at several of them [2]. [1] https://www.halcium.com/ https://www.halcium.com/ [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWGfB4najfM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWGfB4najfM
philipkglass 5y ago
Installing wind power in cities would make wind power several times more expensive. - Land in cities is far more expensive than the land where wind farms are currently built, so the electricity costs would be higher. - Cities are already densely built up so it would be much more difficult to get the long turbine blades delivered for installation, raising costs again. - Cities have worse wind resources because the built up environment impedes smooth, fast air flow. Turbines built in the middle of cities would generate less electricity over the course of a year, raising cost per kilowatt hour for a third time. You can't build efficient (megawatt scale) turbines on top of buildings, and little turbines are basically gimmicks that don't supply significant energy. Rooftop solar power generates more energy at lower cost than little rooftop turbines.

mdp2021 5y ago

(First of all, Sean, I am glad you are still with us and I plan to see your last television appearance in a few hours, as it will be broadcast tonight. You will remain unforgotten, Mr. Jangles, or should I call you "Ron".) There may be a misunderstanding there, if my reference to people minimizing the idea of the impact of noise because they live in the screams already, is taken as a suggestion that wind turbines should be placed on every roof. The messages were, (1), that noise is a problem even if you think it does not bother you, and, (2), if you had unpolluted places and you ruin them, you destroy your alternatives left. Noise pollution should be fought, period. The expression «It may be a minor inconvenience for those who live in some metropolitan areas» was rhetoric, as in "Some people used to noisy environment may tend to minimize the issue [but that kind of infrastructure is often placed there where living things go look for quiet]".

pjc50 5y ago

Years ago, there was a bit of a fad for small turbines on roofs. However, wind turbine cost efficiency scales positively with size. They also "shade" nearby turbines from the airflow, and the presence of buildings and ground clutter further reduces the efficiency. You may have noticed that it's not as windy in Central Park (or any other park) as it is on the Atlantic coast. So the optimal wind turbine is (a) extremely large and (b) at sea or near the coast. You get things like this with 100m blades: https://www.ge.com/renewableenergy/wind-energy/offshore-wind/haliade-x-offshore-turbine https://www.ge.com/renewableenergy/wind-energy/offshore-wind... There is also a little bit of a safety issue. The possibility of losing a 100m blade or part thereof is low, but you wouldn't want that in a city. (I appreciate the "I don't want that near me" view, but that means that person wants it near someone else? Or some other solution that nobody wants to be near either?)

nomel 5y ago
If it’s in the countryside, it’s being put far away from the people/regions that benefit the most, and closer to those that are undesirably impacted the most. edit: This was just an observation in response to ""I don't want that near me" view, but that means that person wants it near someone else?" There's a huge imbalance between the major consumer (cities) and people in the countryside (where the turbines end up).

kobalsky 5y ago

construction would be waaaay more expensive. there are also video compilations of wind turbine failures, tons of raining debris in a metropolis is not a good idea so construction and quality control standards would have to improve which would make it even more expensive.

tzs 5y ago

Here's a company working on small rooftop wind turbines [1]. There are several other prototype wind power generation designs that would also probably be suitable for building-top use. Here's a 17 minute video looking at several of them [2]. [1] https://www.halcium.com/ https://www.halcium.com/ [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWGfB4najfM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWGfB4najfM

philipkglass 5y ago

Installing wind power in cities would make wind power several times more expensive. - Land in cities is far more expensive than the land where wind farms are currently built, so the electricity costs would be higher. - Cities are already densely built up so it would be much more difficult to get the long turbine blades delivered for installation, raising costs again. - Cities have worse wind resources because the built up environment impedes smooth, fast air flow. Turbines built in the middle of cities would generate less electricity over the course of a year, raising cost per kilowatt hour for a third time. You can't build efficient (megawatt scale) turbines on top of buildings, and little turbines are basically gimmicks that don't supply significant energy. Rooftop solar power generates more energy at lower cost than little rooftop turbines.