BugMeNot.com - Tell everyone you know. Because Common sense isn't. For OakRidger.com, for KnoxNews.com.
As we wait for TVA's
announcement page to be updated with fourth quarter 2001
results, we can ponder the weather data from the last few days of
the year. As luck would have it, after a string of very windy days,
the old year went out, and the new year came in, with a whimper (or
low winds). Below about 4 meters/second (about 9 mph) the wind
turbines can produce no power.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your perspective,
the temperature was also quite low during this time of low wind.
Wind turbines can produce more power with lower temperature, denser
air. So, in a way the wind turbines like cold and windy weather
best, unlike most people. The dense, cold air on the mountain was
not being taken advantage of to make power at a time when power was
needed for heating. In fact, we can be sure that the turbines
themselves were consuming power to keep the precious components
warm.
You may explore the effect of varying temperature and humidity
on the power produced by the turbines, using my TVA
Buffalo Mountain wind power calculator. Of course, variations
in temperature or humidity don't make much difference if the wind
isn't blowing.
Thanks to
NOAA for the
weather data.
Previous Bottom Line Reports:
November 2001
| Quote of the moment |
| God is the perfect poet, Who in his person acts his own creations. |
| ~ Robert Browning, Paracelsus. Part ii. ~ |
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