3rd
Wind Energy Feasibility
Apparently, if you run a bunch of calculations, you can determine that there’s enough wind energy to cover the world’s energy need 100 times over. I really like the idea of airborne wind generators, but I assume there’s a catch. There’s also enough solar energy to power the world, too, but we haven’t figured out how to capture it economically without blanketing the world in solar panels or algae vats. There’s probably enough energy in global lightning events to power all human eletricity needs as well. And there’s definitely enough nuclear fission material to power the world indefinitely. But there’s always a problem like: where do you store the nuclear waste? How do you economically grow biofuels? For wind, it’s where do you set up the high-flying generators… and how will these generators affect weather patterns…? I wonder if anyone has calculated the possible effects on climate from generating vast amounts of energy from high-altitude wind? hmmm.
