To answer this interrogative sentence , we have to stop think about energy as a straightforward commodity – something to be give rise and consumed . rather , think about human behavior , drive patterns and habit and about the vagaries of wind andweather . Then believe about how all of these ingredient will desegregate together and poise out the tycoon that can actually be make by wind and when and how that will be used by drivers .
If you ’ve move over it some thought , then the response you likely come at is , " no . " And you ’d be right – at least to a degree . The full solvent lies , as said , in many variables . So , as you ’ll see , it ’s possible ( yet improbable ) , that someday the answer could be , " yes . "
The issue of cars powered by wind instrument electrical energy is less one of supply and demand , and more one of sociological and ethnical faulting in habits and thinking . Going from mile per gallon to kilowatt hours per mile means more than plunking a shelling where the gas tank used to be . It ’s about change drive habits , travelling habits and even our construct of working and commutation . But when ( and if ) these ethnical tradition are changed , wind power would still come up short on supplying . Sure , it could beget the necessary power , but only if there were enough wind farm and only if there were enough ways to distribute the king – if and if and if . But the flatus is a fickle beast , despite mod forecasting techniques . winding is seasonal , wind is subject on tempest and lead is variable and changeable – much more so than human behavior .
But it is possible that wind instrument could become one part of a portfolio of substitute energy resource that could someday replace more traditional ember , natural accelerator pedal and oil electrical energy plants . Keep read to find out why wind ca n’t power a internal fleet of cars , but may run well as one tool in a larger toolbox of energy reference look to make the United States a greener and more fuel - efficient country .
Wind is Unpredictable
Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( MIT ) prof Stephen Connors has been study the interaction of alternative vigour and electrical energy multiplication since before the termglobal warmingentered the common spoken language .
He said that when looking at the likely ofwind powerto fuel electricity for the country ’s automotive galvanizing vehicle fleet , mass should see meter rather than geography . In short , rather than catch where the electrical energy would derive from , one should look at when the electrical energy is needed .
" The big consequence withelectric vehiclesis citizenry want to tear overnight , " Connors say .
presently , most electricity is produced with the use of steam turbine evoke through gasolene , ember or oil . Rather than allow the turbine to idle nightlong company keep the generators turning throughout the moody minute , which produces a immense excess of electrical energy – even at reduced content – when people demand it the least . Unless , of trend , you ’re an electric vehicle ( EV ) owner plug into the gridiron overnight , then the surplus multiplication and consequently lower price works to your advantage .
However nothingness power does not come after this pattern . Instead wind world power is reliant less on a predictable clock and more on weather patterns – only middling predictable and not following human patterns .
" There ’s quite a mismatch in formula with turn on electric vehicles and when lead vigour becomes usable , " Connors tell .
Jimmy Conors say the best time to produce wind vigor is in the winter months , when winds are often at their strongest . Within the larger seasonal pattern are day - to - mean solar day patterns , too , varying in each conditions region of the commonwealth . These are the course that dictate the more immediate wind energy production . In essence , wind can append an EV fleet ’s electrical need but can not be the only source ground on the seasonal and regional form that supply the wind necessary to bring forth the vigor .
" This seasonal component does n’t meet the pauperism presently , " Jimmy Conors say .
Wind Power Alone is Not Enough
Powering the rural area ’s car fleet bywind powertakes into account a quite a little of assumptions . First and foremost is the assumption the fleet would be electrically powered . According to governmental and private sources this would be a effort in and of itself .
But even if this scenario came to pass , which James Scott Connors and others believe to be unlikely until at least 2050 , the numbers are still daunt .
Current figures put the United States consumption of gasoline for travel at about 400 million gallons ( 1.5 million liters ) per sidereal day . An galvanic car , with today ’s advanced technology behind it , requires more or less 40 kilowatt hr to reach the same aloofness as a car averaging about 15 miles per gallon ( 6.4 kilometers per l ) .
These numeral are rough estimates and do not take into account terrain , automotive efficiencyand a legion of other factors . They do point to a larger moving-picture show , however , as the country ’s electrical energy producers would need to create about 16 trillion kW hour of energy per day to accomplish rough the same energy stratum as farm by the gasoline consumed in the same period .
On a more personal scale it ’s estimated that one automobile uses about 500 gal ( 1,893 liters ) of fuel each yr . Based on the same identification number of 40 kilowatt hours per gal , one car would want about 20,000 kilowatt 60 minutes of free energy each year to commute a conservative 10,000 miles ( 16,093 kilometers ) . In 2006 , the U.S. Department of Transportation estimated the number of rider cars at about 251 million . Crunch the number and the last tally is another intimidating image . But then the full amount of electricity produced in the United States through all sources in 2007 was more than 4 trillion megawatt hr [ seed : U.S. Energy Information Administration ] . And one megawatt time of day is equal to 1,000 kilowatt hours .
In center , the country could shift to electric vehicles to meet requirement , but not through wind power alone . Instead , it will take a larger portfolio of renewable energy to attain the undertaking .
How Will Wind Help?
While it is affected by seasonal variations , steer can become a reference for blank , renewable vitality .
idle words turbines come in two main forms – vertical and horizontal . The horizontal miscellanea , looking like giant propeller , is most normally shown in advertizement today . Vertical turbines seem more like mod sculpture , almost like a jumbo egg beater set in a field .
Both use change airfoil designs to capture the wind as a motivative force play to gyrate the turbine . As they whirl , they generate electricity . This electricity is either used directly as a addendum to a large system or captured and stored .
One reward of wind is the generating potentiality is not linear . For deterrent example , in linear generation one turn of the generator would produce one kW hour of electricity . However , current of air generation produces electrical energy to a mogul of three . This means the amount of wind needed to whirl the generator through one rotation in reality produce three kilowatt hours .
While suffer this advantage , the number of winding farm ( or banks of turbines ) , is relatively lowly at this point in prison term .
Connors , like many other energy scientists , says wind - powered electricity would be used as part of a larger bundle of renewable vim source including geothermic , hydro , solar and biomass . Nuclear poweris often added to the list as it ’s a carbon - free energy author .
This portfolio will in all likelihood co - evolve with the turn number ofelectric vehicles , as well as a growing applied science base including the proposed " voguish " electric grid , which will shunt surplusage electricity to where it ’s needed most , based on real - time demand computation .
But even then , Jimmy Conors said he was looking at the year 2050 ( at least ) for an all - galvanising vehicle fleet given a Moses scenario . AMoses scenario , he said , was an idealistic set of circumstances where government regulating , policy and public opinion all aligned allowing for a smooth , seamless trip to a future promised farming .
" It does n’t happen often , " he said . In fact , he used intercrossed cars as an example . The first commercially available crossbreed , the Toyota Prius , hit U.S. market about 10 years ago . Only now , more than a decennium afterwards , are they becoming normally uncommitted as a car choice . And give the fact it takes anywhere from 15 to 20 days for the country ’s automobile fleet to fully throw older models for new , as well as the lack of commercially workable and accept electric car , 2050 would be an idealistic day of the month but not one likely to be pass on .
For now it looks as if hint will move more Tree than cars – but that may change in the distant futurity .
For more selective information about renewable vigor sources , follow the link on the next pageboy .
