Wind+Power+Group

__ ** Home base: Central area in library ** __
=== ** Your group is a specialist group asked to join this debate to tell people what wind power actually is and how it might be useful to Vietnam, especially as an alternative to nuclear power if the people at the debate feel they want to move away from nuclear power. ** === === ** There has been a lot of talk about wind power and how it is either too expensive or not reliable enough to be a viable source of energy into the future. Your group believes that these criticisms are unfair. Your group gets paid by different wind power energy companies to attend public discussions and inform the public about what wind power really is. ** === === ** Your group knows that the opportunity is right now in the Vietnamese market. With many people worried about nuclear energy, you can use this fear to win a bigger market in Vietnam for your customers which will then lead to greater influence in the future for wind power. ** === === ** Your group needs to be careful. You can’t risk alienating the local people but you can’t alienate the business people either. Wind power is not a strong enough technology to solve all of Vietnam’s power issues alone, but it can work with other sources including nuclear energy if that must be the case. ** === === ** The best outcome for your group is to team up with others and get them to promote at least some wind power in the future. ** ===

[[image:http://crunchgear.com/wp-content/uploads/turbine.jpg width="264" height="198" align="left"]]
= ** !!!WIND POWER!!! ** =

Wind Power Blurb
We believe that power has to be made for humanity in a way that is good for the environment. We can use the natural energy of the wind to our advantage to make power. We think that Vietnam has a good potential for wind energy because there is a lot of wind.

Wind power can be an excellent complement to a solar power system. As an example, in Colorado, when the sun isn't shining, the wind is usually blowing. Wind power is helpful in the winter to capture both the ferocious and gentle mountain winds during the times of least sunlight and highest power use. In most locations wind is not suitable as the only source of power - it simply fills in the gaps left by solar power. ===We tend to build many towers together, to make a "wind farm" and produce more electricity. The more towers, the more wind, and the larger the propellers, the more electricity we can make. === How it works: The Sun heats our atmosphere unevenly, so some patches become warmer than others. These warm patches of air rise, other air blows in to replace them - and we feel a wind blowing. We can use the energy in the wind by building a tall tower, with a large propeller on the top. The wind blows the propeller round, which turns a generator to produce electricity.

Locations advice: The best places for wind farms are in coastal areas, at the top of rounded hills, open plains and gaps in mountain - places where the wind is strong and reliable. To be worthwhile, you need an average wind speed of around 25 km/h. Isolated places such as farms may have their own wind generators. Such as in California, several "wind farms" supply electricity to homes around Los Angeles. The propellers are large, to extract energy from the largest possible volume of air. The blades can be angled to "accomplished" or "improper" pitch, to cope with varying wind speeds, and the generator and propeller can turn to face the wind wherever it comes from. Some designs use vertical turbines, which don't need to face the wind. The towers are tall, to get the propellers as high as possible, up to where the wind is stronger. This means that the land beneath can still be used for farming. Advantages: · Wind is free, wind farms need no fuel. · Produces no waste or greenhouse gases. · The land beneath can usually still be used for farming. · Wind farms can be tourist attractions. · A good method of supplying energy to remote areas.

Disadvantages: · The wind is not always predictable - some days have no wind. · Suitable areas for wind farms are often near the coast, where land is expensive. · Some people feel that covering the landscape with these towers is unsightly. · Can kill birds - migrating flocks tend to like strong winds. However, this is rare, and we tend not to build wind farms on migratory routes anyway.
 * Can affect television reception if you live nearby. Can be noisy. Wind generators have a reputation for making a constant, low, "swooshing" noise day and night. Having say that, as aerodynamic designs have improved modern wind farms are much quieter.

Connection with Vietnam, Hanoi: Hanoi, has more wind energy potential than Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. Vietnam's renewable energy is slated to increase 5 percent under the Ministry of Trade and Industry's plan to develop alternative energy sources from 2015 to 2025. Wind and solar power is expected to account for half of that. Vietnam needs to improve its policies and provide a strong legal foundation to attract more foreign investors in renewable energy. Switzerland - based Aerogie Plus has already tapped into Vietnam's energy market, for a $28 million diesel-wind power plant on the island of Con Dao, in the southern province of Ba Ria - Vung Tau, expected to be operational in 2010.

Wind power is a clean power source Wind turbines are plenty Blades slide to the air A whoosh and a whirl Slices deep blue sky Keeping the planet green Should not we all try?

CO Workers: Hydra power Solar power Tourism

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** Works Cited: **
 * Tree Hugger. "Index of /files/th_images." //Index of /files/th_images//. 08 Sept. 2006. Web. 31 Mar. 2011. [].
 * Crunch Gear. "Highway Wind Turbines." //CrunchGear//. 1 May 2007. Web. 31 Mar. 2011. < http://www.crunchgear.com/2007/05/01/highway-wind-turbines/>.
 * Other Power. "Wind Power." //Welcome to OTHERPOWER.COM//. 17 Mar. 2010. Web. 31 Mar. 2011. < http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_wind.shtml>.
 * Clara, Darvil. "Energy Resources: Wind Power." //Andy Darvill's Science Site: Home//. 22 Feb. 2011. Web. 31 Mar. 2011. < http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/wind.htm#intro>.