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Infographic: How wind power works

By | June 15, 2010, 5:59 PM PDT

No, it’s not the latest edition of SmartPlanet’s “How It Works” series (read the first edition on wave power here), but another clever infographic from the folks at Column Five Media.

Ever wonder how wind power works, start to finish?

This detailed infographic:

  • explains how the power is harvested, from gust to grid;
  • lists the world’s largest wind farms;
  • elaborates on the world’s installed power capacity;
  • pegs how much the infrastructure costs per plant;
  • details how much the entire industry is worth.

Data for the admittedly complicated infographic is culled from Greenpeace.org, ReinforcedPlastic.com, the American Wind Energy Association, the 2009 World Wide Energy Report, Biowatch.com and (gasp) Wikipedia.org.

Still, it’s not a bad primer.

[via GOOD; Cha Cha]

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Andrew Nusca

About Andrew Nusca

Andrew Nusca is editor of SmartPlanet.

Andrew Nusca

Andrew Nusca

Editor

Andrew Nusca is editor of SmartPlanet and an associate editor for ZDNet. Previously, he worked at Money, Men's Vogue and Popular Mechanics magazines. He holds degrees from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and New York University. He based in New York but resides in Philadelphia.

Follow him on Twitter.

Andrew Nusca

Andrew Nusca
Andrew Nusca does not hold any investments in the companies he covers.
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RE: Infographic: How wind power works
The wind power graphic was very informative, but it omitted one of the most critical components of alternative energy generation: energy storage. Wind- and solar-generated power needs storage capacity for demand response management (adjusting supply to meet fluctuating demand levels) and time shifting (saving energy generated at one time for use at another). Right now, the value of wind and solar energy disappears when the wind dies down or the sun sets. For the benefits of alternative energy generation -- and the smart grid -- to be fully realized, investment in developing bulk-scale storage technologies is an absolute necessity.
Posted by twobrats64
16th Jun 2010
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What if the grid itself is the storage mechanism?
If we have lots of individual providers and good load management, the need for storage mechanisms is limited. Flexibility is inherent in such a scheme and much more practical. See this study.

http://www.pnas.org/content/107/16/7240.abstract
Posted by rpwillia0@...
17th Jun 2010
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RE: Infographic: How wind power works
Water storage similar to Bear Swamp Hydro should be feasible for areas where it is windier at night. They have been doing it for years there.
http://www.emera.com/en/home/ourbusiness/corporatestructure/bearswamp.aspx
Posted by philwhite42@...
17th Jun 2010
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