photo by Chuck Coker
Under the urging of Governor Deval Patrick, there is a considerable effort to “go green” in Massachusetts and reduce the negative effects of carbon footprints (pollution impacts). According to Robert Giles and Joseph McNamara, Co-Chairs of the Northborough Wind Turbine Committee (WTC), the history of this committee started in the fall of 2007. At that time, Co-Chairman Robert Giles wrote to the town administrator suggesting the consideration of wind power in town. His persistence on the subject paid off in November of 2008, when the WTC became a reality. The committee was formed to evaluate sites and feasibility of locating wind turbines in Northborough. A panel of 14 citizens and its advisors selected 6 potential sites, 3 of which have since been shelved by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC).
The MTC functions as an overseer of this type of project and is responsible for the grant funding and program management process for the State. The town has received an initial grant of $6,000 to study and recommend sites. Additional applications will be needed to obtain grants for the design and construction phases. It will take a few more years to complete all the steps for the project, including site study, including wind measurement for the period of a year, site approval, additional grant applications, contractor selection and construction. The total cost of the project is currently estimated at approximately $5M which will be partially defrayed by additional state grants which could total over $700,000, depending on support for the project and available state funds. Based on current revenue projections, the project would be expected to pay for itself in 7 years or less. Wind turbines of this type generally are expected to have an operational life of over 20 years.
According to the MTC, the greatest wind velocities are located north of 290 in the higher elevations. For the project to be approved for state grants, it must produce at least 500 kilowatts and be on town-owned or town-controlled land.
The turbine will look much as the one pictured here, with three 120 foot blades, moving at a maximum speed of 15-16 miles per hour. The committee plans to locate 1 turbine, capable of producing 2 million watts per hour. The cement base of the tower will be 15 feet square and the tower will stand just over 200 feet high. To see a turbine in use locally, you can visit Holy Name Central Jr/Sr High School at 144 Granite Street, Worcester. Their turbine was installed September of 2008.
The sites now being studied are:
Mount Pisgah, currently conservation land, selecting this site would result in trail widening and clearing an area at the top of the hill, and Ball Hill, on land occupied by Tougas or Davidian Brothers Farms.
Benefits expected from the project (1 Turbine):
- 700 fewer tons of pollution particulates per year would be pumped into the atmosphere due to reduced fossil fuel consumption.
- The expected electrical output would power all of the town’s schools and town hall (the high school alone has electric costs of $40,000 per month when school is in session.)
- The project is integrated into the high school science curriculum. Students are currently partnering with Holy Name High School in Worcester where a wind turbine is already in operation.
- The excess electricity generated can be sold, producing income for the town estimated at $600k per year.
Typical citizen concerns for this project:
- Clearing of trees: an area the size of 2 football fields will need to be cleared for initial construction, but trees and other vegetation can be replanted after construction.
- Bird kills: the migration patterns are part of the feasibility study and Joseph McNamara points out, “Today’s turbines are much slower than the earlier turbines where this was a noted problem.” McNamara also said that, “In addition, none of the sites selected is located in a known migratory bird flight path.”
- Noise: The turbines make less noise than 290 traffic and per Mr. McNamara, “it can not be detected from inside a closed automobile parked directly below the tower.”
Currently, the committee is preparing to kick off the feasibility study and is working on gathering citizen, state senator and representative support for the project which will enable the receiving of grants for the project.
Sources:
Joseph McNamara, Robert Giles
Other projects in the news:
- Worcester Telegram article
- Boston Globe video link
- Holy Name site
This Northboro(Mass.) Town govt. initiative will require a Tax Override and Property Tax increase (unless non-town fiscal resources can be provided?). There are other challenging and undesirable aspects of operating and maintaining Windturbines in the Town of Northboro that must be considered.
A typical wind speed frequency distribution for Wind turbines with energy produced at the different velocities is indicated in the diagram below:
Resorting to unreliable, spotty, and varying wind power to generate electricity puts this country on a backward track in applying technology for generating future electrical needs. Since the 1880s this nation has set about to design and produced electric power generation sources worthy for an advanced nation as the USA. Wind power has hardly ever taken on this role since the late 1880s for America. The current emphasis for reduced reliance of fossil fuels and reduced CO2 emissions doesn’t change the science & engineering worthy solutions to generate electric power. To believe otherwise is wasted thinking and wishing.
U.S. Wind power has hardly been the vital and demanded source for electrical power generation. In Central Mass., National Grid Company, the main electrical power distribution company, reports a only 1% of their distributed electric power generation comes from wind power. This percentage is consistent with what EIA reports for the nation. Even with the national current initiative to seek to install more windturbines, such fulfilled installations are estimated at no more than 4% for the nation.
No creditable national initiative in Wind Power will solve, by a long shot, the need to produce safe, reliable, consistent and high quality electrical power 24/7 every season. Our finest technical minds have never created a national solution for electric power generation through wind mills since 1880.
As appealing as windturbines seem to appear, in reality it’s foolhardy, unwise, and costly to taxpayers to want to install windturbine and obtain such limited and unreliable, and often poor quality electrical power generation and distribution.
Turbine blade hauling truck convoy passing through Edenfield in the UK
Typical Windturbine Dimension
(Air Blades diameter is as large as the wing span of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet)
Wind Engineering
Wind engineering is a field of structural engineering devoted to the analysis of wind effects on the natural or built environment tornadoes, hurricanes and storms which may cause widespread destruction.
Wind engineering draws upon meteorology, aerodynamics, Geographic Information System, Wind energy, Air Pollution and a number of specialist engineering disciplines. The tools used include climate models, atmospheric boundary layer wind tunnels and numerical models. It involves, among other topics, how wind impacting buildings must be accounted for in engineering.
Wind engineering may be considered closely related to earthquake engineering and explosion protection.
Windmill Problems – view various online videos documenting problems encountered with electrical power generating windturbines.
PROBLEMS with Windturbines are not as benign as some people believe, or advocate, and dismiss out-of-hand:
In summary, it’s a bit of cockamamie scheme to generate electric power, long ago abandoned for America, with windturbines; albeit it does exist with limited utility. Let’s focus on real technical solutions and leave the fascination of Wind Mills to story books and for otherwise very limited uses. And, let’s focus on propelling forward advanced technological electrical power generation solutions for the nation.
The U.S. Navy long ago abandoned its wind powered sailing ships and ultimately transitioned to nuclear energy to power its ships and has done so successfully since the mid 1950s; they’ve never turned back to yesteryears’ windpower-sailing ships. Let’s not go backward.
—————————————–
Author: William C. Jeas
Editor’s Note: Several of the turbine failure videos appear to be the same failure.