Our team experiment is a small scale representation of a wind turbine. The experiment uses Lego pieces from the educational project boxes and a large scale industrial fan. The purpose of the experiment is to demonstrate the principal that wind turbines can be used to generate and store energy in a sustainable way. This experiment displays three concepts:

1) Wind turbines transform the kinetic energy of the wind into electric energy that can be stored and re-used.

2) The rate at which it transforms the wind energy or the power depends on the wind speed.

3) There is a lot of energy loss in the transformation.

What Is A Wind Turbine: Instead of using electricity to make wind, like a fan, wind turbines use wind to make electricity. The wind turns the blades, which spin a shaft, which connects to a generator and makes electricity. The electricity is stored and distributed when and where it is needed. Wind energy is one of the lowest-priced renewable energy technologies available today, costing between 4 and 6 cents per kilowatt-hour, it is entirely clean, and overly abundant.

Advantages of Wind Energy:

• Wind energy is friendly to the surrounding environment, as no fossil fuels are burnt to generate electricity from wind energy.
• Newer technologies are making the extraction of wind energy much more efficient. The wind is free, and we are able to cash in on this free source of energy.
• Wind turbines are a great resource to generate energy in remote locations, such as mountain communities and remote countryside.

Disadvantages of Wind Energy:

• Unreliable. In many areas, the winds strength is too low to support a wind turbine or wind farm.
• Intermittent– not always windy.
• Difficult to store excess electricity.
• The bigger the turbine the more efficient-very windy high up and large blades, more energy captured
• Need to update power grid to transport electricity to from wind turbine to places where it’s not windy
• Wind turbine construction can be very expensive.
• Protests and/or petitions usually confront any proposed wind farm development.

The experiment is conducted as followed:

Experiment:

1)     Assemble the Lego Mindstorm Wind Turbine

2)     Turn on the industrial fan to LEVEL ONE

3)     Place the Lego turbine in front of the fan so the turbine catches the wind and moves the blades

4)     At a distance of ONE METER, allow the fan to run for a total of FIVE MINUTES. Record total Joules created and stored in the battery.

5)     Repeat at LEVEL TWO and LEVEL THREE fan speeds.

Results:

The group that completed our experiment received the results we expected. At the lowest fan speed, the group charged the battery to 5 Joules, at the second fan speed the group charged the battery to 79 Joules, and at the highest fan speed the group charged the battery to 100 Joules. These results were exactly in-line with the results we received when designing this experiment. Discharging the battery the lowest fan speed put out less than one second of power, the second fan speed put out about 6 seconds of power, and the highest fan speed put out about 15 seconds of power.

By completing this experiemnt, the group discovered that the more wind, the more power created. This is exactly the outcome we wanted from this project. The other group did a great job with proving the concepts presented with this experiemnt.

To make this experiment better, we could have conducted the same experiment at different distances and using different fans. We could have also conducted the experiment in a controlled environment instead of in an uncontrolled classroom.

Completing the other group’s experiemnt, we received the same results as the group who designed it. The soil heated less quickly than the sand because of the moisture. The sand heated up more quickly becuse it is dryer. Essentially the results for both the sand and soil were the same except for subtle differences in temperature.

Overall the experience was a good one and each team completed the experiemnts the way they were designed. This was a useful and educational experience.

Last week I attended the MOS for the first time and visited a number of different exhibits related to energy. Downstairs they had a wind turbine exhibition as well as an exhibition on creating tires using sustainable materials. Upstairs they had a giant tesla coil exhibit and other types of energy demonstrations. In an exhibit entitled “Catching The Wind”, you are able to learn about how turbines transform wind into green energy, and track energy production in the Museum’s own Wind Lab, a group of nine wind turbines mounted on the Museum roof.

Wind Turbine Experiment (PDF)

As our final assignment in class we are to:

“Design of a lab that teaches a concept having to do with energy and sustainability to college students”

In order to do this, my group and i have decided to demonstrate the idea of wind power by using a model wind turbine. We have access to a model turbine and an extremely powerful fan. The fan will blow air into the turbine to power the blades and generate electricity. The electricity will be stored in a battery that can be used later to either power a model car or another electronic device. We have already built the model turbine and have tested the system. As of now, it seems to be working perfectly. I am looking forward to developing the experiment further.

Last class we visited the Plasma Science & Fusion Center (PSFC) at MIT where we were given a lecture and tour by two MIT PHD Students. Hidden down a side street with little to no signage, the Plasma Center is home to a powerful machine located beneath the street that most people have no idea exists. These gentlemen were brillant to say the least, and were extremely passionate about their project. MIT is host to one of the smallest fusion centers in the world, but puts out some of the most impressive results. The Alcator C-Mod project is a compact, high magnetic field tokamak that is used to help develop different theories and ideas associated with fusion technology and is the tokamak with the highest magnetic field and highest plasma pressure in the world.

According to the PSFC website, the center “…is Recognized As One Of The Leading University Research Laboratories In The Physics And Engineering Aspects Of Magnetic And Inertial Fusion…”. While the data uncovered at MIT is greatly beneficial to the development of fusion technology, the United States Government is trying to cut the funding to the center. President Obama believes that there are other plants that can provide more useful data, and employ scientists who are more established and respected in the industry. With the MIT center employing primarily graduate students, Obama feels that the government grants can be put towards research that is more valuable.

The trip proved to be very interesting, and made me realize that i need to pick up a book every once and a while.

http://www.psfc.mit.edu/

Regardless of whether or not you believe in the concept of global warming, you have to admit that something is changing. Over the past few years, politicians, lobbyists, and simple deniers have been trying to persuade people that all of the evidence available to support global warming is fake. According to the Huffington Post, “the number of Americans who believe that climate change is connected to human-caused pollution (AKA Global Warming) is at its lowest point in three years. Only 57% of Americans now believe this inconvenient truth — down from 77% in 2006, when Al Gore released his film”.

It may seem that the belief in global warming is a “trend”, but something has to be done regardless. This is hard, however, when some of the biggest names in politics and social change believe that the warming is a hoax. According to the Mother Nature Network, deniers of global warming include Donald Trump, Ted Nugent, David Bellamy, Sen. James Inhofe, and Michael Crichton. Donald Trump told members of his Trump National Golf Club, “With the coldest winter ever recorded, with snow setting record levels up and down the coast, the Nobel committee should take the Nobel Prize back from Al Gore”. When someone with so much power in the world believes something to be false, many others follow.

In general, it seems as though Democrats are trying to solve the global warming crisis and Republicans deny its existence. But why is this? Could it be because Republicans have a direct intrest in the coal and oil industries? If global warming exists, and alternative energy needs to be discovered to slow its effects, then lots and lots of people lose money.

That may not be the only reason people deny the effects of global warming. According to Max Boykoff of the University of Colorado at Boulder, “I would only suspect that most if not all of us wish there wasn’t a problem in the first place, and on an individual psychological level there’s a certain element of cognitive dissonance. We wish it to not be an issue and, if it isn’t influencing us directly, then we turn our attention to other more pressing issues. So part of the politicization is fed by our own resistance to confronting a crucial issue”. This makes sense. When something is causing such a direct impact on our lives, we try to pretend it doesn’t exist.

http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/global_cooling_7njz5ZtpFblMuF5Vf7LJmN

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/22/most-dangerous-global-war_n_330614.html

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/climate-weather/photos/7-surprising-global-warming-deniers/donald-trump

Why Republicans deny global warming.

http://news.discovery.com/earth/is-global-warming-real.html

Remember when you were younger and used to place your fingers on that electric globe? The purple “spider-web” would go anywhere your skin touched and the subtle buzz of the electricity could calm any hyper child.

Last class we were greeted by Tom Vales, the Lab Coordinator at Suffolk University and tesla coil enthusiast, who demonstrated a real-life version of this device.

This device is called a Tesla Coil and it is used to produce a high voltage, low current, high frequency alternating power current. The device was invented around 1891 by Nikola Tesla and was used to essentially create “wireless” charging. Nikola would place a Tesla coil close to his home and power all the lightbulbs in the house using the voltage that was generated. Today, they do not have much of a conventional use, but are often used by hobbyists and at venues such as science museums to produce long sparks and educate students about electricity.

Tesla Coil Demonstration

Mr. Vales also presented us with small examples of a Peltier Device, Stirling Engine, and Mendocino Motor. The Stirling engine was the most interesting and most useful. According to Wikipedia, “the device operates by cyclic compression and expansion of air, another gas, or liquid, sometimes referred to as the working fluid, at different temperature levels such that there is a net conversion of heat energy to mechanical work”. It was originally invented in 1816 as a substitute to the conventional steam engine, but its practical use was largely confined to low-power domestic applications for over a century. Today, there is still a practical use to the device and Mr. Vales noted that people still use them to power generators.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ericsson-hot-air-engine.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_coil

Clean energy research and development has become the topic of discussion in recent years. Solar and wind power are two resources that are abundant and emit no greenhouse gases. Companies have been trying to harness the power of the sun and wind for years, but most recently, the United States Government has given clean energy companies an incentive to succeed by providing them with billions of dollars in subsidies.

In California, NRG Energy is building a compound of nearly a million solar panels that will produce enough electricity to power about 100,000 homes. This is an amazing accomplishment, but it comes with a price: The US Government is paying for almost the entire $1.6 billion cost of the project. What does this mean? Taxpayers are essentially providing the subsidies themselves, and this is not the only instance. Since 2009, similar packages have been given to fifteen other solar and wind power companies, the most famous being Solyndra.

In 2009, President Barack Obama’s administration authorized of a $535 million dollar loan guarantee (a promise by one party (in this case the US Government) to assume the debt obligation of a borrower if that borrower defaults (Wikipedia.com)) to Solyndra Corporation. The company promised to create almost 4,000 new jobs and spur alternative energy growth. However, in “early September 2011, the company ceased all business activity, filed for Chapter 11,  and laid-off nearly all of its employees” (Wikipedia.com) The government then had to pay back the half a billion dollar loan it had guaranteed.

According to a recent study, between 2007 and 2010, federal subsidies jumped from $5.1 billion to $14.7 billion. Today, this stimulus program is expired, but the US Government is still trying to provide clean energy companies with the funding they need. According to the New York Times, “wind and solar companies are telling Congress that they cannot be truly competitive and keep creating jobs without a few more years of government support”. While the Government is providing tax credits for renewable power, companies are saying it is not enough.

While the cost of wind and solar power has fallen sharply, without the billions of dollars needed to collect that energy, we may still not be able to harness it for a few more years. Although the Government may want to provide these companies with the funding they need, it is hard to imagine another Solyndra incident. We simply cannot afford to have that happen again.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solyndra_loan_controversy