Do Windmills 'take' the energy out of wind?, page 1
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reply posted on 1-12-2008 @ 03:15 PM by Now_Then
Originally posted by DocMoreau
So what we are saying is that yes, with enough windmill generators, there is the potential to remove all the energy from the wind (and convert it to electricity), but that it is the wind that would die, and not the energy itself.


Errrmm, look at it like this - if all the energy in the closed system (I've just declared the world a closed system!!... no energy will enter OR leave - what we have now is it, %100, no more no less) is shared out equally - then no energy - or matter (matter requires energy to move) would change form / move. So yep, eventually no wind, but in my closed world I think wind would take a long time to stop - you got to wait for the oceans to stop first, then the geological activity - and finally the last little breath of the last little dodo.

Then yes eventually the wind would stop, the sea's would stop, the fires would stop, the animals and the plants would stop.

The mud slides and the glaciers would stop, after the building have fallen down the mountins will begin to fall down... One day the entire surface of the Earth (my closed system) will be level - nothing can fall any lower, nothing can roll down hill.

All the chemical reactions and physical interactions that will EVER take place have now happened - the Earth is a very boring place by this time. No temperature change at all - that would mean energy being moved, every thing is uniform heat, no sound of course, that is energy.

All the metaphorical ripples from the pond have gone - the pond is still.

All energy has reached equilibrium.

Second law: The entropy of an isolated system not in equilibrium will tend to increase over time, approaching a maximum value at equilibrium.


This is the most depressing law in Physics..

So on that note I lift my decree that the Earth is a closed system ~ one onto it's self and I allow the glorious influence of the universe to 'mix it up some' - a reprieve, of sorts, for the planet - for we have now still in a closed system (the Universe) - that, according to the 2nd law one day also reach equilibrium it's self.... And then we would want another closed system to inject some energy to mix this one up.

Of course none of this takes into account dark energy / matter.

Phew




[edit on 1/12/2008 by Now_Then]


reply posted on 1-12-2008 @ 05:46 PM by TheRedneck
reply to post by DocMoreau
So what we are saying is that yes, with enough windmill generators, there is the potential to remove all the energy from the wind (and convert it to electricity), but that it is the wind that would die, and not the energy itself.

Purely theoretically, all usable energy is simply a matter of energy differential. Solar radiation (energy from the sun) is received by the planet. Some of it is converted through chemical means into plant growth and thereby chemical energy in the form of sugars and complex organic molecules. Some is converted into heat by striking an absorbent surface. This heat then is transferred to the surrounding air and creates density differentials that create wind, steered by the viscosity differences between earth, water, and air and the rotational influence of the spin of the planet.

A frequently misunderstood concept is that energy cannot be created nor destroyed. That concept is true; In fact, energy exists all throughout space. It is simply not detectable unless there is a potential difference between the ambient energy levels and the energy levels we are attempting to locate. If you light a match in a closed room, the heat does not disappear, but it will dissipate throughout the room in a given time so that no more energy can be detected from it. The air inside the room will all be at the exact same temperature, and to the eye it will contain no usable or detectable energy. In fact, the room is a bit warmer than before, so the energy is still there, simply dissipated so no more work can be performed by it inside the room. Similarly, when a battery is exhausted, the energy it released during its lifetime is not gone, only transferred into more ambient forms and is therefore unusable.

I doubt we will ever stop the wind, since the initial energy potential (the warming of the sun's radiation) is constantly being replenished. We could, however, slow the wind enough, theoretically, to make drastic changes in the earth's prevailing weather systems. As I mentioned before, the real question is, how much energy can we safely pull out of the wind before we start creating havoc on our weather stability?

TheRedneck
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