Socioecology Research Today

Within the next few decades, large underwater structures of thousands of wind turbines in the northern European shelf seas will substantially increase the amount of habitat available for mobile demersal megafauna. As a first indication of the possible effects of this large scale habitat creation on faunal stocks settling on hard substrata, we compared selected [...]

This illustration shows how the artificial island would use pumped hydro energy storage where water is pumped to a reservoir during off-peak times and released to a lower reservoir later to generate electricity.Perhaps it’s not surprising that people from countries with experience holding back the sea see the potential of building an artificial island to [...]

There is enough power in Earth’s winds to be a primary source of near-zero-emission electric power as the global economy continues to grow through the twenty-first century. Historically, wind turbines are placed on Earth’s surface, but high-altitude winds are usually steadier and faster than near-surface winds, resulting in higher average power densities. Here, we use [...]

Companies are racing to develop ways to make the 100-meter blades needed to make offshore wind compete with fossil fuels. Monster Wind Turbine Blades Could Help Offshore Wind Compete with Fossil Fuels | MIT Technology Review

Since millenaries humans have attempted to harness the wind energy through diverse means. Vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) were originally considered as very promising, before being superseded by the present, horizontal axis turbines. For various reasons, there is now a resurgence of interests for VAWTs, in particular Darrieus turbines. Using modern design tools and computational [...]

16 July 2012: The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has announced a new database, called the Transparent Cost Database (TCDB), which collects cost and performance estimates for energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. The information is expected to facilitate corporate benchmarking, academic research and public decision making.The TCDB provides information [...]

In this study, we develop an updated global estimate of onshore wind energy potential using reanalysis wind speed data, along with updated wind turbine technology performance, land suitability factors, cost assumptions, and explicit consideration of transmission distance in the calculation of transmission costs. We find that wind has the potential to supply a significant portion [...]

This paper identifies the location of an “ideal” offshore wind energy (OWE) grid on the U.S. East Coast that would (1) provide the highest overall and peak-time summer capacity factor, (2) use bottom-mounted turbine foundations (depth ≤50 m), (3) connect regional transmissions grids from New England to the Mid-Atlantic, and (4) have a smoothed power [...]

The U.S. Department of Energy has estimated that if the United States is to generate 20% of its electricity from wind, over 50 GW will be required from shallow offshore turbines. Hurricanes are a potential risk to these turbines. Turbine tower buckling has been observed in typhoons, but no offshore wind turbines have yet been [...]

This study investigates two methods of transforming intermittent wind electricity into firm baseload capacity: (1) using electricity from natural gas combined-cycle (NGCC) power plants and (2) using electricity from compressed air energy storage (CAES) power plants. The two wind models are compared in terms of capital and electricity costs, CO2 emissions, and fuel consumption rates. [...]