Wind Energy Alternative Dispute Management

Business Effective CourseBritish Council

Monday 10 June 2013Daniel Pons i Julià

Contents• Motivation 1. History of wind energy2. What is it?3. How does it work?4. Types of wind turbine5. Location and placement election6. Wind power in Europe7. Future of wind power8. Pros and cons9. Consensus building and wind farms• Questions and answers

• We need to find alternative sources of energy, that don’t aggravate the pollution of our planet;

• We can rely on the renewable energy, that uses the wind, the sun or the water in creating unpolluted sources of energy. And it works!!

Motivation!

Wind energy history• 1 A.D. - Hero of Alexandria uses a wind machine to power an organ • ~ 400 A.D. - Wind driven Buddhist prayer wheels• 1200 to 1850 - Golden era of windmills in western Europe – 50,000• 9,000 in Holland; 10,000 in England; 18,000 in Germany• 1850’s - Multiblade turbines for water pumping made and marketed in U.S.• 1882 - Thomas Edison commissions first commercial electric generating

stations in NYC and London• 1900 - Competition from alternative energy sources reduces windmill

population to fewer than 10,000• 1850 – 1930 - Heyday of the small multiblade turbines in the US Midwest• As many as 6,000,000 units installed• 1936+ - US Rural Electrification Administration extends the grid to most

formerly isolated rural sites . Grid electricity rapidly displaces multiblade turbine uses

What is it? (1)• Cool surrounding air rushes in to fill the vacuum. This

movement of rushing air is what we know as wind.• Energy is contained in the force of the wind blowing across

earth’s surface.• Wind is a type of solar energy.• Wind is created when air has

been warmed over sun heated land rises, leaving a vacuum in the space it once occupied.

• An estimated 1% to 3% of energy from the Sun that hits the earth is converted into wind energy.

What is it? (2)• Wind Energy is kinetic energy from the wind that can be

directly converted to electrical or mechanical energy by reacting to the atmospheres pressure slope.

• The windmill was invented in 200 BC in China and was used to pump water and grind grain

• In modern days, wind energy has doubled through the years

Wind turbines: how do they work? (1)• Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy

in the wind into mechanical power. • This mechanical power can be used for

specific tasks (such as grinding grain or pumping water) or a generator can convert this mechanical power into electricity.

• A wind turbine works the opposite of a fan.

• 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 energy in the wind turns two or three propeller-like blades around a rotor. The rotor is connected to the main shaft, which spins a generator to create electricity.

• Wind turbines are mounted on a tower to capture the most energy. At 100 feet (30 meters) or more above ground, they can take advantage of faster and less turbulent wind.

Wind turbines: how do they work? (2)

Types of wind turbines

• Horizontal-axis Turbines- typically 20 stores tall and have 3 blades that are 200 feet long

• Vertical-axis Turbines- Blades that span from the top to the bottom and resembles an egg beater. It typically stands 100 feet tall and 50 feet wide

• Vertical-axis turbines are less common than the horizontal-axis turbine

Wind turbines locations• Wind turbines are located where there is wind created such

as tops of smooth rounded hill, open plains and shore lines also mountain gaps that produce wind

• Wind turbines are pooled into areas called wind farms that are gridded areas to put wind energy

Wind turbine placement• A good selection of a wind turbine site is critical to economic

development of wind power and has to take in consideration a number of factors: – availability of wind itself – availability of transmission lines – value of energy to be produced – cost of land acquisition – land use considerations – environmental impact of

construction and operations – Offshore locations may offset their higher construction cost with

higher annual load factors, thereby reducing cost of energy produced.

Wind power in Europe (1)• In 2012, installed wind power capacity in the European Union totalled 105,000

MW - enough to supply 7% of the EU's electricity. 11,895 MW of wind power was installed in 2012 alone, representing 11.4% of new power capacity. The EU wind industry has had an average annual growth of 15.6% over the last 17 years (1995-2011).

• A European Environment Agency report, entitled Europe's onshore and offshore wind energy potential confirms wind energy could power Europe many times over. The report highlights wind power’s potential in 2020 as three times greater than Europe’s expected electricity demand, rising to a factor of seven by 2030.

Wind power in Europe (2)• The Europe’s Wind Energy

Event estimates that 230 gigawatts (GW) of wind capacity will be installed in Europe by 2020, consisting of 190 GW onshore and 40 GW offshore. This would produce 14-17% of the EU's electricity, avoiding 333 million tons of CO2 per year and saving Europe €28 billion a year in avoided fuel costs.

Wind power installed in Europe in 2012

Future of Wind Power- Offshore• 1.5 - 6 MW per turbine• 60-120 m hub height• 5 km from shore, 30 m deep ideal• Gravity foundation, pole, or tripod

formation• Shaft can act as artificial reef• Drawbacks- Visual impacts• Conflicts – fisheries and tourism

Pros of wind turbines

• Clean source of energy• Fewer environmental impacts than

other sources of power• Don’t pollute water or air• Reduce the use for fossil fuels• Give extra incomes to farmers and

businesses that help them stay in business

• Lowest prices renewable resources

Cons of wind turbines• Depending on how energetic a wind site is, the wind farm may or may not

be cost competitive.• Wind energy cannot be stored (unless batteries are used)• Good wind sites are often located in remote locations and natural areas• Wind resource development may compete with other uses for the land

and those alternative uses may be more highly valued than electricity generation.

• Sometimes birds have been killed by flying into the rotors, other times birds and bats can get hit by blades

• Landscape impact- Unappealing to the eye • Generate noise• Need of a back-up energy

Consensus building & wind farms (1)• Introduction• Goals• Methodology• Theoretical framework: conflict, conflict

management, consensus building, methods for consensus.

• Wind power in Catalonia – promoters vision

• Social impact and acceptance of wind farms

• Environmental conflict and its management in Catalonia

Consensus building & wind farms (2)• Analysis of experiences and projects

– "Valencia’s Environmental Education and Sustainable Development Strategy"

– The "Bureau of Aragon’s mountain"– "Good Practice Wind“ Project– GECODIT Project

• Proposed methodology for generating social consensus on energy infrastructure development

• Case Study: Mini farm in Calonge (Baix Empordà, Girona)

– The social-environmental context– Interviews with key stakeholders– Proposed roadmap for conflict management

Questions & Answers time

• Do you prefer to use wind power to generate electricity or using fossil fuels source? Why?

• Does the weather affect the wind energy around us?• Any further questions?

Thank you all for listening!