The Technology Context – B101
The Dummuie Wind Farm, more wind farms like this one save the earth?
The world is changing a lot as time progresses and it needs more renewable energy resources; we cannot just live on the resources that provide us energy at the moment. The reason for this is that they cause damage to the world and the will inevitably run out. We need something that is more consistent and reliable. Climate change is happening rapidly and we need to do something about it. The issue of sustainable technology is finding ways of generating electricity using renewable sources that don’t affect the earth. These technologies are “Green” this means they are eco-friendly and don’t have a huge affect on the environment.
My report is based on the Dummuie Wind farm and wind farms over all. Can they help us and are the any effects from creating these projects? This report will also discuss if we can implement more wind turbines around the U.K. It will also view the potential effects that this project may have for sustainable development from a national or global perspective. I will look at the financial areas of producing wind turbines/farms and I will also view weather profit can be made from them as well. After I have covered these areas I will then draw up a conclusion to see if we can produce more wind turbines too help us generate electricity.
About Dummuie wind farm?
The Dummuie wind farm started to produce electricity in April 2007. It is situated in the Mains and East mains of Dummuie in Drumblade. It is owned by Tetro energy who were finally given planning permission on the 22nd September 2004. This wind farm has created many social-economic benefits. It has created jobs for many different people for example; there is permanent employment for the site manager and team for operation and maintenance services of the wind farm. The wind farm consists of seven turbines that each produce about 1.75MW. This electricity is equivalent of about 5,500 homes. One of the other great aspects of creating this wind farm is that it opens up new jobs for people within the area.
Help?
Is there anything being done to help the earth become more Green? E.g. creating more wind farms? The answer to this is yes more and more wind farms are being created all over the UK. In the UK we have 40% of Europe's total wind energy. But it's still largely untapped and only 0.5% of our electricity requirements are currently generated by wind power. The main aim from creating a wind turbine is too reduce the amount of pollution that is released into the air. The Dummuie wind farm project makes a significant contribution to the reduction of emissions that are known to cause global warming and acid rain. Per annum it displaces: CO2 514,173 tonnes, SO2 5,979 tonnes and NOx 1,794 tonnes. This is a huge reduction on the amount of emission released into the air if this wind farm was not here. What if there were another 10 wind farms created? Think of the huge reduction they would all bring together. The only way we will make a significant impact is if everyone all over the world creates more green technology to supply us with other sources of energy.
Cost?
Cost is one of the main parts that prevent wind farms going ahead they cost a lot to implement and get running. Some wind farms such as the Dummuie wind farm cost up too £1.25 million, they still need money to carry out maintenance work to keep it running smoothly this will increase the money needed even more. If there was a way too decrease the price then it would make it more ideal and I think a lot more would be going ahead.
Profit?
Profitability depends on wind speed, cost and performance of a wind turbine installation, and energy prices.
Large turbines selling power to the energy grid can be financially viable where the average wind speed is more than about 7 m/s. They are likely to become attractive to more businesses in future, as technology continues to improve and the deregulated energy market develops. Money can also be made from wind farms as they could become tourist attractions. This would mean businesses would begin to make money from them. This will help the economy of the UK greatly.
More wind farms the effects?
The more wind farms that are produced around the U.K. the bigger the affect there will be. The planet will be left unharmed as much as it today. The emissions that are released into the earth’s atmosphere can be decreased. Fossil fuels will be saved and used less meaning that more green ways of producing energy sources will be used.
Here is a graph of how much carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning is being released into the earth’s atmosphere. It shows that a lot has changed between 1750-2000 years and it only gets worse. There needs to be a change in how we gain electricity. From producing more wind farms, the effects could change this by decrease the amount that gets released into our atmosphere.
The UK’s population has dramatically increased in the last 10 years. It said that all mostly rely on fossil fuels in everyday life. If the population continues to increase think how quickly fossil fuels will be being used? Something needs too change wind farms are environmentally friendly and clean there are so many advantages of wind farms. The only down fall is that nearly the whole population would begin too rely on wind farms. Wind farms would need to be able to cope with the demand of the whole population. This would mean the technology around them would need made more advanced.
Not only will the effects of wind farms help the universe but they can also be used in a different way as well. Wind turbines look fantastic they tower over everything around them; this could bring tourists from all over the world to come and visit. This means businesses will begin too make money which could then be used for maintaining the wind turbines.
Wind farms are full of advantages; I think the main advantage would be it is eco- friendly. It’s great for the environment and causes no damage to the earth’s ozone layer. Wind is a clean natural resource, and a great way to create electricity for everyone; this reduces the amount of emissions that are let of by non eco-friendly resources.
Conclusion
My main aim was to set out too see if I could find out if more wind farms like the Dummuie wind farm would create more of a difference too out planet. The Earths fossil fuels are running out rapidly such as oil, gas and coal. At the moment we have a lot of resources open to us too try and change the way we obtain electricity such as, tidal power, solar power and wind power. These are what we have available too us at this moment in time. I do believe that if we implement more green technology we will begin to see a change. But all the countries in the world need too take part the more we have created the bigger the change will be. Also I think that when creating more wind turbines there needs to be enough to power homes, as there are so many homes the technology needs to be developed a lot more. Overall I feel that the more wind farms like the Dummuie wind farm are created the more chance we have of making a change to the world.
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