My doctor, who knows that I understand physics and renewable energy in particular, asked me today what I thought about wind turbines on boats.
I explained that, since boats need their own ways to generate electricity, what is called “small wind” may make sense. Most ships have diesel-powered generators, and that’s an option for smaller craft as well, and solar is not an attractive option because of the small area.
Doctors generally don’t have time to kill, but he asked me further about small wind, to which I explained:
Because the area of a circle is proportional to the square of the radius, big is better. If you can build a turbine with a radius 100 times larger than a small one, you’re going to generate 10,000 time more power.
Because the power generated by a turbine is proportional to the cube of the wind’s velocity, if you can site a turbine in wind conditions that are 10 times those on your rooftop, with trees and other buildings slowing the wind down, you’re going to generate 1000 times more power.
So, as usual, the answer resides in physics and math. 1000 times 10,000 is 10 million, which is why we see huge turbines on structures that lift huge turbines high above the ground, and it’s why the small wind industry has essentially disappeared.
If you don’t understand elementary school math and high school science, and you have money to burn, the investment offered at left may be right for you.
Here’s a very short video on the subject of metaphysics, the philosophy of being and reality.
It’s a great example of what I mean when I say that it has been a terrible last few centuries for philosophers.
In ancient times, if you wanted to know what the fundamental building blocks of the universe, you asked a philosopher, perhaps the ancient Athenian Democritus, who propounded the theory of the atom, which was, by definition, indivisible. Now we refer this question to the realm of particle physics.
Far more recently, those who struggled to know the ultimate nature of reality asked a metaphysician. Now, once again, we’ve put our trust in science.
I hope you’ll check out the video linked above.
As a PhD colleague once told me, “If you don’t care how much of pay for electricity, I’ll get you all the renewable energy you could ever ask for.”
They want you to invest. Have you ever asked why people with their own money at stake have abandoned these ideas 20 years ago?
At left we see why Lincoln would have done well to let the Confederacy cede from the Union. He could have simply written a letter to Robert E. Lee stating:
Keep your slaves and your land…for now. Wait until you experience the effects of near-zero industrial and military technology development and the civilized world’s refusal to trade with you barbarians. By the end of the 19th Century, a stiff breeze will blow you away. Maybe some future U.S. president will invade you with a troop of Boy Scouts with slingshots, or maybe a handful of banditos will ride up from Mexico.
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