Johns Hopkins Researchers Studying Atmospheric Effects of Large-Scale Wind Projects
- Dec 12, 2007 8:56 PM EST
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With massive wind projects being considered across the globe, scientists at Johns Hopkins University are asking whether--or rather, to what extent--fields of enormous turbines stir up the atmosphere. I started out a bit skeptical, but now I'm impressed--especially after reading that researchers are using "smoke, laser light, model airplane propellers and a campus wind tunnel" in their research. Sounds like fun! And the National Science Foundation recently awarded the team at the Turbulence Research Group a three-year, $321,000 grant, so I suppose it sounds like good science, too.
Questions they're researching: "Could large wind farms, whipping up the air with massive whirling blades, alter local weather conditions? Could changing the arrangement of these turbines lead to even more efficient power production?"
Research team leader Charles Meneveau said that "With diameters spanning up to 100 meters across, these wind turbines are the largest rotating machines ever built. There's been a lot of research done on wind turbine blade aerodynamics, but few people have looked at the way these machines interact with the turbulent wind conditions around them. By studying the airflow around small, scale-model windmills in the lab, we can develop computer models that tell us more about what's happening in the atmosphere at full-size wind farms."