#FunFactFriday: A New York-based designer has developed the Wind Fence, which is capable of quietly producing 2200kWh of energy a year, and an array of units can be installed on fences, rooftops, and balconies. Would you be interested in these? News Source: https://interestingengineering.com/energy/vertical-turbine-airiva
@mattferrell Seems like a good idea. Relatively quiet when new but as the bearings age these kind of rotors can get noisy and eventually grind to a halt. Getting parts, repairs will be the key: design them modular with good materials so that a section can just be changed out easily and quickly to avoid expensive labor up on the roof.
@mattferrell they are actually good looking and I hope folks adopt them. Not for me as we don’t even have a railing in our porch — it gets in the way of the view (and there are no children around).
Massive melon-sized hail could be a Texas record - The brick-sized chunks of ice surpass the DVD-sized hail that fell last week, By Matthew Cappucci
June 3, 2024
"...How is such large hail created?
The production of giant hail requires exceptional thunderstorm updrafts that can suspend a large hailstone as more layers of ice accrete on it. Once a stone grows too heavy for an updraft to keep in midair, it plummets to Earth at speeds often topping 100 mph.
In the case of Sunday’s hail, copious instability, or storm fuel, lead to explosive thunderstorm development. Warm, moist air probably ascended at speeds in excess of 110 mph for a time, lofting stones that weighed between one-half and three-quarters of a pound..."
At some point homeowners insurance is going to stop paying for this stuff crashing through your roof at 100mps, class.
The chart in this article illustrates the "bang for buck" for electricity generation options. Unsurprisingly, renewables come out ahead, fossil fuels come in the middle, and nuclear is the worst. Don't take my word for it; this comes from scientists who've been working on it for decades at the CSIRO. Another takeaway: don't take Peter Dutton's word for it, either.
The world's biggest renewables & storage project, in northern Australia, will have 12 GW of wind, 12 GW of solar, and 32 GWh of storage. It will supply both Singapore & Australia. The project will likely be rolled out in two stages – with the first sized at 12 GW of wind & solar and 16 GWh of battery storage.
Milestone for floating offshore wind as world-first auction names winner and price
France has announced the winner of the world’s first commercial scale floating offshore wind auction which will see 250MW built off the coast of Southern Brittany in the country’s west.
It looks like it will be an extra, extra, extra windy day in the Windy City (and everything to the west of Chicago). #wind#chicago#ILwx WIwx #INwx#MOwx#IAwx