On the road up and back, I saw some windmills (wind generators) being hauled on trucks - parts & pcs. These puppies are huge. "Ginormous" which is a (non-word) word I hate with a passion, but no other words suffice. Here is a little verbal detailing to help you cognitate on it.
The tower/shaft sections are so large (in diameter) you could drive a semi truck through them.
The blade base section, where it connects to the turbine thingamajigger deelybopper, is large enough for three or four people to walk into - abreast.
As far as the blade itself, length-wise, imagine a bunch of guys carrying the thing into the front door of the average American upsidedowninanadjustableratemortgage dwelling unit. First, the business edge of the blade would cut up into the ceiling and likely protrude through the roof. Then, the tip would crash through the sliding glass back door, continue across the back yard smashing the swing set, level the six foot cedar fence, continue across the neighbor's back yard, and come to rest more or less next to the BBQ pit on the back deck. Note that the heel/ass end would still be resting on the curb next to the mail box in the front yard.
Another comparison is that a single blade is more or less the size of a jumbo jet fuselage - perhaps even longer.
Big mo-fo's in other words.
Wind power is NOT an emerging alternative energy technology. It has emerged. There are wind farms stretching as far as the eye can see in parts of west Texas. Right now. Producing power today.
2 comments:
I have a picture somewhere of my father leaning next to the blade of a wind turbine. It makes him look like a Lilliputian on a real sized surf board.
We see "fields" like these on the drive from LA to Palm Springs. And there are more than one variety of them. Some with two blades, others with 3. Some skyscraper height, some not so much.
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