Monday, August 10, 2009

Mini wind energy storage

The wind blows and then a calm covers the area outside my pad. Is there some way that that wind energy can be harnesed cost effectively? At my car's garage a special wrench is used to remove the lugs of each wheel of my car as the wheels are rotated and it is apparently energy effective to use electricity to pump a tank with compressed air to supply the power necessary for the wrench. I am sure that when the wind is blowing it could compress air for present or future use. The size and capacity of storage tanks would depend on the amount of energy required to operate motorized devices such as tools in a shop, bench saws, drills, sanders and in the house a motorized mixer, toaster, blender, record player, vacuum cleaner, an electric toothbrush and perhaps a refrigerator and for your water pump, too. It seems to me that if it is energy efficient to use electricity in my car's garage wouldn't wind storage and a small garage-top wind machine be equal or better in efficiency to do the job without the use of fossil fuel to produce the energy to pump a tank with compressed air? The size and number of storage tanks would depend on the availability of wind and the amount of use.

1 comment:

  1. In my spare time, which is not much lately, I have been working on an energy issue too. It has nothing to do with wind, but making hydrogen as a fuel to burn through an internal combustion engine. A couple of friends and I have been studying the process and at times it appears that it may not be cost effective and then we solve a small problem which rejuvenates our drive and encourages us to carry on. We have been able to produce gains in horsepower as well as gas mileage, but then something fouls up the plan, the unit gets hot, the test car breaks something vital (not always engine related), or we find ourselves just consumed by work and lose our free time to practice with it.

    It is great reading about everything you write, please keep it up, I'm sure you will.

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