I've had these questions on my mind for awhile now. I was wondering why large wind turbines are not built inside cities? Are there laws against this or are there too many problems logistically?

I have always thought that it would be really amazing to see a section of large wind turbines along the river or in a large open space near downtown. I think they would be an amazing and recognizable landmark for the city and they could power it at the same time. I know nothing about this topic and I have never seen any discussion about it. So I have come to you all for any knowledge that you might have on the subject.

I heard they're really noisy. Not to mention HUGE! But it would be cool to see some wind powered generators along the river.

I understand some buildings can be fitted with "micro wind turbines" affixed on the buildings themselves, the total of output equal with the lighting needs.
As for its HVAC and other power needs is much higher then can be satisfied by the "micro wind turbines".
The wind turbines we read about is huge has a negative same mentality of "not in my backyard/in my neighborhood", this is usually reserved for prisons/apartments/housing for battered women.
I think we need to do what we can and encourage investment into transmission lines.
Tax rebates of 50% of the cost of homeowners/businesses if they build green and add wind/solar generation to meet their needs, and if it happens to produce even a little more for others.

I believe the main reason is that for them to be most cost effective, they need to be set up in large farms -- at least several dozen and usually hundreds.

The turbines I've seen have always been in massive groupings.

maybe they are afraid of this:

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Not an awful idea, but maybe not the huge kind. I can attest to how amazingly windy it is on the 14th floor of leadership. It's almost constant.

From what I have read, cities have erratic wind patterns that cause wind turbines to not work. There was a pretty famous one a while ago (cannot remember where) but the turbine was such an embarrassment that they actually pump power /to/ it so it doesn't just sit up there motionless.

Mu husband deals with aviation bird strikes. He says the corpses of birds cover the area beneath the wind farm blades. The things fly right into them, apparently. Just thought I'd mention that as a by the by...

A pigeon killer??!
Where can we get one NOW?
lol

A pigeon killer??!
Where can we get one NOW?
lol

But we have a deal!! (Seinfeld episode)

But we have a deal!! (Seinfeld episode)

:congrats:

Hmm, I see how the bird thing and noise could be an issue. I would think though that they would be able to find a way to control the noise.

I wasn't thinking that we need a giant wind farm. I was thinking more along the lines of a few turbines or more being a landmark that would give us the added benefit of producing power for the grid or a specific thing. They would iconic and I think people would definitely come and see them.

As for the turbine exploding. I'm sure they have a lot of safety measures to keep million dollar wind turbines from doing that, but of course that's an assumption.

Well I was hoping this thread was a joke, but apparently not. I cant beleive anyone wants to have these wind turbines in a city! They are incredibly ugly and they do not produce as much electricity as everyone thinks. Im not a hippie or environmentalist by any means, but it does bother me that people want to see wind farms and solar farms everywhere. They take up tons of space and ruin what used to be nice views. Sure, you can still farm until them and what not, but come on, I dont beleive anyone wants to sit and stare at a windfarm and consider it "a nice view."

Mu husband deals with aviation bird strikes. He says the corpses of birds cover the area beneath the wind farm blades. The things fly right into them, apparently. Just thought I'd mention that as a by the by...

PQ - I have a good friend who is involved with wind turbines and he has told me the only time in his knowledge there has ever been a large killing of birds by a wind turbine was when a flock of migrating birds went into one. This is why you would now have trouble building a wind farm in a known migratory bird path. As long as its not in a known path you shouldn't have mass killings - except for starlings of which there are too many of anyway. Occasional killings will happen but that happens when you build a tall building. This is 2nd hand info so someone else may have something to add.

He's been involved with doing the bird strike part of the Hudson River accident and has been dealing with the wildlife people. That's what they told him. So it is third hand on my part.

I bet it also depends on what part of the country. Back east they probably have a lot more birds than in the great plains where turbines are so common now.

You are on to something on the migratory paths. The one at the Hudson is in the path of migrating geese. They have problems in OKC, too, for that matter. That pelican that took down the plane at Wiley Post a couple of years ago was doing its thing.

Hah! I wasn't here at that time. I never heard of a pelican in OKC.

I think some of the big wind turbines are pretty elegant and impressive looking, but I can see how people might think they're ugly.

Hah! I wasn't here at that time. I never heard of a pelican in OKC.

It caught us by surprise, too. Wiley Post is over by some wetlands. I bet the folks over there weren't nearly as astonished.

I think some of the big wind turbines are pretty elegant and impressive looking, but I can see how people might think they're ugly.

I'm with you. Can see both sides but you have to admire the strength and clean lines. They are like a force of nature. A little like a dam.

I dont know, any right minded pelican who leaves the gulf coast to hang out by Wiley Post may deserve a whack from a wind turbine.

I dont know, any right minded pelican who leaves the gulf coast to hang out by Wiley Post may deserve a whack from a wind turbine.

Maybe it was a left minded pelican willing to die for birds everywhere. lol

Or a left-minded pelican that couldn't resist the draw of a buzz from the eye-hypnotizing, mind-numbing whirl of the roters - flying closer and closer squawking "It's so beautiful, I can't resist it...." BAM!

Large wind farms are located in area with the highest wind energy potential, which in our case is western Oklahoma. I agree that they would look great around the city, however, the ground clutter of building, trees, etc. would slow the wind down substantially.

Building-mounted wind turbines can work, however buying wind power from larger farms is still by far more cost-effective.

As for noise, they are not really that loud, must less noisy than an interstate.

I think I would rather hear them compare to the road racket.

Sitting here I am reminded of a song called "poisoning pigeons in the park".
AH...does anyone remember Dr Demento...

You can see some small "home power" windmills in town, especially in some of the areas with acreages but as previously stated they have to be in an area with a steady flow of wind and those get disrupted in town. The large wind farm windmills are huge, we see the blades on trucks coming up from the coast and they are longer than a standard semi-trailer.

One of the biggest home power windmill manufacturers is based in Norman, Bergey Windpower (http://www.bergey.com/).

yea believe it or not pelicans do visit this state. i actually saw a couple this morning on thunderbird while i was duck hunting.

One of the biggest home power windmill manufacturers is based in Norman, Bergey Windpower (http://www.bergey.com/).

Gosh that website is truly terrible. I like to think of myself as a techy but the information on the site is difficult to interpret. They need to hire a good marketer.

Gosh that website is truly terrible. I like to think of myself as a techy but the information on the site is difficult to interpret. They need to hire a good marketer.

Some companies tend to just want a place mat if they really dont think a web presence is a real need.
"We're in the Yellow Pages"..lol
You can see that on this site with low production and script.

Well I was hoping this thread was a joke, but apparently not. I cant beleive anyone wants to have these wind turbines in a city! They are incredibly ugly and they do not produce as much electricity as everyone thinks. Im not a hippie or environmentalist by any means, but it does bother me that people want to see wind farms and solar farms everywhere. They take up tons of space and ruin what used to be nice views. Sure, you can still farm until them and what not, but come on, I dont beleive anyone wants to sit and stare at a windfarm and consider it "a nice view."

i agree. do people really think these would look good along the oklahoma river? we are not that desperate for energy

I dont beleive anyone wants to sit and stare at a windfarm and consider it "a nice view."

I do. I would kill for that kind of view. They are beautiful.

A good place would be the railyard south of Crossroads Mall. It is right next to I-35 but there isn't much development there, and probably won't be for a long time.

or the eastern and western ends of the CR parking lot for that matter.

I'd put one up in my back yard if the city would let me!

Well just because we have wind power, doesn't mean it has to be the normal blade system. We can use the circular systems as show in Elliot's design of the turbonic tower. Slap one of those puppies on the top of the roof and let 'er go.

That way there's no bird killer, it doesnt matter which way the wind is blowing from, and it works 24/7.

Good point Bomber

Maybe they could place a few wind turbines by the Television antenna farm.

Studies have been completed in Oklahoma for wind patterns that are best suited for the generation of power. From that study it appears that there is very little, if any, useable wind for large scale power generation anywhere east of the Watonga area or so.

One of the things that is critical for a (large) wind generator is that the level/quality of wind be consistant from the lowest to the highest point on the blade section; without a substantial amount of erratic shifting or gusting. The GE generators at the Centennial farm, owned by OG&E, have a 60 ton nacelle with a 40 ton blade section. If the level of wind force at the top of the blade rotation was greater than at the bottom for instance, it would put tremendous stress on the shaft. And these generators have a smaller diameter blade rotation than the Siemens generators built at the OU Spirit facility.

The reason why you see so many generators built in a single area is because individually they produce very little power. The generators at Centennial are only 1.2 megawatts each. I believe the generators at OU Spirit are slightly larger at just over 2 megawatts each (2.3 I believe, but I'll have to double check). In comparison, an average generator at a gas fired plant is around 500 megawatts each - and typically there are multiple generators at a power plant. It takes a large number of wind turbines to produce enough power to distribute.

FYI the Governor's Mansion got one a few months back (1st Governor's Mansion in the US) to go off grid. So the the Armory on NE23rd. There were articles in the paper a few months ago, but I never saw a thread posted on OKCTalk about it. You can see them both from I-235 at 23rd.

I do. I would kill for that kind of view. They are beautiful.

Has anyone been down to Lawton lately? There is a wind farm fronting the Mt. Scott area and it continues on as far as you can see to the horizon. The structures are sporatically located and detracts from the spectacular view of the area.

Has anyone been down to Lawton lately? There is a wind farm fronting the Mt. Scott area and it continues on as far as you can see to the horizon. The structures are sporatically located and detracts from the spectacular view of the area.

Everytime we go to Meers we see them.. I think they're awesome!

IMO, in general, the urban area is not the place for large wind turbines. The exception might be an established industrial warehouse area where you are far from any residential areas.

yea believe it or not pelicans do visit this state. i actually saw a couple this morning on thunderbird while i was duck hunting.

Oh ya they do. Hell, we have a festival for them every year at Grand Lake.

Pelican Festival (http://grandlakebassfishing.info/annual_pelican_festival.htm) :kicking:

Has anyone been down to Lawton lately? There is a wind farm fronting the Mt. Scott area and it continues on as far as you can see to the horizon. The structures are sporatically located and detracts from the spectacular view of the area.

I think they look quite attractive scattered along the ridge lines of the distant hills.