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| Titel |
Estimating maximum global land surface wind power extractability and associated climatic consequences |
| VerfasserIn |
L. M. Miller, F. Gans, A. Kleidon |
| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| ISSN |
2190-4979
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| Digitales Dokument |
URL |
| Erschienen |
In: Earth System Dynamics ; 2, no. 1 ; Nr. 2, no. 1 (2011-02-11), S.1-12 |
| Datensatznummer |
250000456
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 copernicus.org/esd-2-1-2011.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| The availability of wind power for renewable energy extraction is ultimately
limited by how much kinetic energy is generated by natural processes within
the Earth system and by fundamental limits of how much of the wind power can
be extracted. Here we use these considerations to provide a maximum estimate
of wind power availability over land. We use several different methods.
First, we outline the processes associated with wind power generation and
extraction with a simple power transfer hierarchy based on the assumption
that available wind power will not geographically vary with increased
extraction for an estimate of 68 TW. Second, we set up a simple momentum balance model to estimate maximum
extractability which we then apply to reanalysis climate data, yielding an
estimate of 21 TW. Third, we perform general circulation model simulations in
which we extract different amounts of momentum from the atmospheric boundary
layer to obtain a maximum estimate of how much power can be extracted,
yielding 18–34 TW. These three methods consistently yield maximum estimates
in the range of 18–68 TW and are notably less than recent estimates that
claim abundant wind power availability. Furthermore, we show with the general
circulation model simulations that some climatic effects at maximum wind
power extraction are similar in magnitude to those associated with a doubling
of atmospheric CO2. We conclude that in order to understand fundamental
limits to renewable energy resources, as well as the impacts of their
utilization, it is imperative to use a "top-down" thermodynamic Earth system
perspective, rather than the more common "bottom-up" engineering approach. |
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