Good Video on Wind Power Potential

That is a great video.

At the end I clicked to vote for his video. That was entertaining.

I have a question.

I've heard that one effect of global warming is it will shut down the jet stream. Is this true and what effect do you think we can anticipate this having on wind power should it become a more common source of energy?  

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by: Melissa @ Tue May 11, 2010 at 07:03:52 AM UTC

Jet stream won't be shut down

Please vear with me as I get a little technical.

The jet stream (and all winds, in fact) results from differences in air pressure.  Generally speaking, less pressure exists the further north from the equator you are.  The air pressure differences exist because of temperature differences.

So there is higher pressure near the equator and lower pressure near the poles.  In an attempt to reach equilibrium, air moves away from the equator and toward the poles.  The Earth's rotation changes the direction of the air so that it flows from west to east.  Up away from the surface, this results in very fast currents of air, which are commonly referred to as the jet stream.

Under observed and projected effects of climate change, the temperature of the poles have and will likely continue to increase more so than will temperatures at lower latitudes.  So the temperature differences that exist today will be generally lower in the future.  The pressure differences of today will likewise decrease.  Without considering anything else then, the strength or intensity of the jet stream should therefore decrease.  The jets won't disappear altogether, but could become less intense.

As it relates to wind power, temperature differences across the globe will always exist.  Pressure differences will also always exist, which means winds near the surface will continue to be around.  I haven't read anything that directly deals with this yet, though I know it's being studied right now, but I would venture a guess and say that perhaps average wind speeds might decrease slightly over time.

That said, another likely effect of climate change is fewer storms per year, but stronger storms when they do occur.  Wind turbines can only withstand a certain amount of force before they shut themselves down so damage to turbines don't occur.  We might then see cases in which there is slightly less wind per year overall but more times when wind farms have to shut down due to the intensity of the storms passing by them.  It's pretty complex and provides the reason to study the issue in more depth.  As I run across articles discussing this, I'll share them with the community.

Thanks for the good, thought-provoking question!

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by: WeatherDem @ Tue May 11, 2010 at 15:59:26 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Typo

Meant to write "Please bear with me..."

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by: WeatherDem @ Tue May 11, 2010 at 15:59:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

:) Youre welcome,

one more question.

I'm not a religious follower of climate change effect-projections so if (when) what you say about the slowing of the jet streams occurs, how long for the earth to return to what is "normal"?

Thanks. I really like your posts.  

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by: Melissa @ Tue May 11, 2010 at 18:37:26 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

The questions get harder

That's a pretty difficult question to answer.

All of the climate model results I've seen and read about deal with effects out to 2100.  It's a long time away when compared to a human lifespan, but obviously very short climatologically or geologically speaking.  And it's the long-term climate and geology that will return the imbalance to something close to the conditions seen over the past few thousand years.

I suppose the short answer is it is pretty likely it will take more than a few human generations.  Something on the order of decades to centuries.  It all depends on how bad we let things get.

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by: WeatherDem @ Wed May 12, 2010 at 00:10:17 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

And won't we be surrounded by ferns

and giant pools of algae?

I'm only halfway joking but the challenge of recapturing all of that carbon is daunting. I guess that's why the massive recycling plant known as "earth" does it for us when everything heats up...  

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by: Fong @ Thu May 13, 2010 at 00:41:23 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Our remains will be

surrounded by ferns and algae.  ;)

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by: WeatherDem @ Thu May 13, 2010 at 15:20:53 PM UTC

[ Parent ]