Quote:
Originally Posted by Fritz
They require brakes when it's too windy ... The better alternative is hydro turbine mills.
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All large turbines have prop pitch control. No brakes reqd. Just pitch the blades 90deg. Lots of places have pretty consistent wind (and remember is a couple hundred feet up not the surface that counts.) I've read the area of one of the dakotas could power the whole US (and who cares about them anyway!). Large wind currently beats unsubsidized coal on price. Its the cheapest power avail.
You need flow*dP (head) to make hydro work (the product of the two = power). That means dams else you're just not getting much power from them. Not enough water in the US to do it all.
In the end it'll be a mix of solns providing power. But IMO wind looks to be like it'll be the largest percentage.