Sounds like a design challange to me. I say they try playing high frequency noises tuned to sound like bats. That may be annoying enough that they'll stay clear. Or fall in love.
Funny, I thought the same thing, at first. The problem seems to be that it's not that localized - The pressure's killing them - You'd have to flood the fields with ultrasoound over quite a big distance (and I don't think ultrasound carries that far in the open air {I could be wrong tho})
Hey! Where did my comment go?! ]Multiply is being obnoxious again.]
I was going to say, in fact, said, before Multiply blew it away, that I prefer those arrays of small vanes, suitable for installation on the average urban rooftop, ecofriendly, no harm to migrating bats, birds or guys in balloon chairs.
And utterly useless compared to large wind turbines. They have a cutoff speed of around 8mph, and are rated at 29mph (power drops quickly from there). How often do you get wind anywhere near 29mph near the ground? Well, about never near me. (wind speed map at 33' above the ground here.)
It's like computers - do you want a few very big and powerful computers, or lots of little ones all over the place? And all that technology is going to get better with time, big and small.
Technology can't get past basic physics. The maximum energy you can pull from wind is related to wind speed and swept area. And wind speed goes down dramatically with height (measured from surrounding obsticles, not necessarily the ground).
I'm not saying the small ones don't have their place, they just can't replace large turbines in windy areas.
So bats can't handle wind, but their prey has no trouble? Prairie bats, no doubt. Sorry, I don't buy it (but I don't buy that magazine anymore, either).
What next... The sparrow burns his wittle feet on solar panels?
"Barotrauma" is the word of the day. See how often you can work it into a conversation.
I'd expect the area of low pressure behind the blade to be small. I wonder if a simple screen could be put in place (assuming an audio deterent weren't practical).
*points* HAHA!
ReplyDeletenow what do we do for green-energy?
Sounds like a design challange to me. I say they try playing high frequency noises tuned to sound like bats. That may be annoying enough that they'll stay clear. Or fall in love.
ReplyDeletePlace a little cave within the pitot.
ReplyDeleteHa!
ReplyDeleteFunny, I thought the same thing, at first. The problem seems to be that it's not that localized - The pressure's killing them - You'd have to flood the fields with ultrasoound over quite a big distance (and I don't think ultrasound carries that far in the open air {I could be wrong tho})
Hey! Where did my comment go?! ]Multiply is being obnoxious again.]
ReplyDeleteI was going to say, in fact, said, before Multiply blew it away, that I prefer those arrays of small vanes, suitable for installation on the average urban rooftop, ecofriendly, no harm to migrating bats, birds or guys in balloon chairs.
And utterly useless compared to large wind turbines. They have a cutoff speed of around 8mph, and are rated at 29mph (power drops quickly from there). How often do you get wind anywhere near 29mph near the ground? Well, about never near me. (wind speed map at 33' above the ground here.)
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't matter how much wind you've got if you can't get it to the grid! And the wind gets pretty nippy round the tops of the buildings around here, rather higher than 33'.
ReplyDeleteIt's like computers - do you want a few very big and powerful computers, or lots of little ones all over the place? And all that technology is going to get better with time, big and small.
Technology can't get past basic physics. The maximum energy you can pull from wind is related to wind speed and swept area. And wind speed goes down dramatically with height (measured from surrounding obsticles, not necessarily the ground).
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying the small ones don't have their place, they just can't replace large turbines in windy areas.
So bats can't handle wind, but their prey has no trouble? Prairie bats, no doubt. Sorry, I don't buy it (but I don't buy that magazine anymore, either).
ReplyDeleteWhat next... The sparrow burns his wittle feet on solar panels?
It's all them beans they keep eating.
ReplyDelete"Barotrauma" is the word of the day. See how often you can work it into a conversation.
ReplyDeleteI'd expect the area of low pressure behind the blade to be small. I wonder if a simple screen could be put in place (assuming an audio deterent weren't practical).