Satellite reception of 13.2.2014. A winter storm dishes the Northeast Custage of the USA. A few days earlier he was pulled over the Sudstatoes. Image: nasa
The Energy and Climate Weeks: of water damage and populists, offshore-tripod and floating windmoats and effects of the North Atlantic on the ice of the Antarctic
While medium and large parts of Eastern Europe can look forward to an extremely mild winter, Bobbank continues to fight with severe overflows. Since the beginning of December, the British islands and partly also West France and the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, from an unusual series of heavier and rainy storm society.
Beyond the Atlantic a similar picture. On the one hand, for the season mostly – apart from current exceptions – far too high temperatures in Alaska and a heavy durre in California, on the other hand, on the other hand, in the East again and again cold air pre-stewing far in the south, partly to the golf custody and north of Floridas.
The context of this extreme winter weather with climate change is meanwhile further subject of scientific investigations. In the case of California Durre, the New York Times refers to simulations that actually hug the US state in a Warmer’s world winter winter. The current DURRE is the hardest recorded in the 119 years recordings, but years with extreme rainfall are nothing unusual for the region. However, it looks like the global embracing, which also reflected in the temperature trends of the region, the Durre is worse.
Image: noaa
Meanwhile, the polar air pre-stabile are further iliably as well as the fact that for weeks, gravure areas have always pulled over the British islands, obviously resulting a special constellation in the high flow of atmosphere. In our latitudes, the atmosphere vertebraes move along the so-called polar jet, a strong, relatively narrow windband in six to ten kilometers high.
Image: noaa
Jennifer Francis from the Rutgers University in New Jersey, United States, has been argues for some time that these winds will be swung off when the temperature in temperature between North and Sud becomes weaker, which is called when the Arctic expects what is undoubtedly the case. Last weekend, she recaptured her work at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAs) in Chicago.
If the Jet Stream becomes weaker, Francis, then it is expected that his Schlenker will become more extensive to North and Sud and remain this more long time on the spot, rather than slowly walking from West to East to east. Derei brings such unusual and long-lasting weather conditions, as we are currently experiencing them again.
Populist surfers
So if you think the climate change can not be so bad, because he was doing something warm in this country, should be a bit warm, should look closely, which is currently happening in the main buddies. There, this-year damage to a billion pound (1.22 billion euros) will be estimated, and obviously it has no shortage of unscrupulous populists that exploit the need for those affected to play them against others. Development aid should rather be paid out to the overflow victims, calls for the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), which otherwise makes advertising especially for the exit from the EU advertising.
A statement written for the British Parliament ames that 5.3 million buildings are threatened by flooding. The average quantities of storm floods and overflows currently amounted to 1.1 billion pounds (1.34 billion euros). By 2080, this amount could grow to 27 billion pounds (32.9 billion euros). By 2035, the quotum expenses for flood protection had to rise to a billion pounds (1.22 billion euros). Others ame that an increase of 750 million pounds alone is needed to keep the risk at the current level.
Floating windmuhlen
Maybe you should make a little faster with the energy transition instead of catching up expensive AKW dreams. A rather coarse-technical possibility are the offshore wind farms, which are currently being created in front of the British and German cousings. In most cases, they stand on pipes rammed in the floor.
Another approach is pursued in front of the US West Cust. There, in the state of Oregon, a 30 megawatt pilot project has just been approved. The company Principle Power wants to anchor on floating tripod installed plants in the deep water in front of the custody. On one of three colors connected with each other is a windmill. The souls are partially flooded and in a different mabe to keep the system always in a stable vertical position.
Image: Principle Power
The advantages of the concept belong that the complete construction in the dry dock (video) can be put together on land and then can be towed on sea. This eliminates expensively installation work at sea, for which otherwise special ships are needed. In Germany, where is usually built beyond the horizontal, long access roads for the assembly workers also fall. According to the manufacturer, the facilities are suitable for depths over 40 meters, so even for many locations in the Baltic Sea and also in parts of the North Sea.
The Norwegian hywind plant floating on a single saille needs water depths of over 70 meters and must be mounted on sea. In November, the Energy Group had Statoil Grunes Light for a pilot project with five 6 megawatt facilities in front of Scottish cuffs in about 100 meters deep water. In the US, the Norwegians had less happy. There, in the fall of 2013 in the state of Maine, another Hywind project was discontinued, after which it had given counterwind from the Governor. In Norway, Statoil has been a pilot plant with a 2.3 MW wind turbine from Siemens since 2009.
Principle Power has been operating its first test facility since April 2012 before the Portuguese Kuste. The electricity provides a 2 MW turbine of the Danish manufacturer Vestas. In June 2013, the news agency Bloomberg wrote, the plant has now 5.000 Megawatt hours delivered. This will shut up to 2500 from 8760 hours a year, which ran the facility at full load. For an offshore pilot plant that was already allowed to be pretty good. On land are about 2 in standard operation.000 hours reached, on lake one hopes because of the better wind transactions in front of the German custs on 4.000 hours. However, there is still a lack of experience as to whether the downtime can actually be kept correspondingly low.