FINAL PROJECT: IAN ENGORON

Ian Engoron

ILS 252 Final Project

ME FIRST!

Where to begin? Everything I learned, or experienced might be a better way to put it was new to me? The completion of this project coupled with the lessons of this course has opened my eyes to so many new things. Sustainability has taken on a completely new meaning, and this is after having taken an environmental sustainability course and plants and man last year. That was the whole point of this course and the final project though in my mind, not necessarily to make you question what you know every time you learn something new, but to offer you a new perspective, a new lens to look through, when analyzing our world (that was the most important thing I took away from this class). The final project will for me be the most memorable thing in the course, and I don’t want that fact to go under appreciated.

Throughout the semester we have been dissecting mans history and trying to understand how/what we can learn from it as well as why it has left us in the position we are today. By taking a unique perspective, in the sense that so far in college I have not had any course like this, and trying to comprehend this matter by gaining insight into mans co-evolution with his surroundings, I, and I hope the rest of the class, have been given a rare and very beneficial opportunity. We have been given the chance, and the tools necessary to help us view our lives with an attitude we are unaccustomed too, and that is one of society first, not me first.

Ideally there wouldn’t even be a distinction, which during the height of the Roman Empire there wasn’t and that is why there were, up till that point, such a successful empire. The me first vs. society first attitude should be so similar that a conscious split should require intense deliberation and unusual circumstances. I am not claiming that the two attitude are the exact same, nor that an individual should posses all characteristics of one attitude and none of the other, what I am claiming is that as individuals and a society, we have to redefine what the me first attitude means to us.  What Americans, and many others in the world, seem to be forgetting is that personal happiness and responsibility can and indeed should cooperate and synthesis with societal happiness and responsibility. Although I wasn’t fully aware at the time, looking back I can now see this is where my project began.

When we were first told we had this rather large task to finish by the end of the semester, my feeling at the time was like that after hearing of a similar announcement in any other course. That was because I unfortunately didn’t understand the motivation behind it. So like most other big course requirements I looked at it with an uninspired and disdainful view, I approached this project, in the beginning, with a me first attitude. What I should have realized was that just as much personal pleasure, if not more, can be gained from doing something like this, as I could gain wasting my time playing videos games on a couch. Especially now that I am looking at that statement in writing, it has never made more sense. Much like our friend Zander Srodes, What I needed was a spark to ignite my incentive. Zander Srodes is the young gentleman who was lighting fireworks off on his neighbors beach front, and after that neighbor explained the harm he had done to the natural environment around him, specifically to turtle hatchlings, he had the epiphany that resulted in the fusion and unification of his happiness and responsibilities and societies happiness and responsibilities. That is what it truly means to be sustainable, and I don’t know if it is too late to reverse the harm we have already done, but we all need to come to the same epiphany if we are going to ensure the long term future of our species.

After having watched Zanders TED talk, I realized my moment happened when we went to picnic point during lab earlier in the semester. I had been there before, just like Zander had been to that beachfront, but this time under a different context. Previously I had gone seeking to satisfy some personal desire, like Zander, which in my case although it wasn’t causing any harm, it wasn’t doing any good either. On this trip to picnic point, I was going with different intentions, I was going under the guise of education and learning, and that is exactly what I did. Leading up to our field trip so to speak, we had been talking about the relationship between systems and sustainability, and our role in that relationship.  Throughout our time there we discussed topics specific to picnic point, like the invasive weeds, and we discussed more over arching topics like how the plant life the American Midwest has developed and evolved over time. At the end, as we were leaving the wild and heading back to the bus, I lagged behind the group for a second to stand on the shore of the lake and look out over the place I had grown (without much trouble) to love and call home in recent years. If I had to pick a moment in my life that defined the lessons of this course, it would be then. While I couldn’t articulate it at the time, something resonated in me that would make me realize the extent of the selfishness present in my life. Selfishness that wasn’t compatible with a sustainable life style

After that it was easy to find motivation to work on my project. I found that I wanted to do it instead of had to do it. Ironically that only made things harder. Before this I would have been more likely to care less about this project, but now, because I cared, that meant I wanted to put more effort, pay more attention to detail, and a choose a meaningful topic. Unlike Zander, I didn’t have a hyper-specific motivation, but I had somewhere to start. After my presentation Peter (The TA) asked me a question that went something like, “why did you choose to put the wind turbines in the lake, there are plenty of farms near by that might be a better choice?” I unfortunately panicked at being asked a question by the TA and answered incorrectly; my response was along the lines of “because the lakes are the closest, and therefore most efficient place to put them. And because I got the inspiration for the project on the shore of the lake.” The reason I specifically choose to put windmills in the lake was because I thought the idea would face a lot of resistance. A main reason you assigned the project to us was to push ourselves to recognize the effort and sacrifice (that we should want to make) to attain sustainability, so my project would be about pushing the public to do the same. This came to fruition with the presentation. Up until then it was about collecting data and an analysis of the feasibility, in the second half of the presentation, what I hoped to accomplish (and only the audience can tell me if I succeeded) was to challenge the audience to come to analogous, although less exaggerated, epiphany to the one Zander had. The reason I purposed to put the turbines in the lake was because I knew it would be a controversial issue and it is those kinds of issues that really open people’s eyes. A message I was trying to send is that the lake is a luxury we are lucky to get to enjoy, it is not our right to enjoy it. That is the idea behind sustainability and that was the inspiration behind my project.

 

In terms of actually getting the research and physical work done, all it took was the motivation, which I already had, and two neat things called the Internet and the library. A quick recap of the content of my project.

 

I purposed to place Wind turbines in both lake Monona and Mendota, as an alternative, cleaner, and more sustainable source of energy, 5 in Monona and 2 in Mendota. Given wind speeds, placement, and mechanical ability of the turbine, they would be able to supply enough energy to satisfy on average, 2800 households annually. Unfortunately, with the cost of installation being $3 million per turbine, and the cost of energy produced by wind turbine, as opposed to more traditional and dirtier sources like coal, being on average $3 more per kilowatt hour than its fossil fuel counterparts, the project is not financially practical. There were also other reasons for not putting turbines in the lake, use of the lake for fishing and boating, unpleasant sight and noise, and disrupting bird flight patterns. I was however surprised to find that, in a survey I conducted, 4/10 people, who made a very uninformed and informal decision, said they would be alright with putting turbines in the lake in the name of sustainability, even given costs. I thought the number was going to be lower. So maybe we do have some hope yet! If I could leave you with a few final words, it would be that this project has taught me that sustainability is not easy or fun or even a good choice necessarily when you look through the lens of the me first attitude, but when you look at this project through the lens this course gave us, you understand sustainability is exactly those three things.

 

Here is a link to the Zander Srodes TED talk “The moment it found me” found on youtube.com

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION: WIND TURBINES

Ian Engoron

TA: Peter

The world at large is at a critical point in its history. People are becoming more aware of the effect their actions, as individuals and as a society, have on the environment. A choice will, most likely, soon have to be made, on the smallest to largest scale about how much we as a generation care about future generations to come. Madison is one of the most progressive and liberal cities in America, and the UW-Madison is just as progressive if not more so than the city itself. As such a progressive university and city, why does the UW still use the charter street coal plant, which provides nearly two thirds of the energy needed to power the UW campus? Coal is one of the most harmful sources of energy production available and in use today. I am not calling the UW or the school hypocrites, but with many other schools, cities, and states focusing their attention on new, clean, renewable sources of energy, if Madison would like to stay at the forefront as a progressive, liberal city, then we need to strength our sustainable energy game. There is so much potential for the UW to improve their green energy practices, and that potential needs to be acted on if we are to maintain our school, city, and planet for those yet to be born.

As of 2008, there were “no offshore, or water-based, wind projects” in the US (Thomas Content). Apparently though, there have been a few attempts at putting wind turbines in the Great Lakes next to Wisconsin. The proximity to Madison, and the fact that the Great lakes are, obviously, lakes, and not oceans, makes these attempts an interesting and helpful case to look at to gain insight into my project. My project proposes that Madison act on the unharnessed potential for sustainable wind energy that it has and install wind turbines in both Lake Mendota and Monona. Hopefully the result of my research does not mean the same end for my proposal as it did for the ones concerning the Great Lakes. Unfortunately, there were too many obstacles to overcome and the Great Lake’s wind turbines never came to fruition. According to the Journal Sentinel, a Milwaukee based newspaper, “Any lake-based wind farm would require approval from numerous state and federal agencies – an unprecedented process that would likely take years to complete” (Thomas Content). There are a number of differences between the Great Lakes and Madison’s lakes and hopefully those differences make it possible for Madison to have wind power.

Installing of the wind turbines in lake Mendota and Monona will not be an easy process nor will it necessarily be a good idea, or even possible. This project will take a look at the feasibility of placing wind farms in those lakes. Many things will need to be considered and in the end, it may turn out that this is not a feasible idea, but with everyone who reads this, at least awareness will be raised. Much information will be needed to properly ascertain if the wind farms will make sense in the lakes, starting with information on the lakes themselves. All this can be found on the Wisconsin department of natural resources web page. According to them the surface area of lake Mendota is 9,482.46 acres, which is slightly less than 15 square miles. 9% of the lake is less than 3ft deep, 70% is over 20ft deep, and that means that the remaining 21% of the lake is between 3ft and 20ft deep with the maximum depth being 83ft. Lake Monona is much smaller, only 3,274.4 acres, almost exactly 5 square miles. 6% of the lake is less than 3ft deep and 60% of the lake is over 20ft deep, with the remaining 34% of the lake between 3ft and 20 ft deep (Wisconsin DNR). These numbers will be important in determining how many, if any, windmills can fit in the lakes.

The next thing that need be considered is the parameters of the individual windmills. There are far too may different types of windmills, So I will analyze the feasibility of using General Electrics 1.5-77 wind turbine design for the two lakes. The other reason I choose the GE turbine is because GE as a written manual on wind energy basics and will therefore provide with the deepest insight possible as to whether their turbines can be installed in the lakes of Madison. According to their website, The GE 1.5-77 is 262 ft tall and has a blade length of 116 ft (GE). According to a study done at johns Hopkins University, a spacing of 6-10 times the rotor diameter is ideal for wind farms (John Hopkins). Factoring in the size of the lakes, and using a spacing of 8 times the rotor diameter, this would mean there is room for 5 turbines in Mendota and only 2 in Monona. While this may seem like a small amount these 7 turbines would be able to make a significant difference.

Now that it has been established that it is possible to fit these turbines in the lake, the next step is establishing whether or not it actually makes sense to do. There are a number of factors that will influence the final decision, can the turbines handle the Madison lake’s environment, how much will it cost to build and install the turbines, will they end up saving money, are they effective, clean, and finally, sustainable? GE offers 1.5MW turbines in cold weather extreme models with internal heaters and extra insulation, so it can handle the temperature. Also, even at Mendota’s deepest part of 83ft, a turbine could still fit and have 63ft between the water and the lowest part of blade rotation, and if a turbine can fit in Mendota at its deepest then they can all fit in Monona as well, for it is shallower.

According to US department of energy, at a height of 80 m, the wind around Madison blows at an average of 8-10 m/s (US DOE). According to GE this is the optimal wind speed for their 1.5MW turbine. At a good wind site, which we just established Madison was, a 1.5MW turbine “can produce enough electricity to supply the annual needs of about 400 average US homes” (GE Manual). With 7 turbines, a little fewer than 3000 homes could be powered every year. This is a substantial number of homes and assuming many of those households have more than more person, then more than 3000 individuals could be supplied by these turbines. If you apply that to the UW as opposed to regular homes, the UW could power a significant number of educational/research/ and dormitory buildings.

The most unfortunate part about wind turbines is its cost, to both build and consume energy from. According to GE, costs of course vary based on site-specific conditions, but in general “wind power development can cost around $2 million per megawatt of generating capacity installed” (GE Manual) This means that a 1.5MW turbine can cost around $3 million, especially if the have to install the turbine in the middle of a lake. To make matters worse, on top of the cost of installation, According the Energy Information Association (of America), in 2006, wind energy on average costs up to $3 more to consume than energy produced by coal and natural gas (EIA). Both the cost to install and the cost to consume are rather high, which just offers more incentive for people to keep the status quo and not switch to cleaner, sustainable, albeit more expensive energy. However, wind power consumption costs are dropping and in the future they will hopefully be parallel, if not cheaper than their green house gas emitting counter parts.

There are three more problems with the turbines being placed in the lakes, and all three in my eyes, are trivial compared to the acquisition and use of sustainable energy. The lake is open for fishing, sailing, swimming, and a number of other aquatic activities. I questioned my three roommates, who have all used the lakes at least once for an aquatic activity, and they said they would have a problem with no longer being able to use all of the lake. This is most likely indicative to the attitudes many others hold and would therefore not want the turbines installed as well. To these people I say, what is more important, being able to take sailing lessons 4 months out of the Madison year, or working towards ensuring the lives of our children and their children? The answer is obvious, the latter. Then there are those who complain about the view and the noise, otherwise known as NIMBY’s (Not In My Back Yard). NIMBY’s want turbines out of sight and out of hearing range (GreenBeat). That will obviously not be possible given the relatively small size of the body of water we are dealing with. To these people I ask the same question I asked to those who want to be able to go in the lake, and the answer is the same, the wind turbines are obviously more worth it. The third problem with the wind turbines is their potential damage to birds. Many people claim that birds get killed and their migratory flight patters disrupted by the turbines. To them I ask which is worse for the birds, that turbines should kill a few birds every year, or that the greenhouse gasses from other, dirtier forms of energy will eventually wipe out their species and potentially ours as well. The answer is again obvious, a few birds are worth sacrificing (who also have the chance to adapt, they don’t HAVE to keep flying the same exact routes) for the sake of their species and ours, and the turbines are worth it.

A decision has not been made about whether it is indeed worth it to install turbines in the lakes, and that is because it is not my decision to make, there is no clear right answer here. Obviously clean, sustainable energy is desired and sought after, but at what cost. This would be a very expensive project; one that I personally am not sure is worth it. That seems to be the theme with clean, sustainable energy, it is always more expensive. As one student in my environmental studies class put it , “pay no attention to Economics 101, the University’s mounting budget problems, the huge Wisconsin state budget deficit and Wisconsin’s snowballing debt. Environmentally correct options are the only options. Nothing else need be consider,” and there are plenty more who agree with him. What I have learned is that this project is possible, it is feasible, but it is most likely not affordable.

References:

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/29588649.html (Thomas Content)

http://dnr.wi.gov/lakes/ (Wisconsin DNR)

http://www.ge-energy.com/products_and_services/products/wind_turbines/ge_1.5_77_wind_turbine.jsp (GE)

http://gazette.jhu.edu/2011/01/18/new-study-yields-better-turbine-spacing-for-large-wind-farms/ (John Hopkins)

http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/wind_resource_maps.asp?stateab=wi (US DOE)

http://www.ge-energy.com/content/multimedia/_files/downloads/wind_energy_basics.pdf (GE Manual)

http://www.eia.gov/oiaf/archive/ieo06/special_topics.html (EIA)

http://venturebeat.com/2010/03/01/great-lakes-wind-farms-are-failing-the-nimby-test/ (GreenBeat)

Wind Turbine Project Update

As of yet I have not encoutered any problems or roadblocks with my project. All the relevant information I need I have been able to find online and according to the poeple I have spoken with, they all think Wind turbines in the lake, if pragmatial, would be a great Idea. There are only a few more inquiries I need to make before I can finally stop collecting information and focus all my attention on whether or not this a good Idea. I have collected all the information I need on actual attributes on the lakes and wind turbines, including area and average temperature of the lakes, cost of installation of turbines, Wisconsin companies that sell and install them, and their sustainability. The only thing left to do is fin out if, given this information, people would actually follow through and allow their construction.

Project Proposal – Wind Turbines

For my project I would like to create a proposal to construct windmill farms on both Lake Monona and Mendota. I cannot hope to accomplish this by myself in a single semester so instead I will be devising a detailed plan on how this could be done. The scale of the impact will most likely just be the downtown Madison area, if the city constructs the windmills, or if instead they are built by the university and not the city, then they could be used for university buildings exclusively. The project objective is to create a local, more sustainable source of energy. The reason I am proposing this project is because I think Madison has so much potential in terms of sustainable energy and that potential needs to be realized and acted upon. I want to make Madison, and someday the world in general, a cleaner and more sustainable place to live. I hope to achieve a feasible, attainable, tangible solution to Madison’s clean energy needs. Seeing as now I will not actually be constructing the actual windmills I will do everything up until that step. I will create a budget, list of resources needed, a plan, a reason for the project, and expected outcomes. It will impact all of Madison in one way or another, by either providing energy or by ruining their view of the lakes. The Proposal will take place over this semester although the actual construction is for the future. There are a few physical and conceptual boundaries, the lake is a physical boundary and the value people place on a clear, nice view is a conceptual boundary.