Wind energy in Germany and visit to a wind power plant

Jeanette Wichner, Alina Müller, Luisa Lübkemann

GTS 2001 Haupt- und Realschule Syke, Germany

Holly Lodge Girls‘ College, Liverpool, UK,

April 15th – 18th, 2013.

In Germany the main energy sources are:Coal, nuclear, gas, hydro, photovoltaic and wind.

Nearly 10% of the energy is produced by wind power plants, that is, 22,297 turbines produce about 29,000 Giga Watt electricity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_Germany

In Lower Saxsony (where we live)

5,501 turbines produce 25% of the energy consumption.

The distribution of wind turbines is shown in the following figures

http://windmonitor.iwes.fraunhofer.de/windwebdad/www_reisi_page_new.show_page?page_nr=20

http://www.umwelt.niedersachsen.de/umweltbericht/kuestenregion_wattenmeer_nordsee/nutzungen/energiegewinnung/89344.html

According to the European Wind Energy Agency, wind power installed by the end of 2011 was as follows:

France: 6,800 [Mega Watts]Germany: 29,060Greece: 1,629Italy: 6,747Latvia: 31Netherlands: 2,328Poland: 1,616Portugal: 4,083Romania: 982Turkey: 1,799UK: 6,540

http://www.ewea.org/fileadmin/ewea_documents/documents/publications/statistics/Stats_2011.pdf

France: 6,800 [Mega Watts]Germany: 29,060Greece: 1,629Italy: 6,747Latvia: 31Netherlands: 2,328Poland: 1,616Portugal: 4,083Romania: 982Turkey: 1,799UK: 6,540

http://www.colourbox.com/image/wind-power-generators-on-the-map-of-europe-image-3393474

Pros and cons of the wind energy power plants

http://www.booneyliving.com/281/wind-power-pros-and-cons-to-help-you-plan-your-renewable-energy-system/

Some of the pros of the wind energy

It is:

1. Environmental friendly,

2. Unlimited and

3. One of the cleanest forms of the energy

Some of the cons of the wind energy are:

1. The wind speed is always changing, that is, the wind is an inconsistent resource of energy. 2. Wind turbines produce noise.3. Some people don’t like the looks of these devices.4. There is an impact on the local wildlife.5. Wind turbines can be difficult to install and maintain.

Visit to a wind power plant factory

Some photographs

In our physics laboratory - A model of a generator

In physics laboratory we made and tested different models of wind turbines

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to Mrs. Julia Tinsley (Headmistress of the Holly Lodge Girls’ College),

Mrs. Jackie Ley (Comenius Project Coordinator) and their colleagues for giving us an opportunity to present our results.

Last but not least, we thank Mr. R. Goltermann (Headmaster GTS 2001 Syke), Mrs. Simone Treunert (our class teacher) and Dr. Rajinder Singh (our physics teacher and Comenius project coordinator) for supporting us.

Thanks for your attention