Monday, May 20, 2013

Murdo, a hosepipe and the interconnector

I notice the huge windmill has been erected - sans wings at the moment. I'm rather disappointed that the thing looks nothing like the pictures I've seen of ones in the Netherlands and even England for goodness sakes. Still, it is a big one as they say and no doubt will make a nice whoosh as it slices through a passing eagles wing. The down side is, the lack of something called an inter-connector that precludes the power from the thing being sent over to the mainland where the poor dears need it.

The villagers are not easily put off it seems as Murdo, fresh from finding an old electric water-pump and some hose-pipe is putting plans together to open the Tolsta Colon Hydrotherapy Centre, pumping water at high pressure from the reservoir at the back and providing an interesting new service to locals, visitors and sheep alike.  Once the grant for the new shed to house the new centre has gone through, Murdo will be announcing the opening date. I shall be there for the opening day - with camera in hand. Watch this space - but not too closely.

In the meantime, you can feast your eyes on Tolsta's lovely surrounds. I got lost and wandered up this way and found a Meades mobile.





4 comments:

Ricardo said...

Just a few comments about wind power.
Wind is the movement of air from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure. In fact, wind exists because the sun unevenly heats the surface of the Earth. As hot air rises, cooler air moves in to fill the void. As long as the sun shines, the wind will blow. And as long as the wind blows, people will harness it to power their lives.

Ancient mariners used sails to capture the wind and explore the world. Farmers once used windmills to grind their grains and pump water. Today, more and more people are using wind turbines to wring electricity from the breeze. Over the past decade, wind turbine use has increased at more than 25 percent a year.

Most wind energy comes from turbines that can be as tall as a 20-story building and have three 200-foot-long (60-meter-long) blades. The wind spins the blades, which turn a shaft connected to a generator that produces electricity. Other turbines work the same way, but the turbine is on a vertical axis and the blades look like a giant egg beater.

The biggest wind turbines generate enough electricity to supply about 600 U.S. homes. Wind farms have tens and sometimes hundreds of these turbines lined up together in particularly windy spots, like along a ridge. Smaller turbines erected in a backyard can produce enough electricity for a single home or small business.

Wind is a clean source of renewable energy that produces no air or water pollution. And since the wind is free, operational costs are nearly zero once a turbine is erected. Mass production and technology advances are making turbines cheaper.

Some people think wind turbines are ugly and complain about the noise the machines make. The slowly rotating blades can also kill birds and bats, but not nearly as many as are killed by cars,cats,people,aeroplanes and high-rise buildings do.

Nevertheless, the wind energy industry is booming. Globally, generation more than quadrupled between 2000 and 2006. At the end of last year, global capacity was more than 70,000 megawatts. In the energy-hungry United States, a single megawatt is enough electricity to power about 250 homes. Germany has the most installed wind energy capacity, followed by Spain, the United States, India, and Denmark. Development is also fast growing in France and China.

Industry experts predict that if this pace of growth continues, by 2050 the answer to one third of the world's electricity needs will be found blowing in the wind.

tener un buen día

from sunny Spain where we have lots of turbines

Ricardo

John said...

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Andrea Ingram said...

Hi John, AS it happens I do have constant IBS. Hope this helps!

Laurie said...

My favorite non Scottish island is in Maine-they have a smaller wind turbine and they painted one of the blades black. Though it's in the middle of a gull colony, no bird hits. Truth.