It occurred to me that there is only so much energy in the atmosphere and if we capture a percentage of it with wind turbines, we are lowering the total energy of the weather system. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I mean, one might argue that its a good thing. That less overall energy means less or weaker storms perhaps. But I keep thinking less cooling breezes moving horizontally will create more vertical air movement rising up to form thunderstorms.
Opinions?
Kuba2015-08-19T23:25:26Z
"It occurred to me that there is only so much energy in the atmosphere and if we capture a percentage of it with wind turbines, we are lowering the total energy of the weather system." -- The energy extracted by wind turbines is an extremely small fraction of the total wind energy on the planet. Remember that the main reason for wind is because Earth is spinning. A full revolution of a planet in a day is a lot of inertia.
This doesn't mean wind turbines don't have any disadvantages. One problem with them is that they disrupt the local airflow, which hurts the local ecosystem and kills birds.
"But I keep thinking less cooling breezes moving horizontally will create more vertical air movement rising up to form thunderstorms." -- The horizontal movement of breezes actually helps induce vertical motion to form convection.
The amount of energy taken from the atmosphere to turn turbines is extremely tiny compared to the actual energy contained in the overall atmospheric circulation. It would be like the amount of effect that would be induced on the Mississippi River by dropping in a handful of rocks. There is a LOT of kinetic energy in the global atmospheric circulation, as it extends not just at the surface but through the depth of the atmosphere.