Small Wind Energy Devices Can Provide Lowest Energy Prices
Small wind energy devices i.e. heigth up to 4 m and width 2 m, which have no external rotating parts are environmentally friendly and easy to install and maintain.
If devices with effective heigth 2,5 m and width 2 m were deployed in a number equal to the number of motor vehicles in the world, the electricity production from the devices in fresh breeze (8,5 m/s) would constitute about 56 % of the world electricity production.
According to ref. 1 the number of vehicles in service worldwide surpassed 1 billion in 2010.
According to ref. 2 the world electricity production in 2013 was 23 322 TWh which is equal to 23 322 billion kWh.
An example of a small wind energy device is shown on ref. 3. This device is assumed to produce 1,5 kW in 8,5 m/s wind.
If the annual average electricity from each device was 1,5 kW the amount of electricity produced per year from 1 billion devices would be 1,5 (kW) x 24 x 365 (number of hours per year) x 1 billion = 13 140 billion kWh.
This constitute about 56 % of the world electricity production.
References:
1. http://wardsauto.com/news-analysis/world-vehicle-population-tops-1-billion-units
2. https://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/KeyWorld_Statistics_2015.pdf
