Sometimes learning theory in class can leave me needing something more. It's hard for things to really make an impression on me if I can't visualize it. Renewable energy was one of those things I've heard about and learned about over the last few years, but there was still a lot left to the imagination. Last week while our Core Course visited Ærø, we got up close and personal with renewable energy projects, including a wind farm and district heating plants that use solar energy and biomass. The wind farm was my favorite part. I've only seen wind turbines in pictures or from a distance in a car or plane. This time we drove right up to the base of the turbine and went inside. Ærø is a windy island, and these turbines were placed on the coastline where wind speeds allow the turbines to reach their max capacity. Being beneath one as it turns is both intimidating and incredible. The three wings of the turbine are each 40 meters (over 120 feet) long and they make hauntingly muted whoosh as the wind pushes them around. What I found most interesting about this particular wind farm is that they are owned by citizens of the island. When the farm was developed, community members could invest in the idea by buying shares of the farm. Electricity consumers pay their bills to a local utility, and the utility pays the shareholders each month for as long as the windmill is standing (expected to be at least 20 years). The project pays back in 8 years, so for the next 12+ years shareholders receive a profit. It was also amazing to see solar energy being used to heat homes. This was done via district heating, a system employed in dense areas where a single, large community furnace supplies hot water to its its customers for use in radiators and water heaters. District heating is very common in Denmark, especially in cities. About 60% of home have district heating. It also exists in the US, but almost exclusively for large commercial buildings in urban centers.
This district heating plant is special because it heats water with solar radiation, through a vast array of solar collectors. Solar collectors look at first like electric solar panels, but instead of producing electricity, they pass water through heated plates to make it warm. This heat is then transferred to homes and other buildings across the nearby town through underground pipes. Since Denmark doesn't receive that much sun in the winter, hot water collected in the summer is stored in HUGE tanks (tens of millions of liters), and the heat is used throughout the year. Even now in February, water in these tanks is still warm from summer! Heat loss is about 25%. Solar covers around 50-55% of total heat demand throughout the year. The rest of the demand is supplied by burning wood chips (see the mountain of wood chips in the photo above), and a small proportion is created using a geothermal heat pump, which transfers heat from the ground.
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