English: By Barry Fitzgerald, Eindhoven University of Technology
Three potential locations for wind energy technology in a compact urban environment. Source: Yu-Hsuan Juan
Wind energy is a clean, pollution-free, and inexhaustible renewable energy . These characteristics help wind energy technology to become a key contributor to the sustainable development of society, which is needed in consideration of the growing size and population of our cities. These urban environments can certainly benefit from the implementation of wind energy strategies, which have attracted people's attention in recent years. In her doctoral research, Juan Yu-Hsuan studied how to increase the potential of urban wind energy in a compact urban environment. Her research shows that the rational design of high-rise buildings can bring exciting new possibilities related to urban wind energy.
One way to limit urban sprawl and achieve more sustainable urban development in our cities is to adopt the concept of compact cities. Compact city refers to the concept of achieving a more compact and sustainable urban building form or layout through good planning. It not only involves higher-density high-rise buildings, but is also connected by an efficient public transportation system. With the increase in urban density, the design and sustainability of densely-built high-rise cities have become more and more important.
More turbulence
Buildings 100 meters or higher are common in many cities around the world, and these buildings are susceptible to high-altitude winds. If we do not use this structure to produce high-altitude wind energy, it will be a huge waste. When the wind passes through the narrow spaces between high-rise buildings, faster wind speeds can be converted into other forms of energy.
However, in urban areas, due to the complexity of the terrain and uneven roughness, the wind tends to be more turbulent and more unpredictable. Therefore, high-resolution and accurate urban wind assessment is essential for collecting information, which can be used to design facilities to make full use of wind energy. As an effective tool for early urban design, computational fluid dynamics ( CFD ) simulation has been recognized as a key tool for analyzing the potential of urban wind energy.
Location, location, layout
In her doctoral research, Juan Yu-Hsuan explored the potential of urban wind power generation, which is affected by a series of parameters such as urban layout, building corner design and urban density. The CFD verification results show that the calculated results are in good agreement with the wind tunnel experimental results.
Yu-Hsuan pointed out that due to the well-known concentration effect, the spacing between buildings is usually very small compared to the building height of a compact high-rise area, but it can significantly increase the average wind speed and wind energy potential. Therefore, when it comes to describing and improving the city’s wind energy potential, the impact of the geometry and its layout is particularly interesting.
Yu-Hsuan’s research shows that through early urban design and planning, a wider range of design options can be studied more effectively, so as to design the best configuration of high-rise buildings in the so-called compact city, and achieve urban wind energy collection for sustainability The feasibility of urban development.
Comments: Regarding the definition of wind energy in this article, there are some different views-when talking about the cleanness and pollution-free of wind energy, we must also consider the relevant utilization (equipment manufacturing, etc.). In addition, according to the current theory, wind energy is self-contained. The sun, our use of wind energy is also sharing solar energy with nature, and it also has an impact on the environment...
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