Album of the Day: Aja – Steely Dan
Today started with a lecture on wind power and windmill design. The Netherlands has a long history with wind power, dating back to its inception. Between the 1600s and 1700s, the Dutch used newfound windmill technology to pump water and create more farmland, which massively expanded the country. This era was considered the Dutch Golden Age, and it was a massively industrious period. Windmills were also commonly used to power wood sawmills, which allowed the Dutch to build far better ships and begin trading all around Africa and Asia. In the modern day, windmills are essential to Dutch energy infrastructure. Windmills provide amazing energy security due to not being tied to a scarce resource, which is amazing for the Netherlands and helps them stay away from conflicts regarding the oil and gas industries. Aside from their history and use, we learned about the conditions that allow for the maximum power output from a windmill. Optimally, a windmill would receive as close to laminar flow as possible, meaning that windmills on farms have to be spaced out and placed very intentionally to receive the best possible conditions for laminar flow. Overall, windmills are incredibly interesting and being in the Netherlands allows us to see them in action more than ever.
Aside from just the lecture, we got to visit an actual wind farm out here in the Netherlands. Seeing windmills up close really puts into perspective how massive they are. At the farm we learned how the companies make deals with the municipality and the surrounding farmers to allow them to use the wind in the area. The farm that we went to visit also had very modern battery infrastructure that allowed the energy to be stored for a few hours, letting the energy ease into the grid better.
Lastly, we visited a small historic town, Elburg. We got a small tour of the town, showing us a view of how the Netherlands looked a few hundred years ago. It was a small fishing town, surrounded by massive fields which allowed for expansive farming as well. Overall, it is a very pretty town, but I mainly focused on the windmills for today.
