September - Vol 70, No 1 - International Technology and ...

Resources in Technology and Engineering
Wind Power:
An Emerging Energy Resource
By Walter F. Deal
It is ironic that we think of wind,
solar, geothermal, and other energy
sources as “alternative” energy
resources.
Energy in the News
Events in the energy arena have been in headlines over the
last year. Two significant human and environmental tragedies
were the Massey coal mine explosion in West Virginia
and the explosion of the Transocean’s Deepwater Horizon
Drilling rig—causing British Petroleum’s oil spill in the Gulf
of Mexico. Despite heroic rescue efforts at the Massey mine,
29 miners perished in the explosion on April 5, 2010. News
media reports state that this was one of the worst mining
accidents in the last 40 years (Fox News, 2010).
On the international scene there were also other significant
energy accidents. About the same time as the Massey mine
explosion, the Wangjialing mine was flooded and 115
Chinese miners were rescued after being trapped for eight
days. Thirty-six miners were killed at the Wangjialing mine in
Shanxi province in China (CNTV, 2010).
Figure 1. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut
Soichi Noguchi, Expedition 23 flight engineer, photographed the
Mississippi Delta showing the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico on
May 4, 2010. Part of the river delta and nearby Louisiana coast
appears dark as the sunlight reflects on the water. Millions of
gallons of oil have flowed from the Deepwater Horizon well in
the Gulf of Mexico. This photograph provides a view of the Gulf
and relative size of the oil film stretching across the delta. The
oil disaster will have far-reaching effects well into the future for
humans and the environment.
Several major mining practices are used to recover coal.
These include surface mining such as area mining, contour
mining, and mountaintop removal. Underground mining
techniques, such as room and pillar mining, are used where
coal seams are too deep to recover by surface techniques.
Depending on the geology of the land and characteristics
of the coal seam and other details, either surface mining or
underground mining strategies are followed. Underground
mining is hazardous work. Danger from mine collapse,
gas or dust explosions, and flooding are a constant threat.
9 • Technology and Engineering Teacher • September 2010