Powering Earth

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Question 4
Medium

An off-grid high-tech vertical farm is considering installing vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) along its boundary buffer zone. The specifications and daily energy requirements are shown in the table below:

SpecificationValue
Footprint area of one wind turbine (including clearance)4.5 m24.5 \text{ m}^24.5 m2
Total area of boundary buffer zone available216 m2216 \text{ m}^2216 m2
Maximum daily energy output of one turbine32 kWh32 \text{ kWh}32 kWh
Daily energy required by the vertical farm1600 kWh1600 \text{ kWh}1600 kWh

Using calculations based on the data, explain whether the maximum energy generated by the wind turbines on the available boundary buffer zone is sufficient to meet the vertical farm's daily energy requirements. State one practical reason why the farm would still need to be connected to the national grid even if the maximum output met their requirements.

[4]

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