Countryboy,
One can not prove one is right, one can only prove someone is wrong. Which is why hypothesis should be made in such a way that they can be falsified. The fact that a theory is accepted doesn't mean that it's correct, it means just that we haven't been able to disprove it yet. If not, it's pseudoscience.
The scientific method indeed relies a lot on peers disproving theories of others.
I will not be taking up GeoM on his offer though; in post #36 he stated that 'thermodynamics do not apply'. If he believes that is correct then I could never convince him. He has just discarded the most fundamental principles of physics (the laws of thermodynamics are the foundation of physics). Without these laws it's no longer physics but theology.
As RonB said, they apparently not only retracted Betz but also retracted the Laws of Thermodynamics. A new day is dawning indeed.
That's the first thing.
Secondly, I think I can spend my time in better ways. One thing I've learnt over the past decade is that one should learn not to argue with just about everyone on the internet. I reserve that argueing for only a few special people.
As to the Venturi effect; GeoM seems to think it doesn't apply to his tree/building example.
I say it does. A venturi is representative of an obstruction of the airflow, just like a tree. Air passing that tree will speed up and as a consequence (because total energy MUST stay the same) its pressure gets less (yes, less). This means too, btw, that rho gets less, i.e. the air becomes less dense and can do less work because of that. It can do more work because of the higher speed. The two will perfectly compensate eachother as the energy can not magically appear or disappear (ignoring friction; but even with friction it wouldn't change TE: TE = potential energy + kinetic energy + thermal energy = constant)
Notice that as the air speeds up, the 'mass' of air that passes through the windturbine per unit of time doesn't change. And neither does its total energy. If its kinetic energy increases, it will come out of its potential energy. And notice that Betz doesn't say you can extract 59% of kinetic energy but 59% of the -energy- of the wind.
As I said, a tree and a venturi have a thing in common: they're both an obstruction to an (imaginary) cylinder of air. GeoM fails to look at a venturi as anything else than 'a tube'. And that's how it's usually drawn in the textbooks. Truth is, there are lots of venturis in the real world, with or without a physical tube. Bernouilli still applies, with or without any physical tube. Whether it's a tree in the field or an Althaus venturi mounted on a Ka-8b.
So, counterintuitive as it may seem at first sight, pressure gets REDUCED as the wind speeds up.
Hope this explains it a bit Countryboy. If not, pop in in IRC sometime again; missing the odd discussion with ya.
Regards,