Wind

The power of the wind has been used as a source of energy for centuries. The earliest invention to use wind power was the sailboat, and then of course, the windmill. Different civilizations in history have used wind for energy in various ways, with the earliest being the Egyptian form of the sailboat. The wind energy machines of today have not differed much from the ones created thousand of years ago. Although we are still using the windmill, we of course, as technology has become more complex, are developing different uses for wind. The machine of the past was basically used to convert the kinetic energy of the wind into mechanical power in order to pump water or grind grain. The machine of today, however, is more interested in generating electricity. Wind machines of today, or turbines, are tall and wide to embrace more winds. The more wind, the more energy. The two basic types of wind machines are horizontal-axis machines and vertical-axis machines. The most widely used type of wind machine today is the horizontal-axis machine. 95% of the turbines today are horizontal axis. It has three blades that look like airplane propellers. Some horizontal-axis turbines have blades as long as a football field! Vertical-axis machines look more like an egg-beater and are not as commonly used. They are fairly large, usually standing at about 100 feet tall and 50 feet wide, but not quite as large as the horizontal-axis turbines, which often stand as tall as a 20-story building and 200 feet across. Wind turbines are usually found in clusters called wind farms. Unlike nuclear or coal power plants, wind energy plants are not owned and operated by public utility companies. They are usually owned by private companies called Independent Power Produces. These companies don’t have it all easy. They must carefully pick out where to set their plant considering wind availability, local weather, local zoning codes, and the closest electricity transmission lines. When referring to wind energy, most people ask the question: How much energy can we get from the wind? This question can only be answered to a certain extent. We know that the wind can not produce all of the energy the world needs, but we do know that it can help resolve our energy crisis when used as one of many major resources. It produces about the same amount of energy as a coal power plant does, and it is MUCH less likely to pollute the environment. Wind-energy is actually a 100% pollution-free, which is a complete opposite to the majority of energy sources today. Using wind as energy seems like a perfect solution to our problem. But you seem to be forgetting that wind doesn’t blow 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. And if it does, it’s not a significant amount that would rotate the turbines of a wind power plant. However, if it is used with other alternative sources of energy there will be a sufficient amount of potential energy created.

Information gathered from http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/sources/renewable/wind.html and http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/story/chapter16.html.