Go Greener Tips

Here are a few wind energy real facts that you may or may not know. Too many individuals overlook wind power as a real alternative power source. We feel that it is our duty to show you why wind power should not be overlooked and realized as a real energy source..

Wind energy is a form of solar energy, and therefore, is renewable. Wind does not need to be created, like ethanol does, so there will always be a constant supply of it.

Wind power is extremly expensive to build, so it requires significant amounts of capital to establish wind farms. After the initial captial and startup costs, however, it is one of the cheapest forms of electricity generation to maintain.

In 2005, wind accounted for 1% of the total electricity production in the world. The United States was third in utilization of wind energy, with Germany being the leading producer. According to the Department of Energy, offshore wind farms could provide enough energy to power the entire nation. Clearly what we see here is that we have barely touched the amazing posibilities of wind power, and we can expect to see wind power become a massive source of renewable energy in the U.S., and around the globe.

In reality, wind energy is a converted form of solar power. The sun’s radiation heats different parts of the earth at different rates-most notably during the day and night, but also when different surfaces (for example, water and land) absorb or reflect at different rates. This in turn causes portions of the atmosphere to warm differently. Hot air rises, reducing the atmospheric pressure at the earth’s surface, and cooler air is drawn in to replace it. The result is wind.

Air has mass, and when it is in motion, it contains the power of that motion(“kinetic energy”). Some portion of that power can converted into other forms mechanical force or electricity that we can use to perform work.

A wind power system transforms the kinetic energy of the wind into mechanical or electrical energy that can be harnessed for practical use. Mechanical energy is most commonly used for pumping water in rural or remote locations- the “farm windmill” still seen in many rural areas of the U.S. is a mechanical wind pumper – but it can also be used for many other purposes (grinding grain, sawing, pushing a sailboat, etc.). Wind electric turbines generate electricity for homes and businesses and for sale to utilities.

There are two basic designs of wind electric turbines: vertical-axis, or “egg-beater” style, and horizontal-axis (propeller-style) machines. Horizontal-axis wind turbines are most common today, constituting nearly all of the “utility-scale” (100 kilowatts, kW, capacity and larger) turbines in the global market.

This article is brought to you by George Zalcman. George Zalcman has always had a passion for green technologies, and believes that we should all get on the boat before natural resources become limited. George Zalcman is part of an air to water technology hoping that this will eventually bring an end to the water crisis as well.