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With so much talk about environmental damage, dwindling fossil fuels, and sky rocketing oil and energy prices it is now clear that we must look for alternative energy resources that will be able to supply our endless needs without the possibility of it being exhausted.

A Brief Lesson in History

A sustainable energy source since ancient times, the power of the wind has been harnessed by sailors, farmer, and architects alike. In times long gone, from 5,000 years ago and rediscovered again today the Egyptians used wind power to propel their sailing vessels, and Babylonian architects use architectural designs to make use of the wind to ventilate their palace and temple complexes.

As early as 300 B.C. the Sinhalese bygones used monsoon winds to power their furnaces. Constructed right where monsoon winds pass the furnaces were powered up to 1100 to 1200 centigrade. In the 1st century AD the first ever primitively built windmill was used to power an organ. Later during the 7th century the first and most primary windmill was built in Afghanistan in a small town called Sistan. The Windmill has a vertical axle with blades shaped like a rectangle and with a long driveshaft. In the 1100’s wind mills were built to grind flour, for sugar manufacturing and the gristmilling industries. The Dutch built windmills that stand until this day.

Beneath Power Is Wind

The Sun unevenly heats the Earth that differences of heat distribution; the poles receive less than the equators do. Unlike the land, the oceans, seas and rivers do not have covering so it retains more heat than soil. This contrast results in a global atmospheric convection that reaches from the stratosphere and into the earth’s surface. Energy in these wind movements are stored at high altitudes where in the wind can achieve speeds up to 160km/hr. Here after with the effects of friction the wind’s energy is diffused into heat throughout the planet and its atmosphere. This vast amount of sustainable power can provide us unimaginable amounts of energy, far more than we currently consume.

Wind Speed Distribution

Wind varies in strength. The average value of a certain location does not specify the energy of a single wind turbine. The wind speed’s frequency can be assessed in a particular location, they are fitted by a probable distribution function to the particular observed data. Different wind distributions varies from different locations, hourly wind speeds at different locations are being monitored by the Rayleigh model, which basically means a continuous probability distribution which was named after Lord Rayleigh.

Electrical Generation

Using the power of electricity from a wind farm is usually fed through a network of electrical power transmissions. This is done by connecting the individual turbines with a medium voltage power system and a series of communications networks. The electrical current is then increased with a transformer to be able to connect to the high voltage transmitting system. System operators supplies the wind farm owner with a code that indicates requirements to be able to connect to the transmission grid which includes the power factor, the constancy of the frequency and the behavior of the wind turbines when experiencing system faults.

Now that we know that the speed of wind is not constant, a farm’s energy production is not as much as the sum of the nameplate rating being multiplied by the year’s total hours being used. The ratio of this productivity in a whole year is called the capacity factor. This is the ratio of productivity in a year to this theoretical maximum.

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What happens when the oil prices and production costs get too high? What if our fossil fuel supply runs out? What will happen then? Actually, to fully appreciate sustainable power, these aren’t the only questions we should ask. Perhaps we should inquire: Where does 20% of our electricity supply come from? How are far off towns furnished with power? You see sustainable energy is not just for the future, it is here, it is now.

The Real Deal

The thing about sustainable energy is that it arouses debates from politicians, NGO’s, advocates and opponents all have certain grounds for saying that sustainable works or is a bad thing after all. Perhaps we should begin by defining what sustainable power is. When we say sustain it means to support, uphold, to keep from falling. So when we say sustainable power it means energy with unending resources. In the case of today sustainable energy means endless resources fro power supply without the harmful effects on the environment.

Its Not Sustainable It’s the Alternate

In all reality it is not sustainable energy that precipitates the conflict. It is the “alternate source” of energy that is the root of all things that create conflict. A lot of people argue that alternate energy resources are simply too new a resource fuelled by technology for it to be really said that it is indeed safe.

What is more, some authorized people on the matter of energy say that alternate energy resources are simply not powerful enough to cope with the demands of the world. No matter which way we argue alternate energy resources are part of sustainable power and sustainable power means we live the humans live on as a species; were not supposed to die or else it is useless for use to look for ways to improve ourselves. After all isn’t future the reason for our continued quest to be better and more environmentally aware?

Its Here, There, Everywhere

Alternate energy resources derived naturally have been employed as early as the time of the pharaohs. Today alternate energy resources are scattered all around the world. From the richest countries to the third world nations. In northwester Europe wind farms are abundant. The Philippines, New Zealand, Kenya, Iceland, Germany, Canada, Turkey, Mexico, and even the states make use of geothermal plants to supply a portion of their electricity. Hydropower so popular in the US and in china are used to generate enough electricity to power small towns and help power the enormous electrical consumption of a city like Las Vegas.

Its Now and It Can’t Be Denied

If you think that earth is already polluted and in peril, then imagine what if thousands of years ago our ancestors all used fossil fuels and burned coals for every energy need they have? History says that with every development and discovery man makes, the earth gets polluted every day. So there must have been that one thing that slowed it down a bit.

Remember the great smog of London where over 8,000 people died? Well that happened because they were experiencing unusually cold weather so they in turn consumed and lit up more coals, thereby fogging the air with smog. If alternate energy resources were never used we wouldn’t even be here today. So be thankful and be a supporter not only in words but in action as well.

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