The Search for Alternatives
At the start of the twentieth century, oil was not only cheap but also plentiful. It was also the start of the automobile industry. The transportation industry is the biggest industry sector that consumes liquid fuels (gasoline and diesel) and because oil was both cheap and abundant the world became addicted to liquid fossil fuels even a century hence. Now that gas prices are spiking to unprecedented levels, the search for alternative energy sources acquires an urgency not felt before by consumers. The auto industry is developing hybrid cars, electric power plants are shifting to either coal or gas, and whole nations are increasing their wind and solar power usage. Of the two, wind power is making significant headways in the energy mix since it is also plentiful, widely distributed, clean and renewable. Best of all, it can be domestically sourced.
Wind power technology is already mature but it produces only 1% of the total worldwide electricity use. But in countries such as Denmark, wind power accounts for a very significant 20% of its total nationwide production of electricity. Denmark is also a unique nation in that its electric generation system is decentralized. Rather than one big central generating power plant, electricity in Denmark is produced by several thousand windmills scattered in the countryside. The decentralized electrification of Denmark was the brainchild of its famous wind power scientist Poul la Cour who worked in Askov in 1891.
Electric car charging
Actually, wind energy is a form of solar energy. It derives its kinetic power from the Sun due to the uneven heating of the Earth’s atmosphere (hotter near the Equator and cooler near polar regions), irregularities on the Earth’s surface (mountains, valleys, cliffs, etc.) and rotation of the Earth on its axis. Humans have been using wind power since early times to fly a kite, sail a boat, grind corn, lift water and irrigate farmlands, and lately, generate electricity. Wind turbine simply converts wind energy into useful energy by letting wind turn its blades which turn a shaft connected to a generator (a magnet) to produce electricity.
The main problem of wind energy is it is intermittent (not constant) so to go around this problem, electricity from wind is directed to a battery for temporary storage. Wind turbines are mounted on a tower to capture the most wind energy. The ideal height is between 80 feet to 100 feet from the ground where wind is fast and less turbulent. At higher altitudes wind speeds can reach an incredible 160 kilometers/hour! The other drawbacks of using wind power is noise pollution (much noise from rotating rotor blades), flying birds are sucked into its turbines, and aesthetic considerations (visual impacts on good scenic mountain views or nice ocean views).
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/wind_animation.html
The above website is the official site of the U.S. government’s Department of Energy. It focuses on energy efficiency and renewable energy sources namely wind and hydro-power. The site also gives guidelines on how to apply for federal grants and subsidies for inventors. It gives other links to sites that offer financing and incentives for renewable energy projects.
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/wind_animation.html
The page link above gives a graphic illustration of how a wind turbine works and its parts.