Wind Energy Facts at Your Fingertips

0 Comments | Rating: 0 | |

Although it does not really roll off the tongue so easily, environment advocacy is becoming a popular expression, and is gaining a lot of attention in social and political circles. More and more people in authority are getting aware of the negative consequences of using fossil fuels, but the habits formed by people's dependence on processes and appliances powered by fossil fuels are hard to reverse, let alone combat.

Technological improvements in alternate sources of energy, making them less expensive to operate and a lot more feasible to use, is a plus for the cause of environment advocacy. One of these alternate energy sources is wind power. Here are some wind energy facts.

Wind is basically a form of solar energy, since wind is generated because of differences in atmospheric temperature. Rising hot air and falling cold air meet and rotate, thereby producing air flow or wind.

Wind produces motion or kinetic energy. Propeller-like wind turbines convert this energy into mechanical power which can then be used in pumping water or grinding large quantities of grain. Or this mechanical power can be converted by a generator into electricity.

Although most large wind turbines are like propellers, they are just one of two types of wind turbines. The propeller-like ones are called the horizontal-axis wind turbines. The other type is the vertical-axis turbine, also called eggbeater-style Darreus models.

Wind turbines come in many sizes, with propellers from about 8 to 90 feet. There are even plans to manufacture bigger propellers. Essentially, the bigger the propeller, the greater its power-generating capacity. Wind farms, or collections of several wind turbines with long propeller blades, are already in operation in many parts of the world to power communities. Turbines with propellers 8 to 25 feet, however, are enough to supply the power needs of a household or a small business.

In comparison to conventional fossil fuel-based power plants, constructing and operating wind turbines are more expensive. The costs, however, have been gradually decreasing over the past years. In the long run, wind power plants have become more cost-competitive compared to conventional power plants since the fuel is essentially free and non-polluting, plus they hugely help preserve the environment.