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Every day the United States uses massive amounts of energy. Only about 8% of the United States’ energy needs are met by renewable energy sources. That means that eventually 92% of the nation’s energy resources will run out. Recently this problem has been brought into the public’s eye and the American people’s attention has shifted to renewable and “green” energy resources. President Jimmy Carter (1977) said that “[w]ith the exception of preventing war, this (the energy crisis) is the greatest challenge our country will face during our life time” (p. 418). There are many proposed solutions to this problem and wind and solar energy are just two renewable energy sources that could be used. North and South Dakota along with Texas have enough wind energy potential to power the entire United States, and a 140 mile x 140 mile plot of land covered in solar panels would also be able to meet this need single-handedly. (Hinrichs & Kleinbach, 2005) Both wind farms and solar panels take naturally occurring phenomenon and create electricity from it. Photovoltaic (solar) energy is electrical energy that is created using the sun’s rays. The prefix photo- means light, while voltaic means electrical. Wind energy works in much the same way. Huge wind turbines harness energy from the wind and then convert it into useable electrical energy. Both energy sources could be viable options in the future but as of now wind energy is a much better choice than solar, solar is more versatile, more efficient, and far cheaper than photovoltaic technology.
Many countries see renewable energy as the future and have made plans to foster its use. It is estimated that wind will provide 5 to 10% of the United States power needs by the year 2020, and the Euro...
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... array. The average price per kilowatt from an industrial size photovoltaic array is about 3,000 dollars (Messenger & Goswami, 2007), while the average price for a wind turbine can be as low as 1,000 dollars (Hinrichs & Kleinbach, 2005).
Wind is the fastest growing renewable source of energy in the world today. The prices for using wind farms are constantly falling and the demand for energy is always rising. Wind turbines have much higher efficiency percentages than solar arrays. The price per kilowatt of a wind farm is also much lower than that of a solar array; it is almost a third less. Building a wind farm takes much less time than a fossil fuel factory, and they can easily be modified to fit the needs of the area. In the race for renewable energy wind turbines are an economical, comparatively simple, and efficient way to harvest energy that will never run out.
Global warming is a big factor in today’s society. It is an impressive example of energy innovation, and yet one of these mammoth wind towers provides clean, renewable energy by a simple mechanical feat -- the spinning turbines turn a generator that provides power for hundreds of homes. (Michael Kenny, 2009)
Wind has been used for energy for thousands of years. Throughout time many historical applications have used the wind to generate a specific task. For example, sails of a ship use the wind to propel themselves across the ocean. Another example is windmills which have been used for grinding grain and pumping water. The earliest known applications of wind used as an energy source came from Persia around 900AD. There, the wind was used to drive early windmills. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, wind power was used by the Europeans as a significant source of energy for. As time passed, use of wind as energy lost favor because it was not always available when it was needed, and it was difficult to distribute. “The first wind turbines for electricity generation appeared in the late nineteenth century in the United States.” “Modern wind turbines are several hundred feet tall.” For example, “a wind turbine that generates 1.6 mega-walls of electrical power is approximately 113 meters tall from its base to the tip of the rotor blade.” Wind turbines must be pla...
Now-a-days the handling of “Electricity” has been increased rapidly. Due to this the “Fossil Fuels” are getting extinguished day-to-day. So we need to choose for an alternate source of energy that is Renewable Source. Among the Renewable Sources “Wind Energy” is one of them.
29 of some of the largest countries in the world source 90% of their energy from fossil fuels. It is time to stop the reliance on such resources because the outcomes of that are bas in in of itself. War, terror, violence, bad blood, constant drilling into the Earth, are all outcomes that we face because of how much we lean on these limited resources. The past few decades, the use of wind energy has been on the rise, but it is time to start relying on it and utilizing every way of attaining wind energy. Great ideas such as mini turbines to function streetlights to large turbines to function communities need to be used as much as possible for a cleaner and safer world to avoid a broad range of negative outcomes ranging from global warming to war and
Renewable energy is derived from natural resources such as wind, rain, sunlight, waves, and much more. Over the years, engineers have found various efficient ways to use and harness the renewable energy. One of the main advantages of this type of energy is the fact that it can be used for a long period of time without it being dispatched. Also, this type of energy is cleaner and much more beneficial to the environment since it results in a very little amount of greenhouse gas emission. Renewable energy is also cheaper and more affordable compared to any other sources of generated energy. Due to these advantages of the renewable energy, engineers have decided to find more efficient ways of using renewable energy. Over the past couple of decades, engineers have been successful at finding more efficient ways to harness and manipulate the renewable
“A wind turbine is a machine for converting the kinetic energy in wind into mechanical energy”. (1) The inventor of the first electric wind turbine was Clevelander Charles Brush, who ran his entire Euclid Avenue mansion off of one for 20 years, which later made the cover of Scientific American in 1888. (2) Although the use of alternate energy didn't rise a great deal afterward, this event did open the eyes for many environmentalists. Wind power is only one of our several “energy source[s] whose ‘fuel’ is free and will never be exhausted” (3) with the pros and cons not completely weighed out as to whether it will be truly beneficial or not. The two main issues regarding wind turbines are the environmental effects that they have and the cost effectiveness of building them.
The International energy agency defines renewable energy as energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, water and geothermal heat of which are all considered renewable (Pelman, 2014). People day in and day out find ways to answer the questions of “how do I fully insulate my house?” or “what energy options do I have to save money?”, and then also comes the “what energy options are good for the environment?” There are many things that can be done to tackle most of these questions, but then none of them come close to the ones offered by Hydroelectric Energy. It’s always been documented that there is an increasing trend of an average of about 6.5% per year in consumer bills over the last thirty years in the United States. Global demand is expected to increase by as much as 59% in the next 15 years. With such a demand, there is clearly supposed to be an expected rise in energy bills (Wate...
Wind is a clean and renewable source of energy. Because of this modern wind turbines are being installed all over the globe in hopes of lessening the need of non-renewable energy such as the burning of fossil fuels.
Too much wind will cause them to fail and they require immense amount of maintenance. Due to this, money will always be put into the same wind turbines in order to keep them functioning properly. The initial setup of wind energy bears an enormous cost and investment (Conserve Energy Future). We are still only in the initial stage of wind energy: less than five percent of the world’s energy comes from wind (National Geographic). The growth of wind energy is low, but if the production goes into a boom, then the plans for this energy will be undermined by the low production of electricity the turbines offer. The growth rate of an industry depends on the growth itself (Stanford University). This becomes a concern for wind energy, because the faster the wind industry grows, more energy will be required in building more turbines and more batteries. In this stage, the industry will begin to slow down. Not only is the production of this system expensive, wind turbines themselves average to about one-million dollars for installation. Not to mention, severe storms or extremely high winds may cause damage to wind turbines, especially if they are struck by lightning (Love to Know). This can ensure more money being pumped into turbines if they are damaged or completely destroyed by such weather. The initial expenses of wind-made energy will surely spike prices for electricity made from this source in order to pay off needed maintenance of these wind
In the search for alternatives to fossil fuels, scientists and policy makers have focused on three options: nuclear power, energy from biomass; and a combination of wind, water, and solar power. Nuclear power, however, is much more costly and runs the risk of having it fall into the wrong hands where it could be turned into a weapon of mass destruction. The third option entails wind turbines, photovoltaic power plants and rooftop systems, concentrated solar thermal power plants,...
The IPP will produce 100 MW with plans to build ability to 2000 MW later on. It is evaluated to cost US$600,000 million, and will be produced by Masdar (which will hold a 60 for every penny stake in the venture) nearby Spain's Abengoa Solar and France's Total S.A.
The Wind Turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of the wind into kinetic energy of turbines. The turbines turn to generate electricity but they work only when there is wind. The efficiency is 30-40%. The environmental impacts are needs many large turbines to generate electricity which can be noisy and unsightly. Turbines may endanger birds and bats.
Wind is a form of solar energy. The term wind energy describes the process by which the wind is used to generate electricity or mechanical power. Wind turbines convert mechanical energy from the wind into electrical power. Wind turbines usually have three main parts. There are blades that connect to a central hub, a box behind the blades that contains the generator, and a long stem that connects to the ground. The way how it works is that the wind turns the blades, which spins a shaft that connects to a generator making electricity. After the electricity is produced it is sent through transmission lines to a substation that is sent to business and homes. For the sake of our planet, we must promote a renewable energy economy. Wind power can be a foundation of that sustainable energy future because it provides jobs in states that are building wind turbines, is a renewable energy source, and does not damage our environment. The environment will not be damaged by the pollution, the natural resources will not be used up, and there won’t be generating of hazardous wastes. Welcoming wind energy today will lay the foundation for a healthy tomorrow that will affect everyone in the United States. There are obstacles and challenges that will make it more difficult, but the environmental impact is well worth it to invest more money into wind energy.
Wind power is one of the most sustainable ways of generating electricity as no toxic emissions are produced; it does not add to global warming and is one of the most available sources of renewable energy and theoretically it is an infinite source of energy. On sufficiently windy areas, wind turbines are one of the most economical methods of generating electricity, which makes it appealing to many individuals, governments and organizations. Due to this it is the fastest growing source of electricity in the world (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2014) with a 10% increase in yearly additions installed in 2012 compared with 2011 (Global Wind Energy Council, 2012). However the proportion of energy that can be harnessed through wind power is restricted by the cost of the infrastructure needed, construction, the amount of wind that occurs and that there are only a narrow number of sites within the UK that are windy enough for the wind turbines to be worth installing.
Deal, W. (n.d.). Wind power: An emerging energy resource.Technology & Engineering Teacher, 70(1), 9-15. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=a747d6c4-9f9f-4066-be3e-d7d26a427ef2@sessionmgr115&vid=1&hid=114&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWNvb2tpZSxpcCxjcGlkJmN1c3RpZD1zc2Mmc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZlJnNjb3BlPXNpdGU=