Minnesota Wind Power

Wind is a form of solar energy so when it is used it creates electricity. Electricity is a physical phenomenon associated with fixed or moving electrons and protons. The wind power development was a step forward for the use of electricity on how to generate more electricity using the wind. The accomplishments for electricity is that Senegal used 10MW for a wind farm and they gave a positive report and is now using it since the second half of 2005. (Dodge) Another thing is during the Second World War; small wind generators were used on German U-boats to recharge submarine batteries as a fuel-conserving measure. The good thing about wind power is can produce electricity at night as well as during the day and that it is plentiful, renewable, and it reduces the greenhouse gas emissions. (ERIC) The Wind Power would be cheaper to develop electricity and it is less harm to our daily lives.

Wind energy is clean and renewable. The wind is never going to stop blowing; therefore, there will always be enough to keep the turbines going. While some areas may have more wind than others, there is always wind. Wind turbines do not produce any pollution or waste, making them one of the cleanest energy sources on the planet. However, environmentalists are concerned that with the increase of wind turbines, bird populations with decrease because they are getting hit by the wind turbines and dying. Because of the huge poles in the ground, turbines can cause erosion and disrupt wildlife habitats. Wind turbines are also huge; at 30 meters (100 feet) above the ground, with large spinning blades, they can be a bit of an eyesore. They are also loud and have a deep buffeting sound. But the idea is that the large wind farms will be located in the middle of nowhere so they don’t cause an issue in suburban areas. Small wind turbines may be located in backyards to feed houses directly, but these would be so small that they wouldn’t bother any

If wind turbines are supposed to be good for the environment, what is to be said about their lethal effects on birds? How about the noise produced from the large turbines, whom many consider to be horrible eyesores that tarnish the countryside? Investing in these large, hideous structures is initially expensive, and while it may be true that there is an unlimited supply of wind, how is the resulting energy to be distributed? Undoubtedly, just as the advantages of wind power need to be taken into account, the disadvantages also need to be

With no doubt in mind the wind power plants are safer than most power providing resources. Providing clean energy for the human race and having a positive influence on climate change, the wind power industry is on a rise. With help from the government and with companies becoming more prominent on efficient energy, we could see an even bigger demand for wind power. Environmentally, the wind farms are one of the safest because of the low carbon and emission levels. Continuing are efforts to a safer future, the world is looking into wind farms more and more to help generate enough energy for the human

Unlike its sister energy supply, fossil fuels, wind power is a clean resource. Wind turbines don’t pollute the air like power plants, which rely on the burning of coal or natural gas. They’re free from producing atmospheric emissions that cause acid rain or greenhouse gases.

The wind occurs naturally in nature and it can be harmful or helpful. We use it as another source of clean energy, and like solar energy it will never run out. Windmill farms have been produced to help harness the ability of producing electricity through the use of turbines. The cost is low and no gases are released into the atmosphere to destroy the earth’s protective barrier known as the ozone.

Imagine getting free electricity, or electrical company’s paying you instead of you paying them, today’s windmills just might make this possible. Windmills dating back as far as the 1400’s have been used to turn wind into useable energy for grinding and pumping. Today’s windmills turn turbines to make electricity. They are popping up all over the United States, but the United States is way behind other countries in the development of wind energy. Countries like Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom are investing billions of dollars into wind energy, including off shore wind farms. Germany is holding the top spot in the production of wind-generated electricity. Denmark, being one of the smaller countries in Europe, produces twenty percent

The cause for this great rate of growth in wind power is contributed to tax incentives and state laws mandating renewable energy research. The nation 's total Wind power production is relatively low but some states like Iowa are investing in it heavily. Wind power produces 4.7 percent of the United States electrical energy and makes up over thirty percent of Iowa 's energy (American Wind Energy Association). Wind energy is gaining a lot of traction in northern states but almost does not exist in the southern states. When it comes to reliability wind energy is inferior to Hydropower. In order for a wind turbine to work wind speeds need to be around 8-55 mph and they are only efficient at wind speeds above 30 mph, anything below that minimal (National Wind Watch). This makes wind turbines less reliable because the wind can vary wildly throughout a day. Wind power also comes with some environmental impacts too. Wind Turbines kill tens of thousands of birds a year do to Turbines essentially being giant metal fans (Hosansky). Bats are especially affected because they rely on echolocation to see and giant moving blades confuse them into running into the blades.

In the Book Building Green Skyscrapers by Mary Reid, the wind turbine is the best because it can be be use for two uses. To start wind turbines can power up buildings. The narrator stated “The wind spins the huge blades of a wind turbine... the turbine runs a machine called a generator. “ (Reid 5). This shows that this can save energy because all extra energy goes into the batteries for later use. Furthermore, Wind is the best type of source. The narrator stated “Wind power is one free source of clean electricity… wind does not produce harmful gases… Nobody needs to worry about running low on wind” (Reid 4). This explains that wind turbines are the best because you can always count on wind to help if you need. In conclusion, Wind Turbines

Another benefit to wind energy is the environmental offset it has on more local environments that traditional energy sources are destroying. Oil, gas, and coal power plants destroy local environments by polluting the water and soil and wasting tons of water. Wind energy will mitigate this problem because Wind power does not require any water and only requires a very small land footprint. This will not only save us from environmental harms from the water and soil it will also help prevent droughts and increase the water available to us. This is particularly critical when we have places like California that are running bone dry currently. Thermoelectric power plants (majority of coal, nuclear,

Wind provides a source of energy that can be collected and used to power electricity. By utilizing wind energy, companies and cities can more cleanly and efficiently supply their electricity. Turbines have been installed across the globe to supply this energy and are usually placed in open fields where wind flow is high and steady, and they are not close to residential areas. However, their distance from cities makes the process of transferring the energy more difficult and costly. Because of this additional cost, some think it is a better idea to place the turbines closer to the cities for which they provide energy. The issue with plants being closer to towns, however, is that wind turbines can be disruptive to the peace, causing nuisance

One downfall to this form of renewable energy is the threat to birds and bats. The large blades that turn could potentially hit any flying species, causing death. Another small but still negative impact is the placement of wind farms. Wind turbines take up a sizeable amount of land, and when there is more than one in a single area, clearing may need to occur. Also, roads need to be made for workers to access the wind farms. Despite these small environmental impacts, the overall purpose of the wind turbine does enough good for the energy source to almost cancel out these

First and foremost, wind power would bring investment money into the state. According to Sara Gideon, a Democratic representative from Freeport, wind energy is looking to invest billions of dollars into Maine (Porter, 2015). Consequently, wind power would save consumers money because the average price of wind energy is only getting cheaper. Prices have dropped 60-70 percent down from $135 per megawatt-hour to $30 per megawatt-hour (Arnold, 2015). The U.S. Department of Energy conducted a study where they estimated the impact of wind energy if it’s usage increased to 35% compared to other energy sources in the US by 2050. The study concluded that there would be a 14% reduction in green house gas emissions, 21,700 deaths avoided from air pollution, 600,000 wind related jobs spread across the nation, $1 billion dollars of local revenues and $280 billion dollars of collective consumer savings from lower natural gas prices outside the electric sector (U.S. Department of Energy, 2015). These staggering numbers are already becoming a reality. In 2013, wind energy reduced water consumption in the US by 36.5 billion gallons and reduced CO2 emissions by 115 million metric tons or 270 million barrels of oil (U.S. Department of Energy, 2015). Wind towers are only improving as technology improves with them. Turbines have recently hit a milestone of 70 gigawatts of generating capacity. That is enough to power about 19 million homes

From some of the local farmers and residence we the committee have spoken to; their only concern was if that it would affect their livestock and/or the wildlife. In Michigan, Heritage Sustainable Energy is the main company to construct wind turbines (heritagewindenergy.com).

Wind power is a clean and renewable energy that, while at times unreliable, has very low upkeep cost and is growing at a rapid rate. While there is currently enough wind power to provide many times our current energy need, it is unfeasible in reality. Wind power utilizes the kinetic energy of air and uses it to power a generator to produce electricity. Even though dependence on wind power is impossible, it still can provide a strong, clean, quantity of power to supplement current energy production.