Wind Turbine: A Study to Harness a Energy Source Essay

As the global supply of fossil fuels becomes steadily lower, need is growing for new energy sources that are beneficial to the environment and cost-effective. Wind power is one solution to this need. Wind turbines require significant investment, but are cost-efficient in the long term. If construction of turbines is sufficiently increased, the wind may be able to in the future provide a very major portion of global energy.

One of the fastest growing energy sources in the world, wind power is a globally advantageous renewable resource.

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

Have you ever driven down highway 30 in west central Iowa at night, looked out the window and seen hundreds of red flashing lights? How about driving through north Lincoln and seeing two enormous white turbines spinning in the wind? If you did not know previously, the red flashing lights at night and white turbines are windmills used for generating power. These windmills can produce 2.5 to 3 megawatts of electricity daily. Wind power can be easily used to generate electric for both personal and public use. Looking at the benefits of wind power over fossil fuels, uses of wind power for personal and public use, and the effects of global warming on wind power, you can decide if using wind energy is a good option or not.

“The potential of wind power is enormous – 20 times more than what the entire human population needs” (Energy Informative). The largest wind turbines can produce enough electricity to power 600 houses. Wind turbines can also be very space-efficient. They can be built on any existing farms, and those farmers are given a lot money as well. “About two billion people worldwide do not have electricity.

Wind energy is a very controversial topic with different views on and opinions on both sides of the argument. “Wind energy is inexhaustible and infinitely renewable. It’s simple but it’s true.” This quote was by Larry Flower is a member of the Wind Energy Association. I agree with this quote because wind energy will always be available and we will not run out of it. The way to capture wind energy is through wind turbines. The controversial problem is if wind turbines are really worth the cost it takes to make it. Also they can be very harmful to the bird population.

One of the positives of wind power is that there is huge potential. If all of the energy of surface wind energy was extracted it would be well more than the total amount of power the world uses (1). Another positive is the cost of operations of the wind turbines. The cost of operating wind turbines are very low to maintain. After an original cost the turbine, annual costs of maintaining turbines are only 3% of the initial cost of the turbine (2). The main reason wind turbines are being used is because it is clean energy. The energy from wind turbines is not destructive to the environment

“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

We are facing an energy crisis on Earth. Burning fossil fuels are harming the atmosphere; this global warming and affects produces chemicals that hurt our body. People are starting to think about using alternative energy. Wind power would be our first choice, because it’s clean, inexhaustible and renewable. Today, wind power is mainly used in Europe. We believed wind power would be the main source of alternative energy for world use.

Wind power is regarded as a renewable energy source since wind is a clean, free, and is in abundant supply. The wind current can be used to generate electricity when it is harvested by wind turbines. Wind turbines are mounted on a tower to capture the greatest amount of energy. At 100 feet or more above the ground, the tower allows the turbine to take advantage of faster wind speeds found at higher altitudes. When the wind blows, the turbine’s blades spin clockwise and captures energy. As the wind turbines capture the wind’s power, it converts the kinetic energy of wind into mechanical or electrical energy, which can be used for power.

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.

Cold deformation process of metals causes distortion of crystalline structure. When a material is formed, the grains are usually distorted and elongated in one or more directions which make the material anisotropic. Anisotropy can be defined as a difference in a material's physical or mechanical properties in different directions of taking of testing samples. In exploitation, it is very important to recognize the direction of grain elongation so that the best orientation of working part can be chosen. For that purpose ultrasonic testing is used. The ultrasonic velocity of the material is determined by using a digital oscilloscope under condition that thickness of the material is known. Testing shows the difference in wave velocity for different

In the 21st Century, fossil fuels are becoming increasingly important, with the demand for these resources increasing, despite the knowledge that they are finite. Globally, the annual consumption of fossil fuels is eleven billion tonnes, with crude oil reserves waning at a rate of four billion tonnes per year. If these figures experience little change in coming years, oil reserves are estimated to completely deplete by 2052 (Ecotricity.co.uk, 2014). Other options are available to replace non-renewable energy sources, one of these options being wind turbines, as they are the obvious option to be used as energy sources as wind is without charge. Wind power requires harnessing energy from the wind, and using it to generate electricity. According to Blue-energyco.com (2014), wind power generation is the fastest growing renewable energy source universally, as evidenced by the growth rate which stands at 25% in over a decade with the total capacity currently exceeding 60 000 MW (Fox, B. (2007) Wind power integration, page 1).

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.

Today society shares enthusiasm about the expansion and increased production of alternative energy to meet the global energy needs, rather than relying on the limited supply of fossil fuels. It is estimated, by the end of this century, the fossil fuels that sustain civilisation will be depleted. So to prepare for the new age of energy production, development of renewable energy sources such as wind power is very important.