Re: Power of Wind
Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 10:50 pmWINKEL21 wrote:With the world increasingly seeking alternate energy investments, wind power has gained in importance. Wind energy is not just affordable but is also environment friendly. Unlike the fossil fuels, it does not contribute to any greenhouse effect by emitting dangerous gases. One of the best uses of wind energy is its conversion into electricity. This is done using the wind turbine or the wind mill. The wind mill is a small wind turbine which captures the wind and converts it into electricity.
With the passage of time, the technologies used in the field of wind energy have advanced. There are many new technologies now that have greatly decreased the cost of producing this energy. Since 1980, many new technologies have come to the forefront. This has greatly improved the Investments in Wind Energy.
The wind energy sector has been growing rapidly at the pace of 28% per year. Although the world energy needs met by the wind energy is only 1%, this percentage is steadily rising. The wind power available on shore and off shore is calculated to be around 72 terawatts, which is five times more than the current energy needs.
All of the above may well be true, but it omits a rather crucial fact: wind energy can't replace other forms of electricity generation because it cannot provide reliable energy 100% of the time. Not one fossil-fuel burning power station can be scrapped and replaced by wind power because they will still be needed for the times when the wind either does not blow or is blowing too strongly. Those 72 terawatts of generating capacity are therefore worse than useless, except for generating enormous public subsidies to the generating companies.
