Why Wind Energy?

We’ve used the wind as an energy source for a long time. The Babylonians and Chinese were using wind energy to pump water for irrigating crops 4,000 years ago, and sailing boats were around long before that.
Wind energy was used in the Middle Ages, in Europe, to grind corn, which is where the term “windmill” comes from.

How?

The Sun heats our atmosphere unevenly, so some patches become warmer than others.These warm patches of air rise, other air blows in to replace them – and we feel a wind blowing.
We can harness wind energy in by building a tall tower, with a large propeller on the top.The wind blows the propeller round, which turns a generator to produce electricity

We tend to build many of these towers together, to make a “wind farm” and produce more electricity.The more towers, the more wind, and the larger the propellers, the more electricity we can make from wind energy.

It’s only worth building wind farms in places that have strong, steady winds, although boats and caravans increasingly have small wind generators to help keep their batteries charged

The best places for wind farms are in coastal areas, at the tops of rounded hills, open plains and gaps in mountains – places where the wind is strong and reliable. Some are offshore.
To be worthwhile, you need an average wind speed of around 25 km/h. Most wind energy farms the UK are in Cornwall or Wales
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Isolated places such as farms may have their own wind energy generators. In California, for example, several “wind farms” supply electricity to homes around Los Angeles.

The propellers are large, to extract energy from the largest possible volume of air. The blades can be angled to “fine” or “coarse” pitch, to cope with varying wind speeds, and the generator and propeller can turn to face the wind wherever it comes from. Some designs use vertical turbines, which don’t need to be turned to face the wind.

The towers are tall, to get the propellers as high as possible, up to where the wind is stronger. This means that the land beneath can still be used for farming.

Why is wind energy important?

Wind energy makes sense in these times when the demand far exceeds the supply. The conventional ways of producing electricity make use of the non-renewable fuels, not only making such resources scarce but also affecting the environment negatively. The power generated by wind proves beneficial in the following ways:

• Free source of energy – The wind power makes use of wind energy which is absolutely free, thus saving the non-renewable sources of energy for longer.

• No environmental hazards – The generation of wind energy is extremely environment-friendly. It does not emit harmful gases nor does it have any other environment-damaging impact.

• Cost-effective – Using a free energy makes wind turbines extremely cost-effective. Moreover, there remains no worry of sky-rocketing electricity bills.

• 24/7 uninterrupted supply – The wind energy ensures that you never have power outages in your house and farm.

• Self-dependent source – Making use of wind energy makes you independent. You no longer depend on the government and its agencies for power.
How can we make power from the wind?

A wind turbine is employed to make use of the abundant wind energy. A wind turbine converts wind energy into mechanical energy for mechanical work. Such a wind turbine is generally referred to as a windmill. A wind generator is a wind turbine that further converts the mechanical energy into electrical energy.

A wind turbine typically consists of blades, a tower, a shaft, a base, and a generator. The blades of the wind turbine rotate in the wind to generate mechanical energy. The two pre-requisites for installing a wind turbine are a large area of at least one acre and an average wind speed of 25 km per hour.

What are the uses of wind energy?

The uses of wind energy are many. Let’s look at some of the popular ones:
• Running all possible electrical and electronic appliances
• Pumping out water
• Grinding grains and stones

By employing a wind turbine at your home or farm, you definitely make the world a better place. The wind power is a green solution to the power crisis. It does not harm the environment in any way. Moreover, it does not make use of any fuel, thus promising a future of no power-crisis.