Advantages & Disadvantages of Wind Energy - Things You Should Know About

The Pros

Wind energy (WE) has been developed in the past few years such that it is now cost competitive with other fuel sources (like natural gas) and it is the least expensive of all renewable energy sources. Since the fuel in the form of wind is free, wind energy can provide a stable long-term price for power generation. So is it amazing that wind energy may be the quickest growing energy generation business throughout the world?

We can help to meet the increasing global energy demand, and commitments from governments globally to international agreements including the Kyoto Protocol (UNFCCC 1997) to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, as well as individual country commitments to mandatory renewable energy targets.

Due to the appropriate support it has been claimed that it can supply up to 28% of EU electrical power by 2030. WE can also be advantageous over traditional methods of creating energy, in the sense that it is getting cheaper and cheaper to produce this kind of energy as the technology grows, and mass generation of the rotor blades becomes routine. Wind may soon be the cheapest way to produce energy on a large scale, after all, it has come so far already in such a short time, and there must be a lot more ways to optimize its efficiency not even dreamt of yet.

Wind energy is quite rich in numerous parts of America. Wind resources tend to be characterized by wind-power density classes , ranging from class 1 (the lowest) to class 7 (the highest). It is clean energy. Compared with coal or natural gas, each kilowatt-hour of this form of energy is free of charge of toxic emissions that contaminate our air and water.

Unlike fossil fuel or natural gas, each kilowatt-hour is free of toxic emissions that contaminate our air and water. Wind farms produce no air or water pollution because no fuel is burned. It is in reality just a form of solar power.

Using windmills is an extremely ancient ability, which may have even been developed in China before 1 AD, but the earliest written documentation comes from 1219. Cretans were said to be using literally hundreds of sail-rotor windmills to pump water for crops and livestock. WE does not sterilize land from generation. Farmers and ranchers can continue to work the land since the generators use only tiny a fraction of the land area.

Wind power plant owners make rent payments to the farmer or rancher for the use of the land, which supports the economy remote areas and provides job opportunities for residents. Farmers who own land that is suitable for wind harvesting can also take benefit from their location by installing their own windmill or by leasing wind rights to a wind power company.

Then methods we use right now to harness the wind are still developing. This is not a perfect technology, but it holds highly effective potential to diversify power generation all over the world.

The Cons

Wind energy is not easily stored, and not all air currents can be harnessed to meet the timing of electrical power demands. Good wind sites tend to be found in remote areas far from areas of electrical power demand such as cities. This means that huge investment will be needed in new power distributions techniques which will add to the cost significantly, and mean a lot more unsightly power lines marching across the land.

So, wind energy is not necessarily the cure all it is advertised to be. Due to the intermittent nature, industrial scale WE can produce about 10-21 % of the installed capacity (wind advocates claim 30%), requiring back up generation of 80-90%, which is normally going to have to be natural gas or fossil fuel.

Wind energy is not a linear function of the speed of the wind. As an example, an increase in wind speed from 5 m/s to 6 m/s leads to an increase in the yield of a turbine of not 20% but usually of 45%! But, once the wind rises too much no power at all is generated as the wind generator blades are furled for their own protection.

However, this particular energy source method can be built on the small scale easily. Models can be found ranging from small size residential wind turbines generating about 10 kw of power to experimental behemoths that are over 500 feet tall and produce 3 MW of power, wind harnessing technology has many forms and purposes.

Terribly placed wind power facilities have the potential to create major problems for wildlife, especially for bird life. Turbines mounted on buildings which were not designed as a turbine foundation usually shake apart over time. Additionally, the vibrations produce sound and can be unbearably noisy for people in the houses nearby. These are the main advantages and disadvantages of wind energy. If you know of any more, please do add them, for consideration, by commenting on this article.