Working+Draft

Mike Lawrence Senior Seminar Rough Draft B Block Day 1 Martin Efficacy of Wind Power In the changing economic world that has become more concerned over going ‘green’, a perfect way to power the way we run our world is a very big issue. To run ourselves more productively without the reliance of fossil fuels that pollute our own planet and the hope to use renewable energy has led many to explore possibilities of wind energy. The idea is very simple, use wind farms that consist of large wind turbines that spin when wind is run through them, creating energy that is collected and spread throughout neighboring communities. The potential use of wind power can be a leading source of energy in a greener future by reducing the use of fossil fuels, serving as a renewable source of energy, and relieving the economic stress of gasoline. The use of wind energy has become more prevalent in many nations of the past several decades. The energy harnessed has been used to power many homes, businesses, apartments, public buildings, and many other demanding developments. The spread of energy would be greatly appreciated to those who use power everyday of their lives, which is about every human being in the developed world. Even those without power in their region would greatly benefit from the spread, development, and capitalization of ruling their own power infrastructure. Wind farms that consist of many wind turbines collect energy from wind that makes the blades of the machine spin that creates energy naturally from no other source than just wind. This environmentally friendly industry of creating power had really began in the late 1970s by Danish companies producing these wind turbines. In the early 1980s, the average turbine was 20 meters high with a 26-kilowatt generator and a rotor diameter of 10.5 meters. The average turbine today may be hanging 55 meters high, with rotors diameter that is around 50-60 meters and a capacity of up to 1,650 kW. Within the past decades, the technology surrounding the use of these wind turbines has increased astronomically, making the output of energy from this technology much greater than what it once was. This has greatly affected the total amount of energy created from these farms, powering much more than they have in the past. In the United States, a national wind resource inventory published in 1991 indicates enough harnessable wind energy exists in just three states—North Dakota, Kansas and Texas—to satisfy national electricity needs. ( "Using Renewable Energy Will Help Conserve the Environment.") Wind energy is a particularly appealing way to generate electricity because it is essentially pollution-free. Much of the power in the United States comes from burning coal, a very dirty source of energy. More than half of the electricity produced in the United States is from burning coal. During these emissions, dangerous greenhouse gasses, along with other air, ground, and water pollutants are released into the local environment. The development of 10% of the wind potential in the 10 windiest U.S. states would provide more than enough power to displace emissions from the nation's coal-fired power plants and eliminate the nation's major source of acid rain. Also, this power would also reduce the emission of carbon dioxide by nearly a third ("The Use of Wind Energy Should Be Increased."). To put the efforts of the global wind farming industry in perspective, if the world's roughly 25,000 wind turbines were spinning simultaneously, they could light 122 million 40-watt light bulbs or power over a million suburban homes. In the windy north German state of Schleswig-Holstein, wind power already provides 8 percent of the electricity. The world's richest wind resources are found in North America, China and parts of Eastern Europe, and into Central Asia, energy from these locations could power up to 20% of each continents energy needs ("The Use of Wind Power Should Be Increased."). This would be an incredibly effective way to power parts of the world that have trouble powering themselves, especially with record prices for the sale of a gallon of oil sold just in the past years. These nations which may have little ways of powering themselves, outside of conventional coal burning, and the importing of oil, could heavily invest in themselves to unleash their own brand of power. Since the early 90s, more commercial wind farms have been installed around the world, in more countries than ever before. There are now 40,000 turbines in 40 countries, and the world's wind energy capacity is growing at nearly 27% annually. Wind power is a great way for countries to invest in their own best interests. The construction of wind is a technical process that requires skilled laborers to successfully construct these large turbines. This new economical source of labor would cause many of thousands of jobs to be created, and the training for all of them would have to include a college education, so the next generation of youth of a successful enterprise to begin working at. Energy giants Shell and BP have begun investing in wind power, and major corporations such as General Electric and ABB, a company that produces technology systems, are now in the wind - power business. The investment in this fairly new energy endeavor has brought such big name companies that produce and sell much of the worlds oil. For them to understand themselves that they need to address the environmentally hazardous production of their own companies is very important for the future of power. The future of power in the United States and around the world in developing nations in Africa, Asia, and economically slumping parts of Europe, are very hopeful to begin powering themselves partly with wind power. Wind is not the only effective way to power ones self, bio fuels, solar, and ethanol are other ways that could effectively, and cleanly power homes, cars, businesses. The potential use of wind power can be a leading source of energy in a greener future by reducing the use of fossil fuels, serving as a renewable source of energy, and relieving the economic stress of gasoline.