Wind Power

The basis of wind power is both simple and complex. For thousands of years, humans have harnessed the wind to grind their grain, sail their boats and pump water. The windmill was once a common site on farms and in the countryside all over the US and Europe. The windmill is national icon for the Netherlands, where it was used to pump water from farmland reclaimed from the sea. But starting with the Industrial Revolution, fossil fuel power plants and the electricity they produced replaced windmills and wind pumps.

It wasn't until the threat of global warming and a more eco-conscious public that wind power became more than an oddity pursued by backyard tinkerers and eccentric inventors. The way wind power works is simple. The blades catch the wind, which turns them and the hub they're attached to. The hub turns a gearshaft which turns inside a generator thus producing electricity. How much electricity depends on both the size of the blades and the speed of the wind. The cost of operating wind power generators is slightly higher than or similar to conventional technologies, although it can be cheaper depending on the country.

Wind power while not totally benign, has advantages over the technologies in use now to produce electricity. Opponents of wind power often cite the toll it takes on birds and bats. But according to a Danish government study even in Denmark, where over 10% of electricity production is generated by wind turbines, power lines kill many more birds. This issue is also being addressed by designers and has been all but eliminated in the new vertical axis and aeroturbine windmills. And wind power has much less of an effect on other wildlife and may even be beneficial.

When compared to coal and other fossil fuels, which make up 70% of US electricity generation, wind power emits no mercury, sulfur dioxide, acid rain, nitrogen oxide, or greenhouse gases. Rivers don't have to be dammed for wind power and it produces no nuclear waste like nuclear power plants do. Wind power will never be depleted like fossil fuels and nuclear energy. It's free for the taking, like solar power, although the equipment needed to convert wind to electric is still expensive. Industry experts expect that to change as wind power becomes more pervasive and accepted around the world.

Large installations of windmills, often called wind farms, generate enough electricity to power hundreds of houses. However they also generate the most controversy, because of noise, aesthetic impact and the threat to birds and bats. As mentioned earlier, designers are addressing these problems and new technologies are making wind power safer, quieter and less damaging to avian populations. Vertical axis turbines, pose almost no danger to birds, produce almost no noise or vibration and may be installed in urban areas. Plenty Magazine reports that these vertical axis turbines are being tested in Chicago and other cities, where the preliminary reports are very favorable. There are even small home wind turbines which can be installed on roofs. These generate power for the household without linking to the power grid.

Experts believe that up to 20% of US electrical power generation could be accomplished with wind power. Canada, Australia and European countries have already implemented their own far reaching programs to replace a percentage of their conventional power plants with wind power. As the self-proclaimed windiest country in Europe, England is particularly well-suited to wind power and has been aggressively pursuing installations of wind farms for years. China has the first Mag-Lev wind power installation and has plans for future large-scale wind power generating facilities.

The several-hundred-billion dollar industry of power production through wind turbines is flourishing and promises to be even stronger in future. What with carbon offsetting and governments coming on board the global warming initiatives, wind power can only grow as the price per kw falls closer to and even lower than a kw produced by coal or gas.