Wind Energy

Air in motion is called wind. Uneven heating of the Earth’s surface generates wind. As Earth’s surface is made of very different type of land and water and it absorbs sun’s heat at different rates.

The Daily Wind Cycle

 In day the air above land heats up quickly than air over water. The warm air over the land expands and rises and as cooler air is heavier it rushes to take place with this procedure wind is created. While in night its total different than day because in night air over land gets cooler quickly than air on over water.

The atmospheric winds that circles the earth are also created in same way because land near the Earth’s equator heats up more than the land near South and North Poles.

Wind Energy as Renewable Energy Source

Wind energy today is a renewable energy source because the wind will keep on blowing till the sun is shining. Wind energy mostly is used to generate electricity.

Electricity Generation from Wind

How Wind Turbines Work?

Old-fashioned windmills, which are now called wind turbines, collect the wind’s kinetic energy through their blades. The wind strikes over the blades creating lift, like the effect on airplane wings that cause the blades to turn. The blades are connected with a shaft drive, which turns an electronic generator to manufacture electricity.

The problem still persists that what to do when wind is not blowing. For that it is said to use other type of power plants for producing electricity.

Wind Production In United States

In 2008, wind machines generated 1.3% of the total U.S. electricity generation and that total generation in figures was 52 billion kilowatt-hours. Though it is a small contribution in the Nation’s total electricity production even then it was enough electricity to serve 4.6 million households or to power the entire state of Colorado.

In recent years electricity generation from wins is growing rapidly. From 2006 to 2008 power generation from win in United States had been doubled.

Through new technologies the cost of producing electricity from wind is being decreased and also growth in wind power has been encouraged by tax breaks for renewable energy and green pricing programs. 

For supporting renewable energy sources technologies there are many utilities around the country offer green pricing options which allows the customers to pay more for the electricity that comes from renewable energy sources.