Renewable Energy: Wind energy

In the last post we talked about the four types of renewable energy that are most used throughout the world today. We discussed how solar energy could benefit the growing populations of the world. The next energy source, wind energy, is also a viable option that is already being used widely throughout the world.

Wind energy is derived from the most powerful energy source in our solar system, the Sun. The Sun heats the air and the changes in pressure due to hot air rising and cooled air sinking causes wind. This energy is currently being exploited through the use of wind turbines. Wind energy is one of the fast growing clean energy sources in the United States according to the AWEA. Today, U.S. wind power capacity represents more than 20% of the world's installed wind power. (AWEA) Wind energy does seem like a great solution to the current energy crisis, it’s clean, relatively cheap, and is even a readily available technology. So what’s holding back the entire country from switching to wind energy? Well the main problem is real estate, not every place is a prime area for wind power generation. An area with a large amount of constant windy conditions is required which is why a lot of the country’s wind parks are located in relatively open areas. The next large hurdle is that for every acre used a fossil fuel using plant could supply more energy for the amount of space used. The current and rather recent solution to this is to start building large offshore wind parks. This provides a large wind rich environment that takes up no inhabitable space. Who knows perhaps one day wind energy will power the United States and other countries; one day some may look from the coast to a coast line with large propellers spinning in the distance.