Wind EnergyWind power generation is the process of converting the wind energy into electricity or other useful form of energy. One might easily comprehend that wind power is sustainable and renewable. There is no way mankind could find to use all the wind in the world!! What is wind? The earth lives at the mercy of the sun. The sun provides earth with heat, light and wind! Because of the shape of the earth and the tilt in its axis certain parts of the earth are heated more than the others. The poles are definitely on the extreme where they receive considerably less heat than other parts. Further land area tends to heat up more than the water bodies. All this difference in heating causes convection. This convection is what we call as wind! As long as the earth stays round and revolves titled around the sun wind energy will exist. One might ask where all the wind energy does anyway. As the wind comes in contact with the earth friction is created. This friction leads to heat which is released. Wind power is generated by placing huge turbines in windy areas. As the wind causes the huge turbines to rotate the wind is converted to mechanical energy. This mechanical energy is converted to electrical energy of other form of energy through special apparatus. This process is akin to a bi-cycle dynamo. Wind energy at present caters to more than one percent of the energy needs of the world. With more careful study and implementation further advancements could be made in this field. More than eighty countries have understood the utility of wind power and have taken steps to commercialize it. Besides the obvious advantages in wind power there are limitations to it. Wind power unlike other power systems is not transferable. This means that wherever the energy is produced it must be used. One cannot dispatch this energy to other areas. They must be used as soon as they are produced. Two other reasons some people quote as points against wind power is that they are not good looking and they might kill birds. While the first issue seems to be stupid considering the fact that we are no longer in a situation where we can afford to not use the wind power as long as we find a suitable aesthetically pleasing alternative. The second reason though is a small cause for concern. Migratory birds and bats are known to have been killed by the giant wind turbines. Bats are also harmed by the high pressure region near the wind turbines. But the estimated amount of casualties of birds caused by the wind turbines all around the world is highly negligible. One has to accept this as a necessarily evil as wind power is perfect in every other way. It has been predicted that wind power can be used to produce several tens of TW of power. Thus the pros of using wind power outweighs the cons by a long way! |
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