What is wind energy?
Wind
is a form of solar power. Wind is caused due to a number
of factors like the rotation of the Earth, the
irregularities of the earth’s surface and by the
scratchy heating of the atmosphere by the sun. The
diversified earth’s terrain modifies wind flow patterns
that are also influenced by the vegetal covering and the
bodies of water. Wind flow creates motion energy and
this motion energy when harvested and machinated by
modern methods like wind turbines or wind mills can be
used as what is called wind energy. The concept of
exactly how wind energy works is being deeply
researched these days. In this article
we will be throwing some light on how wind energy is
being generated and what all are its applications and
uses.
Wind
energy can power the whole world!
To
understand the regeneration, use and application of wind
energy, we definitely need to understand it as a
resource. Now let’s throw some light on how wind is
generated in the atmosphere. The sun’s rays heat the
different surfaces on earth like the land, water bodies
and air differently according to their different
propensities to absorb heat. Also there exists a
constant temperature difference between the equator and
the two poles of the earth. Now the hot air at the
equator expands, becomes less dense and rises which is
then replaced by the cooler, denser air from the poles.
This movement of the cooler, denser air to fill in the
vacuum created by the upwardly moving hot air creates
wind. In a word, wind can be called as earth’s
circulatory system that distributes energy from warmer
regions to the comparatively cooler realms. This energy
when managed by harvesting reaps mechanical energy,
popularly known as wind energy. Now how does wind
energy work in a particular area, economically,
solely depend on the wind resource of that area, which
means the available amount of wind that overlays that
area throughout the year.
The
two main devices majorly used for generating power from
the wind resource are windmills and wind turbines.
Windmills are used to harness the wind resource for
mechanical power like pumping water or grinding wheat
whereas electricity is generated by the wind turbine. To
understand how does wind energy work we need to
peep in to the details of the wind turbine mechanism.
Broadly classified into vertical axis and horizontal
axis varieties, the modern wind turbine uses high
technology materials and advanced design principles to
convert the force of moving air into electricity. A
typical wind turbine looks like aircraft propeller
blades that turn in the direction of the moving air. The
movement of the blades mechanically spins a shaft. This
shaft is connected to a generator that produces
electricity. Depending upon their various available
sizes wind turbines can be of different power ratings.
The power ratings are very much dependent on the
available wind in an area and its speed. The calculation
goes like this: “the energy in wind is directly
proportional to the cube of the wind speed.” Thus a
stronger wind indicates a lot of power.
Wind
energy: Advantage or Disadvantage?
To
understand exactly how wind energy work for us, we need
to single out each and every pros and cons of this
advanced application of modern science. The first and
foremost and perhaps the biggest advantage of wind
energy is that it is a non-polluting resource that is
free and renewable ‘n’ number of times. The electricity
that is generated is also clean and non-polluting.
Compared to the conventional modern power plants
windmills never produce any greenhouse gas or air
pollutants. Besides saving power, windmills are also
easy on the economy as compared to the fossil fuel
plants since they have a minimum life-cycle cost like no
fuel purchasing and minimum operating expenses. However,
the concerns like noise pollution (generated by the
rotor blades), visual impact and avian mortality (bats
and birds being killed while flying into the rotors) are
been taken care of by wisely locating the wind plants
and technological developments. The biggest disadvantage
seems to be the intermittent supply of the wind
resource. Intermittent because all winds cannot be
harvested to generate electricity as and when required.
Also often the right wind plant sites are much away from
the area that requires the electricity like the cities.
In spite of the minor disadvantages discussed wind
energy is the buzz word in this modern era and is
gaining much popularity amongst the environment
conscious citizens.
