What is wind power? How is it
generated?
Wind
being another form of solar power is a rich and
productive source of renewable energy. Wind flow,
however, owes its origin to the several geographical and
environmental factors like, rotation of the earth, the
varying topographical forms and thus the differential
heating of the earth’s surface by the sun’s rays. The
flow of wind is essentially a kinetic energy which is
harvested into mechanical power or electrical. This
conversion of the kinetic energy into different forms of
power is called wind power. Wind energy is machinated
into mechanical and electrical power by two majorly used
devices like wind mills and wind energy turbines. This
wind power is being used diversely nowadays. Now
how does wind power work is a very
interesting and critical topic of discussion in this era
of power conservation.
How
does wind power work: some facts
revealed
The
two main devices mainly deployed for generating power
from the wind resource are wind turbines and the
windmills. Windmills are used to harvest the wind
resource for mechanical power like pumping water or
grinding cereals (majorly wheat) whereas the wind
turbine is used to generate electric power. To
understand how does wind power work we need to hash out
the details of the wind turbine mechanism. Broadly
classified into vertical axis and horizontal axis types,
the modern wind turbine uses high tech materials and
advanced design principles to capture the moving air
convert its forces into electricity. A typical wind
turbine resembles the aircraft propeller blades that
turn in the direction of the moving air. The movement of
the blades mechanically gyrates a shaft. This shaft is
connected to a generator which produces electricity.
Depending upon their various available sizes wind
turbines can be of different power ratings. The power
ratings are pretty much dependent on the available wind
in an area and its speed as well. The calculation goes
like this: “the energy in wind is directly proportional
to the cube of the wind speed.” Thus a stronger wind
signals a lot of power.
To
interpret the regeneration, use and application of the
wind power, we, by all odds, need to understand this
solar energy as a resource. As stated above lets throw
some more light on how at all wind is generated in the
earth’s atmosphere. The sun’s rays heat the different
surfaces on earth like the water bodies, land and air
differently according to their varying propensities to
absorb heat. Besides, 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 two poles.
This movement of the cooler, denser air to fill in the
vacuum created by the upwardly moving hot air creates a
convectional current called wind. In a word, wind can be
called as earth’s circulatory system that circulates
energy from the warmer regions to the comparatively
cooler realms. This energy when managed by harnessing
reaps mechanical power, popularly known as wind power.
Now how does wind power work in a particular area,
economically, solely depends on the wind resource of
that very area, which means the available amount of wind
that sheathes that area all round the
year.
Wind
power: advantage or
disadvantage?
To
realize the fact that exactly how does wind power
work for us we need to hash out each and every pros
and cons of this advanced application of modern
technology.
The first and foremost and perhaps the greatest
advantage of wind power is that it is a non-polluting
resource that is free and can be renewed ‘n’ number of
times. The electric energy that is generated is also
clean and non-polluting. Compared to the traditional
modern power plants windmills produce NO greenhouse gas
or air pollutants. Apart from saving power, windmills
are also easy on your pocket as compared to the fossil
fuel plants since the former 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 modest disadvantages
discussed wind power is gaining much popularity amongst
the environment conscious citizens and is thus the buzz
word in this modern era.
