Prior
to answering the question ‘how long will wind
energy last’ let us find out what wind actually is
and how wind energy is created. Before the ancient Greek
philosopher Anaximander gave a scientific reason for
wind, people thought it was the “breath of the Gods”.
Wind was ‘kind and soothing’ when the Gods were happy
but it got ‘wicked and fierce’ when the Gods were
unhappy. However, the venerable truth-seeker had
explained in no uncertain manner that winds are merely
air movement over the earth’s surface. But to get
moving, or rather flowing, the air requires some kind of
force or energy. And now let us see how this is
achieved.
When
one surface area (that includes both land and sea
surface) heats up more quickly than its neighboring
surface, the air above it expands, gets lesser in
density and goes up, creating a temporary void. As a
result, the atmospheric pressure above the hot area
suddenly drops, allowing air from the neighboring cooler
area to rush in and fill the void. Technically called a
Thermal, this
observable fact is mostly responsible for steady wind
sessions. In fact, that is how the land, sea and country
breezes are created.
Moreover,
the earth’s rotational movement drags the atmospheric
air round with it as a result of which air can not flow
directly from a high to low pressure area in a straight
line. As the air close to the earth is affected more by
this drag as compared to air higher up in the
atmosphere, it creates a difference in air speed at
different altitudes. But air ultimately ends up mixing
in a violent way, creating turbulence. In short, these
are some of the factors that give rise to wind energy.
Therefore,
as long as the sun goes on heating the earth or parts of
it in an uneven fashion and till the earth keeps on
rotating on its axis, wind energy will continue to last
but may stop if both the phenomenon becomes defunct. But
there is another possibility as well – wind energy
(being one of the cleanest alternative energies) will
keep working for us as long as there is nothing better
than this that is available. However as things stand
now, that is a distinct possibility – wind energy is
sure to last and work well for us for many decades to
come.
Another
way of looking at the topic would be to take a
theoretical view of the topic. Way back in 1919, a
German physicist named Albert Betz found out that the
most one can probably get out of a wind turbine would be
around 59% of the power of the wind or the wind energy.
Though this could be debatable but one thing remains
true that we cannot convert 100% wind energy as of now.
But with continuous research in the field and
innovations, this is sure to change in the years ahead
and this will make wind energy more
efficient.
There are great advantages of wind energy and that is why this alternative source of power is rapidly becoming very popular the world over. Government and the local authorities are offering many incentives to home owners and commercial establishments as well to opt for this. While on the one hand you can clean up the air (fossil fuel reserves are going down rapidly and so we have to look at alternatives anyway), on the other, you can reduce your power bills drastically by installing a personal wind power system. Investing in wind power is thus a great idea – you will just need to know a few simple things such as where to set it up so that is works best, how to install and wire the system, where to get the parts from cheaply and also the safety precautions. Get this manual that will teach you all this, and you will be all ready to benefit from wind energy.
