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Wind power is one of the most simple and utilized natural power sources on earth. Wind energy has been used for ages to move boats across oceans, to separate rice from its shaft, and more recently to supply energy for small towns. Wind is very appealing for a modern source of power because it is a force that is always free and existing. Wind seems to want to do work for us.
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Even in ancient civilizations, wind was known to be a source of energy that could be harvested to benefit the society. People have used wind to move boats, scatter grain, fly kites, and pump water for centuries. Only recently have we used wind energy to power electronic equipment.
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When we think of wind generating power we generally tend to think of beautiful Dutch windmills in the Netherlands, but wind generation has gone mainstream. Today we have power plants that can generate enough energy for small towns and cities.
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Wind generates electrical power by turning propeller wheels on wind generators. This is the same principal behind the child’s toy called a pinwheel. These propeller wheels in turn transfer the energy they gained to a generator. The generator generates electricity, and the electricity can be used or stored. These wind-generating towers are generally 20 feet tall and they must be out of the way of tall buildings or mountains that obstruct the wind.
On top of the tower is a wheel with exposed spokes. The spokes are flat, and are all bent on the same angle. They are bent on the same angle so that when the wind strikes the blade, they turn in the same direction and do not cause resistance. The size of the wheel determines the output of electricity. The larger the wheel gets, the more power it can generate. This is true, but when the wheel gets too big, power generation actually goes down due to added weight. A wheel with an 8-foot diameter can generate .53 horsepower, while a wheel with a 10-foot diameter generates 1.6 horsepower in a 20 mile per hour wind.
When wind strikes the blades, they spin at a high speed. The spinning wheels turn generators that turn the wind's power into electrical energy. With the possibility to get almost endless supplies of energy from the wind, it is a suprise that we don’t see more wind generating stations.
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Wind power is not used extensively for two main reasons. The first reason is that the power plants are not reliable enough for modern lives. If there are a few calm days, an entire city could be out of power. The second reason that wind generation is not popular is that the wind generation plants are extremely loud. The sounds of the turbines spinning and generators generating are too loud to be close to any city or town. Although this is an economical and safe means to generate electricity, there are many parts that need to be improved! You must continue the search for others!
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 Joe from United States contributed:
Recently, when I visited a landfill in my locale, I learned a very interesting fact. The manager of the landfill informed me that after a landfill has existed for several years (as the one I was visiting had), they produce some kind of gas. I can't remember if he said it was natural gas or not - I think he said it was methane. If so, methane, according to my dictionary, is a major constituent of natural gas. I remember well the torch from the landfill that burned on methane from the lower layers of decomposing garbage. The landfill produced so much gas that the flame (sizewise, in the neighborhood of five basketballs) burned all day and all night. Another interesting fact: the torch was the main deterrent of the odor emitted from the dump.
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Joe from United States contributed:
Isn't the energy released from atoms based on Einstein's famous law (E=MC^2)? I always thought that the actual energy (in the form of heat) came from the conversion of the matter, or atoms, into energy. From his law, you can see that a small amount of matter can make an enormous amount of energy (you multiply the matter by the speed of light). Conversely, I think it would take an enormous amount of energy to make a small amount of mass.
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 | See how electricity is generat... more
Copyright © Team C004471 - The Energy Planet (Thinkquest 2000) |
 | A Dutch mill located in Wijk b... more
Copyright © Team C004471 - The Energy Planet (Thinkquest 2000) |
| A windmillfield near a power p... more
Copyright © Team C004471 - The Energy Planet (Thinkquest 2000) |
| A power gererator.
Copyright © EPZ. Permission obtained on 10th of August, by Telephone. |
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