Wind Farms

Wind energy is abundant, inexhaustible, widely distributed, clean, and mitigates the greenhouse effect.

It is estimated that 3% of the energy from the Sun that hits the earth is converted into wind energy. This is about 50 to 100 times more energy than is converted into biomass by all the plants on Earth through photosynthesis. Most of this wind energy can be found at high altitudes, however there is still sufficiently high energy at ground levels to be useful.

In 2005, worldwide capacity of wind-powered generators was 58,982 MW, their production making up less than 1% of worldwide electricity use. Although still a relatively minor source of electricity, wind power generation has more than quadrupled between 1999 and 2005.

Most modern wind power is generated in the form of electricity by converting the rotation of turbine blades into electrical current by means of an electrical generator. In more traditional windmills wind energy is used to turn mechanical machinery to do physical work, such as crushing grain or pumping water.

It is helpful to understand some background information about wind power as a renewable energy resource.

• Measuring the Wind Resource
• Economics of Wind Farms
• Environmental Impact