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Archive for the ‘Wind Energy’ Category

Wind energy is not the only renewable source of energy. As fossil fuels are starting to run out many business’s are considering alternative forms of energy. Whilst wind energy is one of the main ones there are also other alternatives of wind energy. Lets take a quick look at them:
Solar Energy
Solar energy is considered to be one of the ‘future energy sources’ and is currently being used by many business’s and home owners to power various devices. Essentially solar panels are built and they absorb energy from the sun which is then converted into electrical energy. Solar energy is ideal for countries and areas that get lots of exposure from the sun, just like wind energy is ideal for places that get high winds.

Geothermal
Geothermal energy is essentially energy derived from the internal heat of the earth. The heat is used to produce steam which is then used to power turbines which then converts into usable electrical energy. Typically geothermal ‘hotspots’ are used as these are ideal places to the mantle is of reduced thickness, by using these it saves from having to drill down for miles to reach temperatures hot enough to boil water and produce the steam. Although geothermal energy is useful currently it is not practical enough to produce mass energy needed for power grids.

Tidal Power
The force and energy that is produced from waves is big, sadly converting it into usable electrical energy is quite a hard task. The basic process involves a huge dam being built across an estuary, as the tide goes in and out the water flows through tunnels that are built in the dam. The flow of water through these can then be used to turn turbines and in effect produce electricity in similar way to other forms of renewable energy.

How is wind energy used? Well unlike conventional power plants wind farms are often owned by private business’s who will then sell on the electricity produced electric utility companies. The usage of wind energy varies from company to company. Some homes and business’s will be powered by wind energy, some partly and some entirely. Power grids will also use wind energy as part of their distribution, however the nature of wind power means that the energy produced will vary from day to day dependant upon the wind speeds, because of this reason no power grid can ever completely rely solely upon wind energy.

Many people use wind energy privately and build their own mini wind turbines, if done properly these can be very effective and can yield a decent enough power output to provide power to a residential home. Once wind energy is properly converted to usable electrical energy in the right voltage then it can be used for any electrical appliance as normal.

Currently the department of energy are exploring new ways to use wind energy and there are certain areas they are focusing on, one the main ones being hydro power. Hydrogen is the main material that is used to clean and move water supplies. Better hydrogen production means less fossil fuel energy needed. Wind turbines combined with the use of hydrogen generating electrolyzers can be used to solve two energy problems; producing electricity and hydrogen at the same time.

In summary wind energy is the future of power and is constantly being invested in to make it more efficient and usable. Currently there are many uses for it from powering small electrical devices to provided redundant energy sources for power grids.

The use of wind power as a form of energy has many advantages to other renewable and non renewable sources. With wind farms all across the road it is clear to see that Wind energy is becoming the top energy choice of the future.
With wind energy being renewable this is probably one of the biggest advantages, the fuel for it is free and will never run out. Wind is produced by changes in atmospheric pressure that are caused by the suns radiation. In terms of costs, wind energy is one of the cheapest sources of renewable energy available, the turbines are relatively cheap to make and build and with technological advancements they are getting cheaper all the time.

Another major advantage is that wind energy produces absolutely no pollution at all and for most people the wind turbines themselves are quite elegant and do not ruin the landscape. When compared to a power station, wind turbines take up very little room. With wind being readily available all round the world it is a global choice of energy for all countries and does not require any other resources, obviously the location of the wind farm is an important aspect but with the right planning wind farms can produce plenty of energy.

Finally the cost of wind energy is a major advantage when compared to other energy sources, with new advancements in technology the wind turbines themselves are becoming cheaper to produce and to maintain and many more people are investing in wind energy. Once the wind farms are produced the only ongoing cost is maintenance since the fuel itself (wind) is obviously free.

The cost of wind energy is an interesting subject when looking at renewable sources of energy and the cost implications of using them. When people talk of renewable energy they think of ‘free energy’, whilst wind energy is technically free the initial cost is quite great compared to other sources of renewable energy.

The fuel for wind energy costs nothing, wind is essentially generated through changes in atmospheric pressure caused by the suns radiation. To actually put this energy into use massive wind turbines are needed which create kinetic energy when they spin.
The cost of wind energy can be broken down into the following:

1.The capital costs. i.e. the cost to build the turbines.

2.Running costs, which is the cost of maintaining and repairing the turbines.

Of course the return of the costs can depend on a few things also, primarily the windiness of the site that the turbines will be operating on. The amount of electricity that is produced from a turbine can be measured using a cube, for example if the wind blows twice as fast at one site then the electricity that is produced will increase eight fold. Other factors involved are things like how the wind farm is set-up, carefully planning must be used to ensure that the turbines do not shadow each other and therefore lower wind resistance.

From a financial point of view wind energy is a cheap energy to invest in and the cost is constantly decreasing, this is mainly due to technological developments that allows the turbines to be built cheaper. Developers are also focusing on creating bigger turbines and therefore using less, not only this but people are becoming more confident in the use of wind energy as it has been proven to be reliable and clean.

Measuring the price of energy is hard as there are many factors involved that are not necessarily financial (I.e. pollution), with this in mind wind energy is probably the cheapest form of renewable energy to produce and investment is set to continuously rise in the future.

Wind energy is a renewable source of energy and from a manufacturing point a view a relatively easy source to acquire and use. Getting wind energy and turning it into a usable energy source is done by the following process:

1. Wind hits turbine blades and makes them spin, you will probably see these huge turbines in large open spaces, especially in Europe.
2. As the blades spin a shaft inside the the box at the top of turbine (which is called the Nacelle) turns.

3. The shaft is connected to a gearbox which in turn starts rotating and gaining speed.

4. A generator is then used to convert rotational energy into electrical energy, it does this by the use of magnetic fields.

5. Once the power is outputted it goes into a transformer which then in turns converts the electricity to the correct voltage for the distribution system (which is normally around 33,000 volts)

6. The power is then ready to use and is distributed from the grid.

Although there are other factors involved, this is the basic process that will convert wind into a usable source of electrical energy. It is also worth noting that wind energy is in fact derived from solar energy, the radiation from the sun heats parts of the earth at different rates which can also depend on the surface that absorbs it. This then causes parts of the atmosphere to warm differently. Hot air will then rise and this will then reduce the atmospheric pressure at the earth’s surface, cooler air is drawn in to replace this and finally we have wind!

Since air has mass and wind provides motion for it, we now have kinetic energy which in turn can be converted into usable electrical energy.