What are the Main Uses of Wind Energy?
The main uses of wind energy are focused on creating electrical power that is reliable and sustainable. Other factors are also important as the cost of producing electricity with wind energy must be comparable to electricity produced by other means.
It's easy to imagine using wind energy as a power source will only increase as more attention is now being given to wind power. Windmills used to dot states in the plains area of the U.S. especially.
Some of the most picturesque drives through Iowa and other areas feature a landscape dotted with windmills with their huge gristmills or water wheels. A favorite purchase for those who love antiques may be an old stone gristmill to use as a garden accessory. If you view a group of scenic photos of the U.S.states you will notice several where windmills are a featured element.
What are the Uses of Wind Energy?
An increase in interest in the uses of wind energy is a natural movement that stems from concern for the environment. Fossil fuels like oil and coal are easily converted to power but the process that lies between mining the natural resource and using the electricity created is dangerous on many levels.
In time, we are in danger of depleting the earth's supply of fossil fuels. Oil and coal are not renewable resources. These elements were formed over millions of years or changing life forms and temperatures occurred. Oil, coal and natural gas are plentiful but not inexhaustible. As our use of power has risen almost exponentially, the concerns about running out of fossil fuels have increased.
The uses of wind energy are the same as uses of any power generating element. The motivating factor behind a renewed public interest in using wind to make electricity is the environmental movement.
Green is the new color these days and we are willing to try any new ideas that have the possibility of limiting damage to the earth we live on. Oil is plentiful today but the process of drilling and transporting oil to refineries carries high risk of pollution.
Oil rigs fail or huge oil tankers hit icebergs. The result is contamination of oceans and shorelines. Birds, turtles, dolphins and many other species of wildlife are easily harmed and their numbers decimated by oil spills. Plants in wetlands are suffocated which destroys the delicate balance of the wetland environment.
Environmental concerns may be the driving force behind finding uses of wind energy and adapting new technology for wind turbines. However, the interest is also financially driven. Political unrest can shut down oil fields and limit the world supply of this fuel without warning.
Though most industrial nations maintain reserves of oil to balance the dangers of a limited supply, reserves can go only so far. Any natural disaster may lead to a drastic increase in price that affects everything from gasoline to heating your home.
It's appealing that uses of wind energy can be a local issue. The wind turbines can be built and energy produced adjacent to the area where the energy will be used by homes and businesses. There is no big transportation network needed and no danger of environmental damage that so often occurs when drilling for oil or mining for coal.
Summary
The electricity generated by wind farms can be used just like power from any other method of generation. You can light your homes or run your air conditioning. You can pump water from a well or power up your electric golf cart. Once electricity has been produced, you have the power you need.
The complaints about the main uses of wind energy today may be solved through better technology and design. The size of the wind towers makes a wind farm an eyesore to some people while others see it as clean and graceful.
There is a tremendous potential for wind farms that are located offshore in ocean waters and perhaps in the Great Lakes but there is public resistance to those installations. Many people appreciate the potential uses of wind energy but don't want to see a wind turbine anywhere that affects the view from their own property.
The broad potential of wind energy is due to the unending source of supply. Wind power is everywhere the wind blows. It's possible to imagine a time when much of the energy used in the U.S. is produced by wind farms without pollution or runoff or dangers of radiation leaks.
Several states such as Iowa are leading in the field of wind energy. These wide open, flat locales have winds that sweep over the plains day after day. By developing wind farms and uses for wind energy, these states may become leading power suppliers in the future.
