Wind Power

WIND POWER

By Anton Antonio

October 23, 2015

What is wind power?  “Wind power is extracted from air flow using wind turbines or sails to produce mechanical or electrical power.  Windmills are used for their mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping, and sails to propel ships.  Wind power as an alternative to fossil fuels, is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean, produces no greenhouse gas emissions during operation, and uses little land.  The net effects on the environment are far less problematic than those of non-renewable power sources.  Wind farms consist of many individual wind turbines which are connected to the electric power transmission network.  Onshore wind is an inexpensive source of electricity, competitive with or in many places cheaper than coal or gas plants.  Offshore wind is steadier and stronger than on land, and offshore farms have less visual impact, but construction and maintenance costs are considerably higher.  Small onshore wind farms can feed some energy into the grid or provide electricity to isolated off-grid locations.  Wind power is very consistent from year to year but has significant variation over shorter time scales.  It is therefore used in conjunction with other electric power sources to give a reliable supply.  As the proportion of wind power in a region increases, a need to upgrade the grid, and a lowered ability to supplant conventional production can occur.  Power management techniques such as having excess capacity, geographically distributed turbines, dispatchable backing sources, sufficient hydroelectric power, exporting and importing power to neighboring areas, using vehicle-to-grid strategies or reducing demand when wind productions is low, can in many cases overcome these problems.  In addition, weather forecasting permits the electricity network to be readied for the predictable variations in production that occur.  As of 2014, Denmark has been generating around 40% of its electricity from wind, and at least 83 other countries around the world are using wind power to supply their electricity grids.  Wind power capacity has expanded to 369,553 MW by December 2014, and total wind energy production is growing rapidly and has reached 4% of worldwide electric usage.” (Wikipedia)

The preceding researched literature on wind power can be backed up by yet another researched report on wind power.

“WIND POWER

Wind power will blow your carbon footprint away!  In fact, it is a renewable source of energy that emits virtually no greenhouse gases.  Unlike hydroelectricity and nuclear power, it will not seriously harm anyone and will not disturb precious ecosystems.  It is also cheaper, easier to build/install, easier to maintain and safer for workers.  For thousands of years mankind has used the power of wind for sailboats and for centuries, humanity has been greatly aided by the power of windmills for agriculture.  Now, wind will play a vital role in building a sustainable future.  Many critics of this form of alternative energy declare that wind turbines cause a lot of noise which is not true, especially for newer models.  Home owners are currently installing wind turbines on their rooftops and farmers have hundreds of them across their fields.  It is truly a myth to say that they cause too much noise pollution.  In fact, they make much less noise than power plants operating on fossil fuels and surely less noise than the huge machinery operating in the Tar Sands of Alberta.  In the United States, farmers generally get between 3,000 and 5,000 dollars per year in rental income from each turbine installed on their land.  These farmers continue to grow cattle and crops as they always did.  This helps support the costs of agriculture and its electrical needs.  Home owners could not only completely cut down their electricity bill, but they could also tell their surplus electricity to companies through their electrical lines.  Moreover, in a case of a neighbourhood blackout, these homes will continue to have electricity.  Currently, this form of renewable energy accounts for 2.5% of the world’s electricity.  Europe alone accounts for 48% of this.  The countries Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, Greece and Austria are its largest producers.  In Texas, a land greatly marked by the oil industry, wind turbines have become part of a multi-billion dollar industry in an effort to fight climate change.  Clearly, the winds of change are sweeping across the globe.  In fact, 83 countries are using this form of energy on a commercial basis.” --- Climate Change Guide

There is so much potential in wind power initiatives in the Philippines.  The fact that it is an archipelago, and therefore a total of more than 7,100 islands and a coastline of 36,289 kilometers, provides the ideal locations for wind farm construction… as opposed to off-shore wind farms which are more expensive to construct and maintain.  The pioneering coastline wind farm in the country could be found in Bangui, Ilocos Norte.  This wind farm project in the northernmost province of the Island of Luzon is testimony that this source of energy has a place in the country’s future… electric power from wind power.

Thoughts to promote positive action…

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REFERENCE:

Climate Change Guide, (2015). “Wind Power”.  Retrieved on October 23, 2015 from http://www.climate-change-guide.com/wind-power.html