Wind Power Generation

Wind turbines convert the wind's energy into electricity, cheaply, efficiently and without damaging the environment. The basic principle involves wind passing over turbine blades, typically two or three propeller-like looking blades, which are mounted on a rotor to generate electricity. The turbines sit high atop towers, taking advantage of the stronger and less turbulent wind at 100 feet (30 meters) or more aboveground.

A blade acts much like an airplane wing. When the wind blows, a pocket of low-pressure air forms on the downwind side of the blade. The low-pressure air pocket then pulls the blade toward it, causing the rotor to turn. This is called lift. The force of the lift is actually much stronger than the wind's force against the front side of the blade, which is called drag. The combination of lift and drag causes the rotor to spin like a propeller, and the turning shaft spins a generator to make electricity.

Wind FarmWind turbines can be used as stand-alone applications, or they can be connected to a utility power grid or even combined with a photovoltaic (solar cell) system. Stand-alone turbines are typically used for water pumping or communications. However, homeowners and farmers in windy areas can also use turbines to generate electricity. For utility-scale sources of wind energy, a large number of turbines are usually built close together to form a wind farm. Several electricity providers today use wind farms to supply power to their customers.

More than 40,000 modern turbines in dozens of countries generate electricity without any harmful emissions or waste products. Wind power is the fastest growing energy source worldwide, and as fossil fuel resources diminish and concern increases over climate change, the value of renewable wind energy as a power of the future is increasingly being recognized.

Additional Resources
Publications
Websites
  • Wind Powering America provides in-depth information about wind power initiatives occurring in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
  • American Wind Energy Association offers information on federal and state wind energy policy and up-to-date news on the issues most relative to the wind industry.
  • National Wind Technology Center identifies research capabilities and current projects being pursued at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's National Wind Technology Center.
  • DOE's Wind and Water Power Program provides information from the national laboratories that are conducting research on wind and water technology as well as the U.S. Department of Energy "20% Wind Energy by 2030" Report.
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