Wind energy is a unique resource, as it is the form of energy that population can use without any effort to replenish its supply. At the current phase of scientific and technological progress energy supply can be assured only with the use of fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) and nuclear power, which are regarded as non-renewable energy sources.
Nonetheless, according to the outcomes of various studies, fossil fuels by 2020 will meet the requirements of the global energy only partly. The rest of the energy requirements can be met by alternative energy sources – solar, wind, geothermal, the energy of sea waves, ocean tides, biomass, wood, charcoal, peat, oil shale, tar sands, hydro energy of large and small streams, all of which relate to unconventional and renewable energy.
One of the most utilized non-traditional energy sources is wind energy. Let’s have a look at some of the prominent wind energy facts. Green energy of this type has the potential which is an equivalent to 1% of the yearly solar energy. For the surface of 500 meters in width, wind power is about 82 trillion kilowatt-hours every year. Even if we utilize at least 10% (which is reasonably reasonable and efficiently feasible) of this unconventional energy, it is roughly equal to the quantity of electricity generated around the globe.
Wind Farms
A wind farm is a number of wind turbines installed in one place. Some stations contain 100 or more wind turbines. This type of energy plants transforms the unused energy of wind into electrical energy by using wind turbines. Wind farms use a variety of ways, which transform wind energy into mechanical work – frequently utilized for this intention are the machines with wings on a horizontal beam, pointed in the direction of the wind. Vertical beam installations are utilized less frequently, even though they do not require being pointed in the direction of the wind, they have a low effectiveness and require outside power to run. Modern wind installations with a horizontal axis and the high rate of velocity have the efficiency of 46-48%, being close in this figure to the conventional thermal energy plants.
To date, several variations of the method are utilized to transform wind into electricity. Their main component is wind wheel. Based on the principle of the scheme and the assembly of the rotors utilized on wind turbines, they are divided into three varieties: propeller, rotary, or rotary and drum.
Rotary and drum wind turbines have a vertical mounted beam that revolves as a result of the wind surge to the blade which is placed on one side of the axis, at the same time as others are closing or turning the edge against the wind. Wind energy installation, equipped with such mechanisms, is rather bulky and less efficient than propeller based. That is why present day wind energy employs generally more complicated and less expensive propeller-type wind turbines, which also boast a higher effectiveness of performance.
Despite the obvious benefits, even the most efficient wind power installation has several drawbacks. First of all, the wind doesn’t blow consistently most of the time, which results in unstable energy generation and sometimes a full stoppage. As a result, any wind farm functions at full capability only part of the time. To compensate for this, wind turbines are supplied with batteries which store the accumulated electricity for future use.
Therefore, wind power is not able to by itself provide a reliable foundation for energy requirements. They operate in addition to, or complement the main power supply by contributing to electricity production, or being a source of energy in distant or hard to access locations where it is complicated or impossible to get electricity supply in the conventional way.
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