Wind Energy – It’s Concept and Usefulness

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Wind Energy – It’s Concept and Usefulness

Wind power happens to be one of the most basic and oldest types of energy. It has been in use ever since the first windmills came into existence in Europe centuries ago. As the world is currently look for alternative energy sources, the technology used to convert wind energy into usable electricity forms seems to be attracting a lot of attention.

A key advantage of this type of energy is that it is very efficient, clean, natural and healthy. It has absolutely no impacts on the environment and its usage does not bring about the product of any harmful by products such as the ones created by nuclear power and fossil fuels.

Against what many people believe, electricity generation using wind is actually cheap and much more cost-effective. In the current situation, on an average, it costs about five centers per kilowatt-hour to produce wind energy.

When compared to all the varying forms of alternative energy, this is extremely cheap. Also, it is very unlikely that the wind will stop blowing making it a completely renewable source of energy. This also means the production prices are not likely to rise and have stronger chances of becoming cheaper.

Furthermore, expanding the capacity of a country to start up electricity generation from wind power can actually help boost the economy and some of the country’s rural areas. Places where there are plenty of ranches and farms are the ones which are most suited for wind power.

On top of everything, wind form of energy does not cause any pollution at all. Also there is likely to be wind as long as the sun exists which will surely be the case for another four billion years; wind form of energy is a more permanent source of energy.

In fact, if all the wind power which was available to mankind was harnessed, there could nearly ten times the amount of energy that we currently use.

Wind energy is available in plenty all around the globe and so countries are not likely to be dependent on energy from any other country. In the face of rising gas prices and petroleum prices, wind energy might be the best solution.

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What is Going On With Renewable Energy?

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By Wade Lawson

 

I am only a small look at the Renewable Energy Advancements in the United States but I want everyone who is concerned to know more. I can not answer that question “What is Going On With Renewable Energy?” but I can tell you some things that I do know.

First over the past 5 years during the Green Energy Boom here in the U.S. we have gone from being very dependent on Foreign developers to holding our own. For example with Foreign Wind Turbine designs and advancements we mostly did nothing but provide cash, land,labor and access to the U.S. for Wind Farm Development.  As expected the U.S. and our workers are now the best developers for green energy in the world. Even the leading manufacturers from outside the U.S. have decided that their products if erected on U.S. soil will be produced here. Maybe to save money in the assembly process but none the same it gave us control of assets and put American men and women to work. Isn’t that the priority? So we achieved a goal and we developed a new market that will also save our planet and provide for our future children and their livelihoods.  Mmmmm did we really?

Lets go ahead a look at this now. In April it appears that the Congress failed to attach the Federal Production Tax Credit extensions for wind. Most  of  us have heard of PTC and have come to expect an extension. Well with this passing and no extenstion attached to the payroll tax cut what else could make it worse? It is election year so the chances of a stand alone extension going through Congress is looking slim. This is where we all need to make sure we are heard and understood. We need to alert our Congress to just what is about to happen.

In the economy of the U.S. if we do not have an extension of PTC than we are facing yet another industry that will be forced to perform massive layoffs within the Wind Industry. We are going to notice the loss of Wind Energy and it’s job market plus energy producing benefits. You can see how much effect there is in the country already if you are watching the wind energy stocks. I believe the other clean renewable energy sectors will also start showing drastic drops inside their industry stock.

Many companies will be effected and the renewable energy developers will most likely feel it first. The developers are the companies that rely on PTC more than the rest.  So with this said these companies will not go away but what they will do is go work in other Countries. Canada is sure to benefit from cheaper wind materials and equipment that should have been used in the United States.  Many of the companies will be work through some of this chaos since their job values were in place prior to the expected PTC expiration.

Many persons still feel that Fossil Fuel is the best way to go for our future. There are many good reasons why we continue with Fossil Fuel and we are not going into all that here. Many know that combined heat and power plants called (CHP) have a fuel efficiency rate better than 90 percent while converting fuel into electrical production plus heat. This said renewable energy is a growing market that has made huge advances and will continue to make huge technical advancements for years and years to come.

We must not stop supporting renewables like Wind Energy. It is going to be something if we allow all of our neighboring countries develop the future energy sources.

Thanks For Reading

Wade Lawson

 

 

 

 

Understanding the Wind Energy Potential in Massachusetts

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Understanding the Wind Energy Potential in Massachusetts

The desire to save on energy and protect the environment paved the way for the exploration of alternative forms of energy. The renewable sources of energy such as solar energy, wind, geothermal heat and biomass among others are man’s solution to the rising costs of gasoline and impending threat of scarcity of the non renewable sources of energy. Because they are replenished naturally, there is no more danger of running out of sources of energy and at the same time, people can save money. One kind of renewable source of energy that has been useful to mankind is wind energy. There have been continuous efforts to utilize the power of the wind to generate electricity. Like many states, Massachusetts is an advocate of wind energy. Various programs have been initiated to maximize the /wind energy potential in MA/.

The /wind energy potential in MA/ is evident with its extensive energy resources either onshore or offshore.

Over the years, the use of wind energy has become popular among its residents as the state continues to support renewable energy providers. It also provides financial incentives to providers and consumers of electricity produced by renewable sources. Furthermore, the state also requires that twenty two percent of its electricity must come from renewable sources. Studies show that the hilltops, mountain ridges and outer coastal areas make up the /wind energy potential in MA/. The wind speed in Massachusetts is about fifty meters above the ground. This is ideal for the development of large wind turbines to generate electricity. Based on wind power classes with class seven as the highest, the wind energy in Massachusetts can be classified as class four – suitable for utility scale wind energy production. Efforts have also been made to put up small wind turbines for areas in Massachusetts with class three or lower wind power. During winter, these classes are further increased where some areas become class 5 up to class seven. This particular type of wind speed is perfect for the production of wind energy. The northern and southern part of Cape Cod, the shores of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard as well as the ridges of Berkshires in the western part of Massachusetts are examples of the /wind energy potential in MA/.

As more people become aware of the hazards of using non renewable sources of energy not only to one’s health but also to the environment, more states are campaigning for the exploration and utilization of renewable energy sources. Being renewable, it can be replenished naturally. Like any other state, the government has never stopped tapping the /wind energy potential in MA/. Laws for the use of electricity produced by renewable sources of energy are legislated. Programs such as financial incentives and tax credits are being implemented to encourage support to wind energy from consumers. The government also supports renewable energy providers by giving them incentives and supporting efforts in putting up various renewable energy power plants like solar farms and wind turbines. By using wind energy and other renewable energy sources, people can save money spent on electricity and at the same time protect the environment by reducing the pollutants coming from the non renewable energy sources.

www.napower.com/160783
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Wind Energy is the Way to Go

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Using Solar Wind Energy is the Way to Go

Article by Richard Baxter

Many people today have realized the dream of being completely off the grid by combining wind and solar energy. Small sized affordable wind generators are available today for the home user, and they are being combined with photovoltaic cells for power generation. It’s obvious that fossil fuel energy costs are going to keep on rising making it harder to afford getting power from the grid. The time is more than ripe for solar wind energy to be one of the solutions to rising energy costs, and to take us off of fossil fuel energy dependence.

Wind Turbines

Wind turbines are actually very simple machines. They consist of 3 parts: rotor blades, a shaft, and a generator. The rotor blades act like a propeller that turns the shaft when the wind flows through them. The shaft then turns the generator and a current is generated. About eighty-five percent of all off-grid systems use solar wind energy.

The new micro as well as mini wind turbines are very popular with sailors, and are now starting to be more popular with home owners in Europe and the UK. Mini turbines are very cost effective and will only cost about $ 1,500 to $ 2,500. They are perfect for generating electricity if you live off the grid in remote rural areas. It’s satisfying to think about having solar wind energy provide for all your energy needs and also knowing that you never have to depend on utility companies.

Photovoltaic Cells

The typical home solar power system consists mainly of these:

a)Photovoltaic Panels

b)Charge Controller Module

c)Batteries (optional)

d)Inverter

Photovoltaic panels convert sunlight into an electric current. The type of current generated by a photovoltaic panel array is DC or direct current. For this current to be usable in most common households, it has to be converted into AC or alternating current. That’s where the inverter comes in. It’s job is to convert DC into AC current.

Solar wind energy systems are also called hybrid energy systems because the use a combination of solar and wind power to generate electricity. The wind turbines are mostly used during the winter months (in the northern hemisphere) when the sun’s vertical rays are mostly directed toward the southern hemisphere, and days tend to be short and cloudy. During summer months, photovoltaic cells would supplement greatly along with the wind turbine.

By using hybrid solar wind energy systems, a homeowner has the option of using or omitting batteries for storage. Homeowners also have the choice of being “Grid-Tied” or “Net Metered”. This means that your solar wind energy system has the ability to provide electricity not only for your house, but the power company as well. This way, if your solar wind energy system generated more energy than was used, the energy can be sold back to the power company. When you’re selling energy back to the company, your power meter runs backward. The “net metered” system therefore is highly recommended. The grid also works as your “battery backup” when your hybrid solar wind energy system doesn’t provide for your power demands.

Net-metered systems are also recommended because they are easier to install, cost less, and offer better performance.

earthship.com Vertical Axis Windmill. Highly efficient. 4th generation of vertical axis windmills as researched and developed by Earthship Biotecture.

PEI and Wind Energy – a Perfect Fit?

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PEI and Wind Energy – a Perfect Fit?

Article by Vishal Dwivedi

PEI and wind energy certainly are a hand in glove fit as anyone who lives here will attest. Although put on hold due to the downturn in the economy, production of power on PEI, to be marketed on the northeastern US seaboard, will undoubtedly be “a go” in the future.

PEI has a definite plan in place to increase its own reliance on wind energy as well. Currently approximately 18% of electrical energy used in PEI is wind generated, however there are calls to increase this to 30% by 2013. That means that PEI will need to generate 500 megawatts of wind energy by that time. It is estimated that this represents a $ 1 billion capital expenditure with an economic spin-off worth $ 40 million per year.

The western tip of the island around Tignish/North Cape was the first area on PEI to see wind farm development. In 2001 an eight wind turbine farm was started and in 2003 it was doubled to include 16 wind turbines. This installation produced a little better than 60 Megawatts of energy, enough to power over 25,000 homes. The PEI Energy Corp, a provincially owned company, then added a second wind farm on the eastern end of the island to produce a further 30 megawatts of wind power.

In addition to these public installations, private companies from Europe, where wind energy is well developed have expressed interest in PEI real estate as a site for further wind energy sites. As well, private individuals on the island are beginning to think in terms of erecting turbines on their properties to produce power for their own homes as well as supplying Maritime Electric, the island’s power company, with surplus power during peak periods. Cities have shown an interest as well. Stratford has indicated an interest in adding a wind generator to supply power to public buildings.

With all this interest PEI can expect economic spinoffs in terms of both increased taxes and increased jobs during construction. PEI is a rural province, the smallest of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories, with a full-time population of around 140,000. There is both a public and political desire to protect the environment.

However there will be challenges to face. Wind farms have been proposed in areas where residents have protested strongly against “having wind turbines in their back yards”. Even if wind farms are relegated to the tips of the island, PEI real estate is populated such that most land is private and the population is spread out evenly over the island; there are few areas that aren’t populated. Even if wind farms are constructed away from denser population areas there is then the problem of high energy transmissions lines. These are of course not problems unique to PEI. Wind energy critics point to problems with energy storage and on-demand need versus wind production issues. It has been suggested that surplus wind energy be converted to hydrogen. However in the foreseeable future it would appear that US markets would be able to use any surplus power PEI would produce.

In a world where the demand for power is ever increasing, PEI is blessed with the potential as a power producer thanks to the island being subject to considerable winds. Hopefully that which is a problem in winter, with storms, created by snowfall blown around by wind, can be turned to our advantage.

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The Basics Of Wind Energy

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The Basics Of Wind Energy

 

To start with, wind energy is actually considered to be a form of solar power. This is because wind is created by the heating of the atmosphere in an uneven manner. This heat of course is created by the sun and when the air and the earth are at different temperatures, as well as how the earth rotates, wind is created. How the wind patterns change are based on the terrain, bodies of water and coverage on the earth too. The wind that is created can than be turned in to energy by wind turbines. The wind turbines are what create the wind energy. There is kinetic energy in the wind, that the wind turbines convert to electricity. The energy generated can be used for a multitude of uses, such as on a smaller scale pumping water or running a small vehicle. On a larger scale the wind power can generate enough electricity to run entire neighborhoods or businesses.

The wind turbines have blades on the front that turn as the air moves by them. This movement is what creates the electric generator power that goes to the electric current. The wind turbine uses the wind to make the power. The blades are on a shaft and they are connected to a generator inside the turbine that makes the energy. There are two different types of wind turbines. There is the horizontal axis and the vertical axis turbines. The horizontal turbines are similar to what the old windmills looked like and are usually used for smaller tasks, such as the pumping of water. The vertical axis turbines are similar to an egg beater. However, the horizontal axis turbines are more common and can perform larger jobs too. The horizontal turbines have a rotor that turns the wind to energy, a drive train with a gearbox and generator, a tower that the rotors are on and the drive train is there too and there is the other electrical equipment in the turbine, such as cables, ground support and controls.

Typically wind turbines will be found in groups in a wind power plant. These are sometimes also called wind farms and they create bulk amounts of power. The electricity that the turbines generate goes into a grid that is used to send to customers, such as homes, businesses and schools. The turbines on these farms come in many different sizes, depending on the farm size too. There are turbines that stand 20 stories high and have blades as long as football fields and these can power multiple homes, neighborhoods and businesses. On the smaller side, there are home use turbines that are only 30 feet high and have blades that are 25 feet in diameter. These can power a small home or small business. The large turbines are 50 to 750 kilowatts, while the small turbines are 50 kilowatts or less.

There are many areas in the country that do use wind energy. There are different levels of wind and energy, depending on the wind speed.

 

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