Advantages of Wind Power

With ongoing depletion of natural resources (like coal and fossils), that were used as fuel until now, comes a realization that these fuel resources need to be conserved for the future generations. And so, man resorted to alternate energy sources, one of them being the wind power. The good news about this energy resource is that it is abundant and is renewable, unlike coal and fossil fuels, which are non renewable by nature..

Advantages of Wind Energy

While we discuss the advantages of wind power, the first thing that comes to the mind is, wind is free! Yes, and abundant too! Today, windmills and turbines are used for capturing the wind effectively to generate energy. But before we understand more on wind power advantages, let's briefly discuss, how these wind turbines generate electricity?

Now, wind is a moving source of energy which is caused by the uneven heating of atmosphere, rotation of the earth and the irregularities of the earth's surface. The wind flow patterns are designed by terrains, vegetation and water bodies. Hence, the mechanical energy of the wind can be captured to convert it into electrical energy. This is where the wind turbines come into picture. So how does a wind turbine operate? It has huge blades that rotate at a high speed due to high intensity of the winds. This is the reason as to why these wind turbines are located in isolated and windy lands, where there is more vegetation and less structures (like buildings). When these blades rotate, the mechanical energy of the wind that is captured is transmitted to the generator of the wind turbine, where the electricity is generated. Precisely, one could say, a wind turbine operates exactly the opposite way to that of a ceiling fan (where the electrical energy is converted to mechanical energy).

Advantages

• A wind turbine which is made for capturing wind energy, needs little land to be built. The rest of the land can be effectively used for agricultural purposes.
• These turbines produce energy which does not contain any pollutants or green house gases. Hence there is no radioactive waste, thereby making this method of generating electricity, environment friendly.
• One of the major advantages of using wind power is that this method does not use any of the non renewable resources for generating electricity, thereby assisting in conservation of energy.
• In remote places, wind turbines are a blessing and wind power benefits are availed to maximum. Yes, I am talking about the places which do not have access to electricity power grid. Such areas use wind turbines to generate electricity, to meet their needs on a self-reliant basis.
• To produce a steady and reliable supply of electricity, wind energy is often combined with solar energy with help of advanced technology and this is one of the major wind power advantages. In developing nations, wind farms are a boon as both the solar energy and wind are free and abundant too!

Disadvantages

• Every man-made machine has its set of advantages and shortcomings. And for wind turbines, the major disadvantage is the risk of getting damaged during thunderstorms, because of their tall and thin structure. As per the National Lightning Safety Institute (NLSI), the wind turbines also get damaged due to sudden bursts of lightning. This problem has been most observed in tropical regions of the world.
• Birds that fly at great heights, often get killed when they accidentally get cut by the rotating massive blades. However this disadvantage is just unavoidable.
• Also the electricity produced by wind power is lot less than what is generated by other renewable energy sources of energy like coal or fossil fuels. Therefore, a huge landscape is needed for constructing multiple wind turbines to generate the electricity that is required.
• Then there is a major dependency on the wind velocity, which could be high on some days and quite low on other days. Hence, power generated may not be the same on all days. Solar power and geothermal power are good alternatives in such regions.
• Wind turbines are also responsible for the amount of noise pollution they create, specially when the wind velocity is low. The noise is much similar to the one created by a small jet engine. People living within a few hundred meters of a turbine suffer from the high decibel levels which are perilous to health.

Although these disadvantages cannot be ignored, the advantages of wind power weigh far more, when thought of in the long run. For kids, this subject ought to be very interesting and will be even more, if they are taken to a wind farm and are explained the working of a wind turbine with a small demonstration. Kids can also refer to wind power facts on our website, which sure has some riveting piece of information to share with. Wind power advantages are being availed in many developing nations on a large-scale. And with technological advancements, this alternative fuel source may become the most sought after, in near future.