Wind Power Pros and Cons

The world has fallen into a deep energy crisis and as of 2010, scientists have started to hunt for renewable energy resources even more desperately, due to the fact that human civilization is becoming increasingly dependent on electricity. Wind is a renewable and natural source of energy that is being fast brought into use. Wind energy has been used by mankind for the past few centuries as an effective source to power to do work. Two prominent examples are of sail ships and windmills that acted as flour mills.

The concept of using wind energy is thus not new, but of recent specialized knowledge and research is being used to put into effect the power of wind to generate electricity. Human knowledge regarding the direction of wind and its kinetic energy has increased drastically and today, windmills are placed onshore as well as offshore, to generate electricity from the northeasterly trade winds, southeasterly trade winds and westerlies. There are also many windmills which are in use that produce energy with the help of several regional and seasonal winds. Moving on to wind power pros and cons.

Pros and Cons of Wind Power

There are several wind power pros and cons, some of which have been described in the following paragraphs. You might notice questions such as 'how wind power works', or 'what is wind energy' or 'what are the merits and demerits of wind power' on many forums, the elaboration about wind power pros and cons will give you the answers to these queries.

Pros of Wind Power

The first and foremost advantage of wind power is that it is free and unconventional energy source that is renewable and never ending. Winds are produced by the differences in atmospheric pressures. These differences are caused as a result of the sun's heat on the atmosphere. Thus, this process is bound to continue till the existence of the sun. The second prominent advantage is that the windmill will keep on turning round the clock. Thus, unlike the solar cells the wind power can be harvested even at night.

The technology that is involved in harnessing the wind energy is quite simple and straight forward. Simple elements of physics and a dynamo is all that is needed to make a windmill. There are a considerable number of makeshift windmills that are in operation. Thus, intense technological know-how is not an absolute necessity and crude devices can also be used. Companies such as Gamesa Corporación Tecnológica, Suzlon and Vestas, have come up with very good designs for the mills, that generate several Watts of energy every day. The design is basic and simple, which makes the whole deal quite economical. Thus, it can be concluded that the investment that is required is quite less, as compared to other energy production avenues. Some projects such as Pickens Plan in the United States plan on utilizing some intricate techniques to set up wind farms in locations that have the maximum wind force in order to harvest energy. Windmills, which are termed as offshore windmills have been set up right in the middle of the sea, in order to exploit the huge open space and a monstrous wind force. Horns Rev II project that has been set up near Denmark is a wind farm which probably has the highest capacity of 209 Megawatts.

Last but not the least, the wind power that is harnessed is a great alternative fuel to fossil fuel. Urban and rural power supply that is usually generated by natural gas can be easily switched to power supply by windmills. Overall, the wind power is a savior of mankind from global warming, pollution and energy crisis.

Cons of Wind Power

Apart from the above advantages, there are some disadvantages of wind power. The only technical disadvantage of wind power is that the operation of the turbine depends upon the speed and force of the wind. A gloomy force makes the turbine turn more slowly and thereby produces less energy. In contrast, a storm force gives a higher energy output. The wind energy thus derived, is fluctuating and a mechanism has to be installed in order to make the supply constant and consumable. The cost of this machinery is quite high and a considerable research and development is required.

The second genuine disadvantage that is observed is that birds often get killed by the wind turbines and the wings of the windmill. This might prove to be quite dangerous and an invasion of their air space. Bird watchers and wildlife experts have also expressed concerns over this phenomenon as rare migratory birds often fall victim to such turbines. A simple via media that has been suggested is, painting the wings of the turbine, in flashy colors such as red, which gives the three wings an appearance of being a huge circular solid object.

The last con that can be pointed out is that modern windmills that generate huge volumes of electricity are to be oiled. These lubrication oils are quite expensive and in some cases, the cost incurred has been outrageous. There are other negligible disadvantages such as an ever sore appearance or difficulty in transportation of windmills from factory to installation site, etc. Such problems however, can be easily solved with well thought solutions.

Irrespective of the wind power pros and cons, there are a considerable number of long term advantages of developing such a technology. Many European nations have slowly started opting for the offshore wind power generation facilities as an initiative against global warming. I hope that the elaboration of the wind power pros and cons has been resourceful.