Wind energy is fast becoming the most sought after and widely used renewable energy today. This is due to the fact that people have fully seen the advantages and disadvantages of wind energy especially in places like the United States and Europe. In 2005 alone, wind energy was able to produce power by as much as 18 to 27 percent more.
These are some of the advantages and disadvantages of the wind energy:
Advantages
1. This energy is the most inexpensive renewable energy source around. The power that it produces only costs around 4 to 6 cents per kilowatt-hour.
2. It is fueled by the wind, so it’s a clean fuel source. Needless to say, it doesn’t produce any pollution like power plants do. Power plants depend on the combustion of fossil fuels which can pollute the air.
3. Windmill generators don’t give off atmospheric emissions that can cause acid rain and greenhouse effect.
4. As wind turbines are usually constructed on ranches and farms, these places benefit most from them. Farm owners get rent payment from the power plant owners and at the same time, these farmers can continue to work on their property since these turbines only use a portion of the land.
5. It can’t be expended because it mainly depends on a renewable power source. Actually, wind is brought about by the rotary motion of the earth, the heating of the atmosphere by the sun, and the irregularities of the earth’s surface. Therefore, we can safely say that the wind is a sort of solar energy.
Disadvantages
1. The main hindrance of using these turbines to generate power is that the wind is erratic and it doesn’t always come at the time when electricity is needed. In other words, sometimes wind can’t be trusted in times of electricity demands.
2. Even though wind power plants cause fewer environmental problems compared to other conventional power plants, there is some issue over the noise coming from its rotor blades, and at times, birds flying directly into the rotors have been killed.
3. Windmill power must contend with established generation sources on a cost basis. The wind farm may or may not be useful, depending on how energetic a wind site is. Even though the cost of its setup decreased in the last 10 years, it still needs higher funding than the fossil-fueled generators.
4. The sites which are most ideal for wind power set up are always situated in distant areas that are very far from the cities where the electricity is required. And this fact only adds to the cost of the electricity transfer.
As people all over the world are coming to terms with the advantages and disadvantages of wind energy, they continue to develop and improve upon this technology. And because of this, people can look forward to seeing more wind farms being set up throughout the world.
You can also learn about solar power by visiting here: How Does Solar Energy Work
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