Wind Energy and its Economic Viability
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by: terence
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Word Count: 496
In the search for available alternative sources of energy scientists of many countries are paying a lot of attention to wind energy. Wind has served the mankind for thousands of years, providing energy for ships and mills. Nowadays wind can be a very important means of producing green energy. For example, in Denmark wind power covers about 2% of the electricity needs of the country. In the United States on several wind farms, about 17 thousand wind turbines are working with a total capacity of almost 2,000 megawatts.
Wind generators are produced not only in the United States and Denmark - Great Britain, Germany Canada, Japan and some other countries are implementing the wind energy technology too.
In order to make wind power economically justifiable, it is necessary that the average wind speed in the area is at least 6 meters per second. It is more viable to build wind generators near the sea or on the banks of large lakes. In the era of high energy prices wind energy can be considered to be competitive in price and to be able to help meeting the energy needs of a country.
We must draw attention to the fact that when the wind speed is 33 km/hr increasing the length of the propeller’s wing by 4 times, we can increase the energy output by 16 times. That’s why many countries are concentrating on building large-scale wind generators. Also the wind speed is a very important issue. A wind speed of 50 kilometers per hour provides electricity to 26 times more than the wind at a speed of 17 kilometers per hour. That's why engineers tend to favor large generators and are trying to intercept the wind at high altitude.
Most of the major wind turbines that are built or already existing, are designed to work with wind speeds of 17-58 kilometers per hour. Wind speeds of less than 17 kilometers per hour provides little useful energy, and speeds over 58 km per hour can damage the generator.
The main problem in the construction of wind generators is present due to necessity for the interception of wind energy at high altitudes. A high mast is required to capture a high-speed wind. The masthas to be made of a solid structure.
Another problem of the wind farms is that in times of no wind, the area needs a covering system to provide alternative energy
Adverse factors
Wind is definitely a source of green energy. Wind turbines do not consume fuel, they do not provide air or water pollution. However, wind farms account for noise pollution and they are considered to have a visual impact on the coastal panorama. Wind generators can hinder TV signal reception within the distance to 1.6 km.
Wind energy should be looked at as an alternative means of producing electricity. It provides green energy but cannot serve the planet without using other kinds of energy production.
About the Author
Terence Green is an environmental activist campaigning about green energy development. Learn more about corn energy and support the environmental article directory by submitting your own thoughts and publishing the materials on your sites for other people's consideration.
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