Why does the wind blow? Sounds like a trick question, and unless you are a meteorologist or majored in geography in college you might have to “google” the question to be sure. Well I’ll save you the time of opening up another tab in your browser. Here is the short version: wind is an indirect form of solar energy. As the sun’s rays reach the earth some parts are heated directly while other areas do not receive direct sunlight, creating colder climates near the poles. As we all know warm air rises and cold air replaces it. It is this movement of air that makes the wind blow.
Civilizations have been using this indirect source of solar energy for quite some time. Windmills use the kinetic energy of the wind to spin allowing communities to mill grain and pump water.
In the 1920s rural farmers adopted the wind turbine, on a much smaller scale than we are accustomed to today. These turbines served basic electrical needs and to power small radios. However, their use disappeared once electrical lines reached these far off rural areas. It is no surprise that today Europe is the leading generator of wind energy, approximately, ¾ of the world’s total.
Some advantages of wind power are not only that it is a clean, alternative, and renewable energy but it also takes up little space and can share land with other productive activities such as agriculture. Or better yet installing wind turbines in back yards. According to the American Wind Energy Association for a turbine to be financially rewarding average wind speeds need to be around 10 mph with utility power costs at least 10 cents per kilowatt. This last point might be the greatest downside to wind energy. The wind has to be strong enough to make the turbine spin and produce enough energy.
The IESO of Ontario, Canada has realized this obstacle and in 2010 plans to launch a wind forecasting service to help wind providers optimize potential wind energy. Centralized wind forecasting helps to improve forecast accuracy and consistency to make the power system more reliable (Reuters). The variability of nature is tricky yet forecasting systems like these can help maximize wind energy and meet potential needs.
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