The Dream of Wind Power Becoming a Reality Essay -- Wind Power Essays

The Dream of Wind Power Becoming a Reality The United States and all of the industrialized nations were built and are currently sustained by the burning of millions of tons of fossil fuels. This method of producing power has had disastrous consequences on human beings and our environment, which include air pollution, global warming and acid rain. Ever since the realization of these consequences people all over the world have been searching for alternative energy sources that are clean and sustainable. One of these new alternative forms of power is actually an old technology reinvented, wind power. Until recently wind power was seen as a renewable resource that could work on a small scale to cut down energy costs, but which could never replace fossil fuels because there were too many obstacles to its implementation on a large scale. This paper will discuss the many ways that wind power has been improved in the past few decades, which today makes it a viable energy option. One of the main problems wind power was forced to deal with early on was efficiency issues both with the design of the wind turbines. The blades of a wind turbine have gone through many design changes over the past decades which are all aimed at increasing there ability to maximize rotation from just a little wind speed. Today's wind turbines mainly feature long thin blades with only one horizontal piece as opposed to the old wind turbines which had multiple blades and were usually much thicker. The general progression has been towards lighter, stronger materials usually composites, which allow the blades to rotate quickly and easily maximizing power conversion, but with standing high wind speeds (National Wind Technology Center). The progression in techn... ...see wind energy and other renewable resources nearly replace fossil fuel use in our lifetimes. Works Cited Anderson, Ian. 1997. â€Å"Blowing Hot.† New Scientist. 22. Anonymous. 1999. â€Å"MPS Review: Wind Power; The Future of Wind is Growing Larger.† Modern Power System. 20. Anonymous. 1998. â€Å"It’s an ill wind that blows no good.† Design Week. 20-21. Moore, Taylor. Winter 1999. â€Å"Wind Power: Gaining Momentum.† EPRI Journal. 24: 8+. National Wind Technology Center, 2001. â€Å"Wind Turbine Research.† http://www.nrel.gov/wind/index.html (Oct. 12, 2001). National Wind Technology Center, 2001. â€Å"Wind In a Minute.† http://www.nrel.gov/wind/index.html (Oct. 12, 2001). National Wind Technology Center, 2001. â€Å"Wind Resource Database.† http://www.nrel.gov/wind/index.html (Oct. 12, 2001). Sample, Ian. 2000. â€Å"Hidden Power.† New Scientist. 166:14.