In today’s day and age, we are constantly striving to find out the best way to power homes without damaging the environment further than humans already have.
Wind energy is just one topic of renewable energy that many people are talking about daily to see if wind energy is renewable and cost-effective to put into mainstream power operations.
Today, we look at how renewable wind energy truly is and some of its upsides and downsides of it.
How renewable is Wind Energy?
Without going into the science of how the wind is formed, the wind is a somewhat unlimited resource that can be utilized to spin wind turbines, further generating energy.
With that being said, wind energy is a renewable type of energy that on some days will generate more or less than other days.
Wind energy relies on the sun’s power to cause atmospheric imbalances to create wind and thus turn the turbines to generate power.
With that being said, every time you wake up on a morning and the sky is light, signifying daytime – means that the sun is up and the wind is blowing somewhere close by.
Although wind energy does have some disadvantages, which we will cover shortly, there are many more remarkable aspects to wind energy than a lot of people.
Wind energy is close by with tidal and solar energy, in terms of their renewability as they are always being powered.
Wind energy has genuinely only just started work.
Officially, wind energy has been around for a very long time, and was being developed roughly at the same time as tidal energy but has had far fewer revolutionary design re-works, allowing for more energy to be made or a more optimal way of harvesting the energy.
Wind energy is still quite essential compared to other renewable sources such as solar or even tidal power.
Still, in the coming years, we believe that more optimization and funding will make wind energy far better than other renewable energy sources.
How Does Wind Energy Work?
If you’ve ever visited the coast or have seen some giant windmills/turbines that are spinning in a specific direction, these are the main reasons we can have wind power.
These turbines are often tall, and massive structures consisting of 3-4 wings use the wind to rotate, further generating energy.
The most common places you expect to see wind turbines are often on the coast (where the wind is usually relatively high/consistent) or on more elevated parts of the land where wind can also be at its strongest.
The stronger the wind, the more power the turbines can generate as they can spin faster.
If the wind is too strong, turbines often have to be disabled or “limited” where brakes are applied to avoid the turbine spinning too fast and cause power issues and or hardware issues with the turbines.
What are some of the advantages of Wind Energy?
As wind power is something that many major energy companies have looked into, wind energy and power are being developed better than ever before.
With this being said, today, there are still many advantages to Wind Energy.
- It can be quite cost-effective
- Wind power is quite cost-effective. Although, admittedly, wind turbines can be quite costly to install and set up initially, you are getting a lot more energy for your buck. Although you may be taxed on this energy, it’s a lot cheaper to get into your property, enabling a more cost-effective and long-term solution without needing to worry about rising energy costs.
- Wind Energy Turbines can Be Placed Easily .
- Another great advantage of this green machine is that it can be placed anywhere. When we say anyway, it’s not truly “anywhere,” but most lands in the US and UK can plant a wind turbine if the adequate wind is supplied. Ranches, farms are the most common land-placed wind turbines as they don’t need much permission or planning.
The process is a long one, but installation can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on the size and accessibility of the turbine location.
- A source of infinite power
- As we mentioned above, the wind is very sustainable. The wind is almost limitless when it comes to its renewability. Truly powered by solar, winds are caused by heating the earth’s atmosphere and irregularities on the earth’s surface. This being said, as long as there is a sun in the sky, there will always be wind making wind energy one of the most renewable types of energy there is out there.
What are some of the negatives of Wind Energy?
Although wind energy is very renewable and one of the best forms of energy, it has a few side effects.
- Turbine Placement isn’t always ideal.
- Although turbines, in theory, can be placed anywhere, the places where they can’t be placed are major cities, or at least not effectively. This means that the areas that need renewable energy the most will not be able to get the most substantial effect from wind energy as they are often too built-up and or far away from remote areas where the turbines are placed.
- May not be profitable/worthwhile for landowners.
- With wind energy, something else to consider is that they can be quite expensive to place as we know but may not even be as profitable for landowners. The land is quite costly in many places as it can be used for building work and farming/agricultural use.
Depending on the level of wind that a turbine receives, even though it might be a green and ethical solution, many businesses have to accept the fact that their land is worth more and may generate more profitability than a wind turbine would ever, and so is another reason people may frown upon wind energy.
- Can be disruptive to Wildlife
- Wind turbines can also disrupt Wildlife. Although a negative thought, wind turbines often spin very fast when looking up and close at it. When birds are flying, they’re not the smartest of animals and can often fly into these turbines if not looking where they are flying.
This is already being resolved by scientific analysis to see where birds flight paths are usually and calculate the best place and position to spin the blades of a turbine.
- Can be disruptive to People
- Another side-effect of Wind energy is that it can be pretty annoying. We mean this in the way that they are often noisy and can ruin some people’s aesthetical view on a town, city, or countryside view. To most people, they can overlook this, but many people do love to visit specific places to enjoy the view – and this isn’t usually with several wind turbines in it.
With this being said, noise issues are being combated every day with new ideas, blade-enhancements, and slower rotation speeds (that generate more energy); we believe that the sound issue will not be a significant issue for much longer. Sorry people who love their views – renewable energy is here!
Conclusion
Overall, from what we’ve outlined above – Wind energy is very renewable but does have its setbacks in current times.
We believe in the next 5-10 years, our coasts will be lined with wind turbines that will power a good chunk of the country and maybe even pave the way for a completely green future.
