Using Wind Power as an Alternative Energy

Using Wind Power as an Alternative Energy

Energy is the ability to do work. It surrounds us in all aspect of life. However, the ability to harness it and use it, as economically as possible, is the challenge before mankind. Alternative energy refers to energy sources, which are not based on the burning of fossil fuels or the splitting of atoms. The renewed interest in this field of study comes from the undesirable effects of pollution both from burning fossil fuels and nuclear waste by products. Fortunately, there are many means of harnessing energy that have less damaging impacts on the environment. One example wind power. Wind energy is a clean and renewable source of electric power and is also the world's fastest growing energy source.

More then five thousands years ago, the Egyptians used the wind to sail ships on the Nile. Later, people built the first turbines and used the wind to grind grain. These machines looked like paddle wheels and were used in Persia as early as 200 BC. By the fourteenth century, the Dutch had taken the lead in improving the design of windmills. They invented propeller type blades and used wind power to drain the marshes and lakes of the Rhone River delta. In America, Early European settlers used windmills to grind wheat and corn, to pump water, and to cut wood at sawmills. By the early twentieth century, small windmills were used for pumping water and electric power generation in Europe, the United States, Africa, and elsewhere. In addition to thousand of small wind electric generators, a few larger systems were built in North America and Europe.

In the 1970's, the increase in oil and fossil fuel prices helped wind power return as an economical alternative energy source. Governments all aroun...

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Wind power has an expansive future according to experts. In the 1990's wind energy was the fastest growing source of electricity in the world. However, the majority of this growth has been in Europe. This is where government policies and high conventional energy costs favor the use of wind energy. The U.S. Department of energy recently announced that it hopes to power at least 5% of the nation's electricity with wind by 2020. The department also wants to increase federal use of wind energy to 5% by 2010.

Although the world may never be able to fulfill all of its energy needs through renewable energy sources, it is a goal worth trying to achieve. And people are working toward that goal. Many advances in the field of wind generated power have been made in recent years, and research efforts continue to press forward on numerous other alternative energy fronts.