Energy comparison: wind turbines

Hello,

Finally, we are back with another energy comparison. Today we're looking at wind turbines. Wind power is a fast-growing renewable energy source. In the US, the wind power industry currently employs 120 000 people across all 50 states. It could grow to employ hundreds of thousands of people by 2050. 9% of the electricity in the US in 2021 came from wind turbines, that’s 136 000 megawatts. The wind power industry saves 329 million metric tons of carbon dioxide every year.

General knowledge and categorisation

We should probably start off by clarifying how wind turbines actually work and what types there are. I’m not going to give an in-depth description of how wind turbines work because I don’t want this post to turn into a physics lesson. To put it very simply, the wind turns the blades, which turns the rotor. The rotor then turns the generator, which converts the kinetic energy (movement) into electricity. There are obviously a lot more parts involved (up to 8000 of them) but this is the main idea.

There are two different types of wind turbines. Horizontal-axis turbines are the wind turbines that most people thought of when they saw the title of this post. Horizontal-axis turbines mostly have three blades that are about 60 metres long, and the turbine always turns to face the wind (upwind) to maximise electricity production. The second type of wind turbine is less commonly known. Vertical-axis turbines look quite different to horizontal-axis turbines. There are several designs. The main difference to their more common counterpart is the fact that they don’t turn to face the wind: it doesn’t matter what direction the wind is coming from.

Wind turbines can also be categorised into where they are installed. Land-based wind turbines normally range from 100 kilowatts to multiple megawatts. They can normally be found in wind plants made up of dozens of land-based wind turbines. Offshore wind turbines are out at sea. They make use of the incredibly strong ocean winds to produce large amounts of electricity. They are also very tall, often taller than the Statue of Liberty. The last category is distributed wind. This includes all set-ups that are close to where the power is then used. Small wind turbines, normally under 100 kilowatts, are installed in residential, agricultural and small commercial areas. They can also be used as part of hybrid energy systems, where they are combined with other energy sources such as solar, coal or water. These hybrid systems can typically be found in off-grid locations, so areas that aren’t connected to the national power grid.

Advantages

Wind is created by the sun warming the earth, the earth’s uneven landscape and the rotation of the earth. None of these factors are going to change any time soon, making wind an unending resource. It is definitely renewable. Wind turbines do not cause air pollution and do not need fuel, making them less damaging to the environment than fossil fuels, like coal and oil. Wind power is also cost-efficient, and its price isn’t as high as that of other energy sources.

Disadvantages

The sites with the most wind are often in remote places. Getting a construction team and all the needed materials out there and sending the gained electricity back can quickly become very expensive. They are also dangerous for birds. However, according to this article in a German newspaper, there are 10 000 - 100 000 deaths caused by wind turbines and 70 million deaths caused by cars annually. Most worryingly, the infrasound produced by the wind turbines has been theorised to cause health problems. This is still being studied and researched. Wind is also highly variable, meaning that the energy produced can flucatute massively in a matter of seconds if the wind also changes. This puts a strain on the power grid.

Conclusion

Wind turbines are a game changer when it comes to the shift to renewable energy sources. They provide hundreds of thousands of people with jobs. However, the infrasound theory should be thoroughly researched and hopefully proved wrong to avoid any unnecessary harm to the population.

We hope you enjoyed this post and see you next week.
Your Green World Blog Team💚

Sources:
https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/advantages-and-challenges-wind-energy
https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/wind-energy-basics
https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/how-do-wind-turbines-work
https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/articles/top-10-things-you-didnt-know-about-wind-power
https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/politik/windkraft-deutschland-energiewende-grafik-100.html
https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/sites/default/files/medien/1968/publikationen/161128_uba_position_windenergiegesundheit.pdf
https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-materials-are-used-make-wind-turbines
https://www.energysage.com/about-clean-energy/wind/pros-cons-wind-energy/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/09/230919154844.htm

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