Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into more useful forms, such as electricity, using wind turbines.
At the end of 2006, worldwide capacity of wind-powered generators was 73.9 gigawatts; although it currently produces just over 1% of world-wide electricity use, it accounts for approximately 20% of electricity use in Denmark, 9% in Spain, and 7% in Germany.Globally, wind power generation more than quadrupled between 2000 and 2006.
Most modern wind power is generated in the form of electricity by converting the rotation of turbine blades into electrical current by means of an electrical generator.
In windmills (a much older technology), wind energy is used to turn mechanical machinery to do physical work, such as crushing grain or pumping water.
Wind power is used in large scale wind farms for national electrical grids as well as in small individual turbines for providing electricity to rural residences or grid-isolated locations.
Wind energy is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean, and reduces toxic atmospheric and greenhouse gas emissions if used to replace fossil-fuel-derived electricity.
The intermittency of wind seldom creates problems when using wind power at low to moderate penetration levels.
There are many thousands of wind turbines operating, with a total capacity of 73,904 MW of which Europe accounts for 65% (2006).
The average output of one megawatt of wind power is equivalent to the average electricity consumption of about 250 American households.
Wind power was the most rapidly-growing means of alternative electricity generation at the turn of the century and world wind generation capacity more than quadrupled between 1999 and 2005.
There is an estimated 50 to 100 times more wind energy than plant biomass energy available on Earth.
Most of this wind energy can be found at high altitudes where continuous wind speeds of over 160 km/h (100 mph) occur.
Eventually, the wind energy is converted through friction into diffuse heat throughout the Earth's surface and the atmosphere.
Large-scale onshore and near-shore wind energy facilities (wind farms) can be controversial due to aesthetic reasons and impact on the local environment.
It should be noted, however, that onshore and near-shore studies show that the number of birds killed by wind turbines is negligible compared to the number that die as a result of other human activities such as traffic, hunting, power lines and high-rise buildings and especially the environmental impacts of using non-clean power sources.
Wind power could become one of the greenest alternative energy resources we have, but only if replacement and recycling of windturbines is taken into account in assessing their environmental impact, say researchers. The removal and recycling phase of wind turbines has been identified as a blind spot in assessing their overall environmental impact.
The development of wind power promises much in terms of providing us with renewable energy for the future and wind turbines could be the most effective way to harness that power.
Danish researchers now suggest that in order to assess the overall environmental impact of wind power, however, the finite lifespan of wind turbines and the need to replace and recycle them must be taken into account. Such an assessment will help policy makers and the industry to develop the green credentials of wind power more effectively.
Writing recently in the Inderscience publication, International Journal of Technology, Policy and Management, the researchers describe a prospective case study for managing environmental aspects of wind turbines. Their suggested plan for assessing the overall impact of installing and operating wind turbines should be adopted by the industry and policy makers, they say.
Wind turbines are one of the most environmentally sound technologies for producing electricity, explain the researchers. However, the removal and recycling phase of wind turbines has been identified as a blind spot in assessing their overall environmental impact. Most studies have ignored this phase and focused entirely on their operation and in some cases the production and installation of wind turbines.
Foresight and innovation analysts Per Dannemand Andersen and Mads Borup working with wind energy expert Thomas Krogh have devised a method for mapping and mitigating the negative environmental impacts of wind turbines which considers the future removal and recycling of offshore wind turbines up to the year 2050. By combining life-cycle assessment and taking into account future developments in this area of renewable energy, the team hopes that the wind power industry will be able to minimize any potential negative impact of their use.
"Because the wind-turbine industry is relatively young, there is only a limited amount of practical experience on the removal and recycling of wind turbines," Dannemand Andersen says, "It is likely to take more than 20 years before a substantial amount of practical experience regarding the dismantling, separation, recycling, disposal, etc., of wind-power systems is gained."
The present study has developed an interactive and process-oriented method for investigating the environmental impact of wind turbines removal and recycling. The team hopes that the industry will adopt their approach and so find ways to reduce any negative impacts of wind power.
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