The Future Of Wind Power

The future of wind power is looking promising. This abundant energy source delivers some of the most cleanly produced energy that exists. Not only is this energy source great for our environment but also a very cost competitive source for electrical power. The price for fossil fuel derived energy must not be viewed with only the current price tag in mind. The actual cost is much higher when damage to our environment such as pollution is taken into consideration, as a matter of fact the cost is unknown, but rest assure it is high in the long run.

The technology developments been made have already enabled wind power commercialization. Wind power is ready for commercialization, technology is now mature enough. Of course, improvements of existing technology along with further development will go on forever. The advantages with wind power are so many that full commercialization is eventually inevitable.

Wind Energy, Potential in Many Ways

Development of wind energy not only lessens the impact on the environment, it also carries economic benefits such as jobs, business creation and reduces the reliance of imported energy. So it’s a win-win situation for the countries whose energy efforts are directed towards wind energy. Several studies have recognized that wind power brings more jobs per dollar invested or per kilowatt-hour generated, than most conventional resource alternatives.

In addition to its economic benefits, wind energy receives the benefit of public support. There are a number of very obvious reasons to this and information has brought humans awareness. It produces no hazardous waste or pollution which in turn preserves our wildlife, plants and do not cause major changes in climate. In a broad range of studies, wind energy is increasing in popularity with consumers, many of whom are willing to pay for renewable electricity.

Some advantages that speaks for a strong future:

• increasingly competitive prices
• growing environmental concerns
• reduces our high dependency on foreign energy sources
• Creates job opportunities
• Preserves wildlife, plants
• No output of hazardous waste or pollution

There will of course be challenges along the way; some of them are already here. These have a tendency of slowing down expansion and utilization.

Some of the challenges:

• increased steel costs due to high demand
• Not in my backyard issues, i.e. people don’t want have them to close
• Warranty issues
• Concerns about animals colliding with these high towers

All in all the future seems to be bright and something must be done to preserve our planet; wind power is a good contributor to a better environment.

Renewable power sources contribute roughly about 29% of energy used worldwide. Using sustainable resources for mass production of electricity is now more commonplace, due to the environmental consequences usage of fossil fuel derivate energy brings. To expand usage of clean energy technologies, it is promoted by countries and organizations worldwide through tax incentives and subsidies.

Our most powerful energy resource is the sun. Most forms of sustainable energy is in some way produced by the sun, e.g. its heat contributes to the growth of plants and trees that are used in production of biomass energy and it also plays an important role in producing wind which we can utilize with help of wind power technology. By using solar power technology to capture radiation with photovoltaic panels, we can create electricity; sunlight is also a large contributor in making hydropower possible.

Another great energy resource is geothermal energy that is acquired by using heat from inside the earth itself. This energy derives from the radioactive decay in the core of earth, which heats the earth from inside out.

Ocean Power

The ocean supplies us with several sustainable energy resources, and each one is driven by different forces. Not comparatively cost-effective at the present but as ocean power technology evolves the ocean could become a big player in the energy game by bringing us electricity from the waves, tides and the heat stored in sea water which can also be converted to electricity. This makes the ocean an important potential energy source for the future.

Ocean power is often divided into two classes, wave power that uses floats to extract mechanical energy from the motion of the waves and tidal power that uses dams to draw energy from the changes in water height due to the tides.

Hydrogen

This source has an enormous potential, both as a fuel and energy resource. Hydrogen power is not ready for full commercialization as the technology to bring to fruition the extraordinary potential is still in its early stages. Hydrogen is the most common element on earth, e.g. water consists of two-thirds hydrogen. The process of separating it out is very complex.

Largest Green Association

A wide variety of different renewable energy associations exist throughout the world. The German Wind Energy Association (BWE) is the biggest renewable power association in the world; they claim their wind energy installations to be the most successful of all the renewals. Argument instead of polemic convincing through facts, this is the credo of the BWE.