There are several different types of wind energy. At its most fundamental wind is really a form of solar energy as wind is formed from the warming of the earths surface. Winds occur because the entire earth is not heated to the same temperature and land warms much faster then water. These temperature differences produce wind. It is possible to collect this wind power and turn it into a number of different forms of energy and one of the most common engines for this today is the wind turbine.
To collect wind power the wind is used to turn blades on a wind generator or turbine which then converts this motion into electrical energy. This electricity can be utilized for many different purposes including pumping water or providing power for your house.
A wind turbine is a large tower with huge propeller vanes. Unlike a fan which is powered by electrical energy the wind turbine moves due to the wind and this movement is what generates electrical power. The vane turns, the shaft spins and this shaft is attached to a generator that produces electrical power. A large number of wind turbines use a horizontal axis though there are vertical axis wind turbines that look more like big egg whisks than propellers. The largest wind turbines are horizontal axis turbines.
Wind energy is preferred because it does not create any pollution and is inexhaustible. You can accumulate as much wind energy as you want and there will still be plenty of wind in the future. It also does not produce any greenhouse gas or pollutants traditionally associated with energy generation.
While wind energy generation is very cost efficient the initial costs are still high, though you will soon make this money up by all of your power savings. Most of the cost is purchasing the wind turbine. However there is not much maintenance required, no fuel and very low operating costs.
The main concerns with wind turbine are that the blades can produce a lot of noise and aesthetically they are not very pretty to look at. For this reason, wind farms and even small residential wind turbines are commonly placed far away from view and out of earshot. The blades also have killed birds and bats that have flown into the blades. Most of the newly designed wind turbines have reduced potential issues and it is possible to disguise the wind turbines.
As long as there is even a slight breeze you can get power from the wind. However when there is no wind you may have issues. The only way to store wind energy is if you have batteries connected to the wind turbine or are directly hooked into the electrical grid. As this technology ages, there will be better choices for storage of the energy, making wind generation accessible to more people.
