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If you are a homeowner considering using a
wind turbine to power your home, there are a
number of considerations. By investing in a
small wind system, you can reduce pollution and
reduce your exposure to future fuel shortages
and price increases. Deciding whether to
purchase a wind system, however, is
complicated; there are many factors to
consider. But if you have the right set of
circumstances, a well-designed wind energy
system can provide you with many years of
cost-effective, clean, and reliable
electricity...
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Wind is a form of solar energy. Winds are
caused by the uneven heating of the atmosphere
by the sun, the irregularities of the earth's
surface, and rotation of the earth. Wind flow
patterns are modified by the earth's terrain,
bodies of water, and vegetation. Humans use
this wind flow, or motion energy, for many
purposes: sailing, flying a kite, and even
generating electricity.
The terms wind energy or wind power describe
the process by which the wind is used to
generate mechanical power or electricity. Wind
turbines convert the kinetic energy in the wind
into mechanical power. This mechanical
power...
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Wind energy offers many advantages, which
explains why it's the fastest-growing energy
source in the world. Research efforts are aimed
at addressing the challenges to greater use of
wind energy.
Advantages
Wind energy is fueled by the wind, so it's a
clean fuel source. Wind energy doesn't pollute
the air like power plants that rely on
combustion of fossil fuels, such as coal or
natural gas. Wind turbines don't produce
atmospheric emissions that cause acid rain or
greenhouse gasses.
Wind energy is a domestic source of energy,
produced in the United States. The nation's
wind supply is abundant.
Wind energy relies on the renewable power of
the wind, which can't be used up. Wind is
actually a form of solar energy; winds are
caused by the heating of the atmosphere by the
sun, the rotation of the earth, and the earth's
surface irregularities...
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Since early recorded history, people have
been harnessing the energy of the wind. Wind
energy propelled boats along the Nile River as
early as 5000 B.C. By 200 B.C., simple
windmills in China were pumping water, while
vertical-axis windmills with woven reed sails
were grinding grain in Persia and the Middle
East.
New ways of using the energy of the wind
eventually spread around the world. By the 11th
century, people in the Middle East were using
windmills extensively for food production;
returning merchants and crusaders carried this
idea back to Europe. The Dutch refined the
windmill and adapted it for draining lakes and
marshes in the Rhine River Delta. When settlers
took this technology to the New World in the
late 19th century, they began using windmills
to pump water for farms and ranches, and later,
to generate electricity for homes and
industry
Industrialization, first in Europe and later
in America, led to a gradual decline in the use
of windmills. The steam engine replaced
European water-pumping windmills. In the 1930s,
the Rural Electrification Administration's
programs brought inexpensive electric power to
most rural areas in the United...
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