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| Fig. 1: Photo of wind farm in the Tehachapi Mountains of California. (Source: Wikimedia Commons) |
Renewable energies are the hope of humanity for saving our planet. Among renewable energies, wind energy is the fastest growing. Wind energy has so much potential and that it can help tremendously to increase the total amount of energy that renewables can supply for meeting the world energy demand. [2]
Comparing the world's energy need and the total wind energy gives a better picture of wind energy's potential. In 2017, the energy that is needed by civilization was 5.2 × 1020 J/yr. The total wind energy in 2017 was 1122.7 TWh/hr = 4.04 × 1018 joules/yr. [1] The potential wind resources of the world are around 53000 TWh/year = 1.91 × 1020 J/yr. This implies that wind energy probably will not suffer from lack of wind resources in the future while meeting the overall energy demand. [6]
In addition to comparing the world's energy need and total energy from wind, we can look at wind energy's growth compared with that of other types of energy. Between 2007 and 2017 the world wind capacity, but in deployed watts and in joules delivered, grew by a factor of 6. [1] The fossil fuel consumption, by contrast, rose 17% over this period.
Another important factor is the low cost of wind power. It is presently the lowest-cost renewable source. [3]
Most windmills work in the following way. A group of wind turbines in the same area are called wind farm (see Fig. 1). Each wind turbine in the farm typically has three blades. Their power output is typically 400 kW at its peak at 20 to 40 m turbine height. [4] However, the energy from a wind turbine depends on its height and the technical qualities. Thus larger wind turbines can generate more depending on other factors. The turbine is then connected to a generator. [5]
Increasing the use of wind power rather than conventional energy sources is important because wind power does not cause climate change, and it does not create health risks to the living population on earth by environmental pollution. Even though wind power currently makes up a small percentage of total energy supply, it has the potential to grow to cover the world's energy needs. This might enable us to save our planet.
© Cansu Lerzan Arslan. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that Stanford University provided no input other than typesetting and referencing guidelines. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.
[1] "BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2018- Renewable Energy," British Petroleum, June 2018.
[2] Renewable Energy in Europe: Building Markets and Capacity (Routledge, 2004), p. 164.
[3] J. Szarka et al., Learning From Wind Power: Governance, Societal and Policy Perspectives on Sustainable Energy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), p. 17.
[4] M. Grubb and R. Vigotti, Renewable Energy Strategies for Europe (Routledge, 1996), pp. 62,86.
[5] L. A. Bloomfield., How Things Work: The Physics of Everyday Life (John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2009) 4th edition, pp 43-62.
