“The fuel in the earth will be exhausted in a thousand or more years, and its mineral wealth, but man will find substitutes for these in the winds, the waves, the sun’s heat, and so forth.” These brilliant words by John Burroughs actually predicted the need for new energy sources. The extinction of traditional energy sources was inevitable, however, renewable energy resources assured meeting the energy crisis in the future. There is merely any other source than the wind that has been available abundantly in nature. With the help of this blog, you can throw a glance at how the future can be bright with wind power advantages.
What is Wind Energy?
Wind turbines create energy. This process consists of three blades that spin by the force of the wind. Generators of turbines convert that mechanical energy into electricity. It is then sent through transmission lines to the electricity grid and delivered to homes and businesses. IT is the future of power proliferation as according to data released by International Energy Agency (IEA), offshore wind farms could generate more than 420,000 TW-hours per year worldwide which is more than 18 times global electricity demand today.
Wind Power Advantages
Wind energy has a major range of benefits and people can use it for thousands of years in sailing and milling. Nowadays, people use it to generate clean and sustainable fuel to reduce fossil fuel combustion. This has made many countries self-sufficient in terms of energy. These wind power advantages speak about economic and environmental benefits in a long term.
1. Generate Electricity
Electricity Generation is one of the major wind power advantages as it tackles the wind energy shortages. China produces the maximum amount of wind energy across the world which accounts for about 45GW of energy from 80 wind farms and aims to reach all its energy needs from wind energy alone by 2030. Moreover, wind capacity has reached 743 GW in 2020 both onshore and offshore, according to the Global Wind Energy Council.
2. Clean Source Fuel
Wind Energy produces a clean source of fuel as it does not emit any greenhouse gas. Moreover, it does not rely on the combustion of other fossil fuels such as natural gas or coal. According to the American Wind Energy Association, a small residential wind turbine can offset approximately 1.2 tons of air pollutants and 200 tons of greenhouse gas pollutants. The major benefits of clean source fuel are having sustainable development, saving non-renewable natural resources, and reducing the consequences of acid rain, smog, etc.
3. Cost-effectiveness
Land-based wind turbines are the cheapest energy source on the earth as wind is a free energy source for power breeding. It provides energy security for the economy and bridges the demand and supply gap of electricity. According to the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, just 1-2 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of power produced through windmills can be sold at a fixed price for a longer period of time. U.S. wind energy will continue to be one of the lowest-cost electricity generation technology available at the price of half the expected cost of just running a natural gas power plant.
4. Domestic Energy Resource
You can establish windmills at existing farms and they help to preserve the space to avoid land acquisition complications. Likewise, this domestic energy resource does not require fuel importation. Therefore, other agriculture allied activities can take place simultaneously like grazing, farming, etc. It diversifies the rural economy by empowering farmers as now power proliferation takes place at a local level. For example, Block Island, Rhode Island makes good money out of wind power plants where average annual payments of more than $7,000 per megawatt of installed capacity are common.
5. Job Creation
Since wind power breeding is modern technology, it is capable of providing massive job opportunities in the field of design, manufacturing, maintenance, installation of wind turbines, and other supporting services. According to a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the renewable energy industry has employed over 10 million people worldwide in 2017. It reached a new high of more than 116,800 full-time workers at the end of 2020.
Future of Wind Energy
Wind energy has applications in wide areas. Distributed wind systems produce clean, emissions-free power for homes, farms, schools, and businesses. Today, nearly 70,000 wind turbines across the USA are generating reliable power. This shows how the wind energy system has a bright future ahead.
1. Silent Wind Turbines
People living near the area of wind energy plants face trouble with noise pollution due to turbines. Silent wind turbines help to fix this problem. eco whisper turbine is one such example which steps away from the traditional tri-bladed design and instead employs 30 blades to harness the power. Three eco whispers are available in two models, the 20 kW and a 5 kW, and they operate in almost complete silence.
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Wind Power Grid
In wind power plants, electricity data and weather data might be useful for effective project operations. AI can help to identify suitable project sites and determine the best project locations for wind turbines. Additionally, during the manufacturing phase, AI can track the equipment delivery and improve the product design of wind turbines by using past data of common failures as well as enhance the product performance. Based on consumer data, it helps in better integration of wind power into the grid to fill up the demand and supply deficit. Also, it aids in weather forecasting to fix the limitation caused by wind fluctuation while energy breeding.
3. Shifting to a Modular Platform
Wind turbine manufacturers continue to search for the most efficient turbines in an attempt to reduce Levelized Costs of Energy (LCOE) after shifting to a modular platform. It offers the highest performance of energy proliferation within the smallest volume of control to boost annual energy production. Moreover, it reduces service delivery time to market and increases flexibility in wind turbine operations.
4. Community-Owned Wind Power
Mostly, local authorities own community wind projects consisting of turbines that can vary in number, type, and size. They supply local electricity for schools, hospitals, businesses, farms, ranches, or community facilities. Baywind Energy Cooperative is the first community-owned wind installation in the UK, built-in 1996. It generates around 10,000 MWh of electricity each year providing power to around 30,000 homes. It will help to stabilize the energy prices for communities in the future, with no fuel cost and less operational cost.
5. Multipurpose Offshore Wind Turbines
Establishing offshore wind power projects is beneficial as they have abundant and strong resources than land-based projects. Ecofys is leading a project that would turn offshore wind farms into actual farms. It will diversify the multiple applications of offshore wind turbines and local farmers will get benefit from it. Seaweed cultivation around offshore wind turbines and harvesting for the production of fish and animal feed, biofuels and energy secures new sources of income for farmers.
Securing Energy Needs
To sum up, wind technology is leaping ahead all the time, and while some of these innovations are just concepts at the moment but can come into reality in the future. That is to say, some of them are either in prototype or testing phases and could enter the energy market in the near future. Wind energy augmentation stands out to be the most efficient renewable energy resource. It secures your present and future needs without causing harm to the environment. This blog will enrich your depth of knowledge regarding wind power advantages and the future of wind power technology.
