Wind Power as the Future Energy Source Essay -- Energy Power Global Wa

Wind Power- the Future Energy Source Abstract: We are facing an energy crisis on Earth. Burning fossil fuels are harming the atmosphere; this global warming and affects produces chemicals that hurt our body. People are starting to think about using alternative energy. Wind power would be our first choice, because it’s clean, inexhaustible and renewable. Today, wind power is mainly used in Europe. We believed wind power would be the main source of alternative energy for world use. Introduction: Since 400-500A.D, people used windmill energy in farms for grain grinding and water pumping. In 1888, the first wind turbine that generated electricity was discovered by Charles F.Brush in Ohio, USA. However, there are limitations on speed. People did not pay much attention to it; rather, they used fossil fuels. In the 1920s, the improvement of windmill energy was widespread in some rural area in the U.S. and Europe. (Dodge 2006). Later in the 1970s, people realized the shortcomings of fossil fuels; they started looking to alternative energy. Wind is costless, clean and renewable. (Brown 2005). When sun heats on the earth, wind cools down the surface of the Earth. Thus, as the sun shines, there will be inexhaustible wind blowing. Windmill energy uses the power of wind through a generator to generate electricity to urban areas. (2005). Wind Power 3 Results and Discussion: Currently over 50 percent of the electric energy is comes from coal. (See Figure 1). The oil prices started to increase dramatically in 2000. Many people can’t afford it. The capacity of using this energy was low. Coal uses grows 2.5 percent annually. However, wind power grows almost 30 percent annually. (Brown 2006). In the early 1980s, the wind generator in Califo... ...Power Expand in 2006 Earth Policy Institute retrieved July 30, 2006 http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/Wind/2006.htm GWEC (2006, February) Record year for wind energy: Global wind power market increased by 40.5% in 2005 Global Energy Council retrieved July 30, 2006 http://www.gwec.net/index.php?id=30&no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=21&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=4&cHash=d0118b8972 No author (2005, September) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy U.S department of energy retrieved July 30, 2006 http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/wind_technologies.html No author(July 2006) Electric Power Monthly Energy Administration Information http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/epm_sum.html retrieved July 30th, 2006 No author (2005, December) Wind Energy- Energy from moving Air Energy Kid’s Page http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/sources/renewable/wind.html