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=**Harnessing the Power of the WIND** =

__**What is wind?**__

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 * Wind has everything to do with the sun. when the sun heats up the land, the air around the land takes in some of the sun's heat. When that air get's hot enough, it begins to rise. Seeing that hotter air rises, it moves up into the atmosphere. The warm air displaces the cooler heavier air, and the cool air fills in where the warm has has just left closer to the earth's surface. The movement of this cooler air is know as wind. So as long as the sun is shining, and is warm enough to heat up the earth's surface, there will be wind. This is a much more reliable fuel source then say Oil. We may deplete the oil reservoirs that our earth holds, but we can never us up all of our sun's energy.**

__**What is a #|wind Turbine?**__

A wind turbine is a large structure standing as tall as 20 stories off the earth's surface, that has propeller blades turning in the moving air, to power an #|electric generator. The blades can be between 8 and 25 feet in diameter and stretch as long as a football field in length. The idea is for the Turbine to stand as high as it can in a place where the wind blows the strongest. Atop the structure is where all the magic happens. Housed in a box like structure is the means to generate power.

Components
 * Blade or Rotor, Converts the energy in the wind to a rotation shaft;
 * Drive Train, includes a gearbox and a generator;
 * Tower, supports the rotor and drive train.

__**How does a wind turbine generate it's power?**__

Wind rushes across the blade of the turbine creating lift. The blade begins to spin the rotor. The rotor is connected tho the Low-speed shaft, which spins as fast as the rotor spins. This shaft is connected to the gear box, which speeds things up and transmits a faster speed to the high-speed shaft. This shaft is connected to the generator, which creates the electricity. The electricity flows down the tower to the #|transformer, where it is sent to the #|power plant for distribution to whomever needs the power.

The amount of power a turbine produces is measured in: > 1 megawatt (MW, 1 million watts) of #|wind power can produce from 2.4 million to 3 million kilowatt-hours of electricity in one year.
 * **Watts (W)** - electricity-generating capacity
 * **Kilowatt-hour (kWh)** - one kilowatt (kW, 1,000 watts) of electricity generated or consumed in one hour.

__**What's the need for wind power?**__

Due to the current problems that the world is facing with the diminishing fossil fuels and a growing polution to the earth's atmosphere, we need to find more efficient and less harmful ways of producing power. Our fresh water supply is getting smaller, we are running out of oil, and our air is getting dirtier as the ozone layer is reduced by harmful chemicals. The need for a clean, #|renewable energy has never been greater. There are many renewable power sources out there, but we as a world need to come together and harness those powers to make a cleaner better world, for those who come to live long after we are gone.

__**Are there any benefits to wind power?**__

Yes, is the simple answer! Wind is FREE! you don't have to buy the rights to the air. The fuel (the air) won't cost you a penny, and there's as much as you want of it.

The Power of the wind is 100% clean and renewable. Since there is no burning of fuel, and the only thing that is being used to make power is wind, there are no CO2 emissions given off by Wind Turbines. there are no greenhouse gasses or air pollutants given off. And as long as the wind is blowing on earth, there is power, in electricity to be made.

Unlike modern day power plants that require constant attention by a full staff, wind turbines are relatively inexpensive. Yes there is a high initial cost, but once the structure is up, it costs very little to operate. And as long as the wind is blowing, there is constant power being made.

It takes very little space to install one of these high powered wind turbines. Less than an acre is all it takes to raise a wind turbine.

According to the U.s. Department of Energy, in 1990, California's wind power plants offset the emission of more than 2.5 billion pounds of Carbon dioxide and more than 15 million pounds of other pollutants that would have otherwise been produced. To get that same air quality it would take a forest of 90 million to 175 million trees. Now that was over 20 years ago, imagine with the strides we have made in the field of clean energy, what that number would be today. Well you don't have to imagine. In 2008, Texas reported that because of their wind turbine increases, there was a decrease of 8,690,000 metric tons of Carbon Dioxide. That's 19,157,974,000 pounds of CO2 that has been displaced due to their harnessing the power of the wind. That is the equivalent of taking 1.5 million cars off the road. Wow. Can you see where i'm going with this. Wind power is the fuel of the future, but the future has to start now.. =__Where America Stands Today__ =
 * Total U.S. Utility-Scale Wind Power Capacity, Through 1st Quarter of 2011: || 41,400 MW ||
 * U.S. Wind Power Capacity, Installed in 2010: || 5,116 MW ||
 * U.S. Wind Power Capacity, Installed in 1st Quarter of 2011: || 1,118 MW ||
 * U.S. Wind Power Capacity Under Construction as of 1st Quarter of 2011: || 5,600 MW ||
 * U.S. Wind Power Capacity, Installed in Previous Years (including small-wind): ||  ||
 * 2009:

2008:

2007: || 10,010 MW

8,366 MW

5,258 MW || 1. Texas
 * Number of States with Utility-Scale Wind Installations, 2010: || 38 ||
 * Number of States with over 1,000 MW of Wind Installations, 2010: || 14 ||
 * U.S. Wind Resource Potential, Onshore (Source: NREL): || 10,400,000 MW ||
 * U.S. Wind Resource Potential, Offshore (Source: NREL): || 4,150,000 MW ||
 * Top 5 States with Wind Power Capacity Installed, 2010: ||  ||

2. Iowa

3. California

4. Minnesota

5. Washington || 10,135 MW

3,675 MW

3,179 MW

2,432 MW

2,356 MW ||

__**What are some of the down sides to wind turbines?**__


 * Compared to fossil fuel power plants, there is a relatively little impact on the environment by wind power plants. However there is concern over the wildlife impacts that may be connected with turbine development. These range from noises that are produced, visual impacts and the rate of bird and bat death's on the rise. Many of the problems can be solved by technological advancements, but none the less the wind industry and government agencies have sponsored research into the deaths of relevant bird and bats collisions and are studying what the right protocols are for such incidents and how avoid them in the future.
 * Probably the most significant problem is that in order to have the high wind's needed to operate constantly, you need to have the turbine placed in the right spot. As evidenced in the picture to the right, much of the United States, and the rest of the world are in low wind area's. there are very few locations that are in such a spot that they have the steady wind flow needed to efficiently operate wind turbines. This is why many agencies that are invested in wind power development have started going offshore with their wind farms. Claiming hundreds of square miles, these wind farms house hundreds of Turbines standing over 200 feet off the water. They are not exactly close to shore, some stretching out far enough that they cannot be seen from land.
 * Because of their massive size and the density of the structures, if at sea, they have to be placed in a low traffic area. Also due to their locations, routine maintenance is made very hard with the persistent rough weather and a saline environment. The salt takes it's toll on any piece of machinery no matter what it's made of.

__**Who is Involved?**__

Congressman Earl Blumenauer: "The goal should be to keep energy prices as low and equitable as possible for the entire region."

Rob Gramlich, Senior Vice President for Public Policy, american Wind energy Association: "BPA has produced over 33,000 MWh of wind energy over the last week. enough to power 160,000 average homes for a week. this week alone BPA ahs made enough wind energy to power two-thirds of the homes in the Portland, (Oregon) area for the week."

Senator Hillary Clinton, NY: "So I support comprehensive legislation that would overhaul our energy taxes; signal the market we're in this for the long run by extending for 10 years the production tax credit..." "We absolutely need the turbines."

Hans-Joachim Mengel, Berlin University professor: "The turbines are the worst desecration of our countryside since it was laid waste in the 30 Years War nearly 400 years ago."

Gary Thompson, County Judge, Sherman County, OR: "The whole problem is the lack of communication between the President of the United States and his department heads. The President is pushing renewable energy while his department heads are doing the opposite."

__//**Works Cited:**//__

http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/aclk?sa=l&ai...dpower.com http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/wind-power3.htm http://www.awea.org/learnabout/industry_stats/index.cfm http://www.savewesternny.org/quotes.html