WIND

Wind power has been used throughout man's recorded history. The advantages of wind power include

• free fuel source (ultimately from sun's energy)
• environmentally clean (except for birds killed)
• can mass produce wind machines in a factory (cuts costs)

Wind power disadvantages include

• wind farms are somewhat land intensive
• wind doesn't always blow (50% capacity factor is very good)
• too low (<10 mi/hr) or too high (>50 mi/hr) winds require shutdown
• wind towers are noisy and unsightly

The basis of wind power is the kinetic energy of the air. Since wind velocity is not constant, wind turbines must be designed to operate at a constant angular velocity over a wide range of wind speeds in order to produce a constant frequency (60 Hz) output.

Electric Biomass Wind Ocean