Wind Power generates wind energy

Besides solar power, wind power is another renewable form of energy that is increasingly being used as an alternative source to generate electricy. Large wind turbines erected in wind farms with rows and rows of wind turbines capture wind energy and turn them into electricity. The problem with wind energy is that it is often not continuous unless at high altitude.The higher the wind speed, the more powerful the wind energy and hence the amount of electricity produced. This results in a bursty nature of power which then requires storage technology to smooth out the burst of energy into a more even flow of power. Wind power is less predicatable than solar power since wind power is more likely to vary with wider degree on a per hour basis and also it changes seasonally. Therefore, a wind turbine connected to the grid can present energy demand management challenges and storage solutions are needed.

Currently, Germany is the country with the largest installed base of wind turbine generating a total of about 22,000 Megawatt with the United States behind with an install base that generates 16,000 Megawatt. The total combined electricity generated by wind power is estimated at about 74,000 MW in 2008 and is expected to increase at about 21% per year. In the United States, California is one of the largest installers of wind turbine though it has recently being surpassed by Texas. The United States had a huge growth in wind power capacity since 2007.

Because of the intermittent nature of wind power, wind power can never displace fossil fuel since wind power cannot provide a continuous source of energy. However, it can certainly reduce fossil fuel use and carbon dioxide emissions. However, it does require a large amount of land to site a wind farm as wind turbines should be sited at least some distance from each other and to operate with the most amount of efficiency. In general, each wind turbine will need about 0.1 square kilometer of land for itself.