Renewable Energy: Wind Turbines & Wind Farms

Windmills have been used over 100’s of years to provide energy for pumping water or grinding grain, as technology has evolved, its only right that windmills evolve too. Today, windmills have an exciting modern counterpart, the wind turbine- a renewable source of electrical energy. Wind farms made up of wind turbines are popping up all around the UK and have been coined as the world’s fastest growing renewable energy source

Wind turbines are mounted on a tower to work most effectively, the higher a wind turbine is the more effective it is. This is because wind at higher levels suffers less from turbulence and travels at a faster speed.   Wind turbines have propeller blades which catch the wind, causing the rotor to turn. The rotor then turns a shaft; the energy of the shaft is then converted into electricity by a generator to which it is directly connected. The Electricity from the generator is then passed through a substation before reaching our homes.

There are many pros & cons of wind turbines:

Advantages

• Wind is an infinite resource which can now be captured effectively
• Once construction is complete, wind farms do not produce greenhouse gases or any other pollutants
• Although wind farms are tall structures, they take up very little surface area on the ground
• Many people like seeing wind turbines
• Remote areas which are not served by mains electricity can use wind turbines to produce their own supply
• Wind turbines can be 100’s of feet tall or simply bolted on to the side of your house, meaning single households can benefit from them too

Disadvantages

• Wind speed varies, meaning that wind turbines do not produce a constant amount of electricity, there will be times when no electricity is produced at all
• Many feel that wind farms represent an eyesore and that the countryside (where wind farms are often located) should be left alone
• Many people have complained against the amount of noise wind turbines produce
• Wind turbines do produce pollution during their manufacturing process
• The effectiveness and the amount of energy wind turbines produce is questionable, many feel that sun & sea are the best forms of renewable energy

The above disadvantages certainly haven’t put Germany off wind farms. Located 100km off the island of Borkum in the North Sea, 80 turbines are under construction as we speak. Bard Energy has claimed that this farm will provide power for around 400,000 households. On a slightly smaller but more extreme scale, the Chinese government has just announced the construction of a wind farm at a staggering 4,900 metres above sea level.

The UK is still set to be the world leader in offshore wind farms thanks to a new strategy devised by the government. In July 2013 the world’s largest wind farm was opened by David Cameron, the farm itself sits on the Thames Estuary and is made up of 175 individual wind turbines. The farm is thought to provide power for over half a million homes which translates to two thirds of the homes in the county of Kent.

Remember that no matter how your electricity is provided, the relevant electrical goods in your workplace will still need PAT testing and labelled accordingly.

What is your opinion on the wind turbines? Leave it below!