Renewable Wind Energy

 

Many of us have probably heard of alternative wind energy. But does this power source really have what it takes to replace fossil fuels?.

 

The price of oil is constantly rising. It is unclear how many more years we can rely on our fossil fuel reserves. In addition, using fossil fuels has caused drastic damage to our health and the environment. Climate change is also taking effect much quicker than experts believed. Using coal instead of oil is certainly also no viable alternative. Generating power from renewable wind energy could become part of the solution.

 

The energy crisis is a problem that effects the whole planet. That is why the whole planet needs to be part of the solution. Each country consumes a different amount of fossil fuels per year. Countries that are more advanced in their economic development might already have replaced some of their fossil fuel consumption with cleaner energy technology. Developing countries such as China and India bare a great responsibility due to the absolute amount that they are contributing to the global pollution.

 

We need to take action to stop our planet from becoming more polluted. We need a coordinated global effort to start using alternative energy sources and technology. Our experience so far suggests that renewable wind energy as well as solar power could be 2 viable alternatives. These forms of energy are all considered to be clean and green and have the potential to be used globally.

 

To benefit from these green energy sources certain requirements must be fulfilled. Solar energy is available anywhere where the sun shines while renewable wind energy depends on strong enough winds. Some countries, like Germany and Japan, have spent a few years researching alternative wind energy and are already using it to generate electricity. One needs long coastlines to build large enough wind farms.

 

However, it makes even more sense to build wind turbine farms offshore where winds usually blow stronger and more frequently. If you have stronger winds you can produce more energy. However, building a wind farm offshore is rather difficult. A solid foundation would be necessary to ground the turbines. This would increase the cost dramatically. Having said that, once the breaking-even-point is reached these wind farms will work much more competitively.

 

In the future, wind energy technology will probably work even more efficiently. With every decrease in production costs the interest in alternative wind energy increases. According to Sven Sigaard, president and CEO of Vestas Wind Systems (Denmark) kilowatt/hour prices can easily reach levels competitive with other energy types when we can build wind turbine farms offshore with efficient enough technology.

 

Coming from a country where windmills were used since around 1790 to generate 25% of all the energy needed by the Danish Industry Mr. Sigaard’s statement certainly deserves our attention.