Here is some information for those of you that have been following my blog about the Wind Turbines.
Understanding how wind energy works begins with understanding how wind works.
How Wind is Produced
Like all forms of energy, wind is created as a result of the sun.
The sun heats a land mass and the heat from the land is absorbed by the surrounding air. When the air reaches a certain temperature, it begins to rise quickly upwards. This results in a low pressure area at ground level and a higher pressure area above the land. Air naturally moves from high pressure zones to low pressure zones. This air movement creates wind.
Areas of the Earth that are close to the sun, such as the equator, become warmer more quickly than areas further away, such as the poles. As air moves over warm areas and rises, cooler air from surrounding areas rushes in to fill the space left by the rising air, thereby creating surface winds.
Due to elevation, topography, surface roughness, and location, some areas experience more wind than others. The faster the wind, the more energy can be produced. For this reason, it is important to place wind turbines at sites with high wind speeds.
How Wind Energy is Produced
Wind turbines capture the kinetic energy in surface winds and convert it into electrical energy in the form of electricity.
To do this use they use three basic parts: blades, a shaft and a generator. As wind moves over turbine blades, it cause “lift” — the same effect used by airplane wings. Lift makes the blades rotate. The turning blades turn a shaft. The turning shaft moves a magnetic field in the generator, which in turn creates electricity.
Wind Energy Applications
There are two kinds of wind energy applications in Canada: large scale and small scale.
Large-scale wind generation provides power to your local utility grid. Just as large-scale coal, hydro or natural gas electrical generation facilities send power to the grid, so can wind energy facilities. A single large-scale wind turbine produces enough energy to power hundreds of homes. Clustered together in a wind farm, turbines can produce enough energy for thousands of distant homes and businesses
They are putting up approximately 68 of them near where I live..
Keep Warm and stay safe..
This is the first section.
