Wind+Power

=Introduction = toc Most of the world is currently using oil is a prominent form of energy production, but there are two main problems with this; oil is a finite resource and will eventually run out, and oil collection and use is bad for the planet and the environment. An alternate form of energy is needed, so why not wind power? Wind power has a long history with humanity, but only recently has it started getting any real attention or use (5)(9). Wind power was harnessed back in the Persian Empire in the form of a rudimentary wind turbine, and it was used to turn a grindstone (10), as well as back in ancient Greece in a similar fashion with the wind-wheel (11). Modern day turbines are similar, but have been vastly improved in many ways. But still people question wind power generation, the amount of area that wind farms take up, the efficiency of power generation, and the effects that wind farms have. =Energy Generation and Efficiency = Harnessing the wind to generate energy is based a pretty basic idea, turning something to power something else. In this case it is the wind pushing on rotors to rotate them and in turn generates energy. This process has been worked on over the years, and is constantly improving in efficiency. The entire process is not perfect, as no process is, but in recent years technology has improved and therefore so has the generation of power by harnessing the wind. Back in the 1990's wind turbines were not terribly efficient, producing power at about 10% of the rotational energy being turned into electricity, but today in 2016 wind turbines can be up to 59% efficient (3). This may not seem like a very good percentage but that is the efficiency of each wind turbine, so when there are lots of wind turbines a lot of power can be generated. However, the wind farms are not always able to produce energy. This is because of the simple fact that the wind is not always blowing. Or the wind is not blowing strong enough for the wind turbine to be moved. On average a wind turbine will only be producing energy for 70-85% of the time (13). Unfortunately, power plants and energy producers are not able to produce energy all of the time. Because of required maintenance, breakdowns or other unforeseen stoppages the average for power production is anywhere between 50% and 80% of the time. Wind power falls well within this average range, but is not a perfect power source, it is just not possible.  =Wind Farms = The need for multiple wind turbines to generate sufficient power for society's needs led to the idea of wind farms. Huge arrays of wind turbines together producing energy. The problem with this is that the wind farms generally take up large areas of land, to get maximum efficiency out of each individual wind turbine. This is one of the arguments people have against this form of energy production, nothing inside or nearby a wind farm can be developed. But there is a solution to this problem! Offshore wind farming is currently being looked into and developed (1). Wind farms which are off shore have a few benefits, no land area being taken up, the turbines can be much larger getting turbine efficiency closer to that 59% limit, the wind farms can be significantly larger (4). And as an interesting side benefit, the turbines, whether they are floating or firmly mounted on the ocean floor, can double as coral reef nurseries (7). =Turbine Types = Wind turbines are actually pretty variable in how they look. When people think of wind power generation they often picture the iconic horizontal type turbine. But there is also a second type of turbine, that being the vertical turbine. The two types have a few differences besides the way their blades are oriented. The horizontal type cannot be too small or else the efficiency is terrible and basically no power is produced (10). Vertical type turbines on the other hand are not usually made to the same size as the horizontal type because they do not need to be. Vertical turbines can be much smaller with similar efficiency (2), and because they are smaller they can be used in more versatile places than the large area needing horizontal type turbine. In fact recently vertical type wind turbines have been conceptualized to look like trees and installed in cities, such as Paris (12). Turbines are a versatile power source because of the diversity of type and size. =Impacts= Another argument that people take against wind power generation is the impacts it has on the environment. Just because the energy production has no byproducts and is essentially 100% green energy, it still has other effects. The gigantic turbines are so huge, with a blade over 100 feet long moving at high speeds, the turbines actually create variable pressure zones. This may not sound important, but the pressure zones are in essence dangerous, mainly to birds (6). If a bird flies too near a turbine that is in motion, and gets caught in the variable pressure zone, the bird can actually die, either because its lungs can burst or the bird simply cannot stay aloft. Another impact that the turbines can have is not environmental at all, but instead a psychological one. The turbine blades on the large horizontal type turbines, being massive, create quite a bit of sound as they move. The effect of this sound on people has been studied by psychologists, and has been found to have both positive and negative impacts on people's moods (8). When the turbine is running the sound is constant, some people find the sound to be soothing, but some do find the sound to be oppressive, as it is loud and nearly constant. =Conclusion = Society as a whole needs to get off of its dependence on oil. The oil addiction is hurting the world and there are viable alternates to this energy source. Wind power is a decently efficient source of energy, can be harnessed nearly anywhere on the planet, including not on land, and even in cities. Wind power technology is constantly improving, and could be the future of energy for humanity. That being said, wind power is not perfect. It cannot run 100% of the time, and does have some impact of the surrounding environment and people. It might not be the perfect solution for the oil problem, but it is a good possibility. =References =
 * 1) Esteban, Dolores, Javier Diez, Jose Lopez, and Vincente Negro. "Why Offshore Wind Energy." Elsevier 36.2 (2011): 444-50. ScienceDirect. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.
 * 2) Ching-Tsai Pan. "A Novel Sensorless MPPT Controller for a High-Efficiency Microscale Wind Power Generation System." IEEE 25.1 (2010): 207-17. IEEEXplore. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.
 * 3) <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Pieralli, Simone, Matthias Ritter, and Martin Odening. "Efficiency of Wind Power Production and Its Determinants." Elsevier 90.1 (2015): 429-38. ScienceDirect. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.
 * 4) <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Russo, Genne. "Renewable Energy: Wind Power Tests the Waters." Nature. Nature.com, 24 Sept. 2014. Web.
 * 5) <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Fruh, Wolf-Gerrit. "From Local Wind Energy Resource to National Wind Power Production." AIMS Energy 3.1 (2015): 101-20. Web.
 * 6) <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Herrera-Alsina, Leonel, Rafael Villegas-Patraca, Luis E. Eguiarte, and Hector T. Arita. "Bird Communities and Wind Farms: A Phylogenetic and Morphological Approach." Biodiversity and Conservation 22.12 (2013): 2821-836. Web.
 * 7) <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Langhamer, Olivia, HÃ¥kon Holand, and Gunilla Rosenqvist. "Effects of an Offshore Wind Farm (OWF) on the Common Shore Crab Carcinus Maenas: Tagging Pilot Experiments in the Lillgrund Offshore Wind Farm (Sweden)." Plos One 11.10 (2016): n. pag. Web
 * 8) <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Crichton, Fiona, George Dodd, Gian Schmid, Greg Gamble, Tim Cundy, and Keith J. Petrie. "The Power of Positive and Negative Expectations to Influence Reported Symptoms and Mood during Exposure to Wind Farm Sound." Health Psychology 33.12 (2014): 1588-592. Web.
 * 9) <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Nielsen, Kristian H. "Technological Trajectories in the Making: Two Case Studies from the Contemporary History of Wind Power." Centaurus 52.3 (2010): 175-205. Web.
 * 10) <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">"Wind Turbines." Teachergeek (n.d.): n. pag. Teachergeek.org. Web.
 * 11) <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Shahan, Zachary. "History of Wind Turbines." Renewableenergyworld.com. Renewable Energy World, 21 Nov. 2014. Web
 * 12) <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">"Tree Shaped Wind Turbines to Be Installed in Paris." AENews. N.p., 23 Mar. 2016. Web.
 * 13) <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">EWEA. "Wind Energy Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)| EWEA." EWEA RSS. N.p., 2016. Web.