Business

Europeans want decentralized power generation and low prices

Although a majority of Europeans support the energy transition in principle, local opposition to necessary infrastructure projects is on the rise. What could be done to smooth the future growth of renewables in Europe? In ...

Energy & Green Tech

Wind power surge: China's push towards a green future

The push for renewable energy is critical in addressing climate change, with wind power at the forefront. As the leading emitter of greenhouse gases, China has embarked on a transformative journey towards greener alternatives, ...

Energy & Green Tech

UK 'net zero' economy bucks recession: study

Britain's green economy grew in 2023 to buck a broader recession, according to a report released Tuesday that urged politicians heading into a general election to stick with climate-friendly investments.

Energy & Green Tech

What will it take for China to reach carbon neutrality by 2060?

To become carbon neutral by 2060, as mandated by President Xi Jinping, China will have to build eight to 10 times more wind and solar power installations than currently exist in the country. Reaching carbon neutrality will ...

page 1 from 29

Wind power

Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form, such as electricity, using wind turbines. At the end of 2008, worldwide nameplate capacity of wind-powered generators was 121.2 gigawatts (GW). Wind power produces about 1.5% of worldwide electricity use, and is growing rapidly, having doubled in the three years between 2005 and 2008. Several countries have achieved relatively high levels of wind power penetration, such as 19% of stationary electricity production in Denmark, 11% in Spain and Portugal, and 7% in Germany and the Republic of Ireland in 2008. As of May 2009, eighty countries around the world are using wind power on a commercial basis.

Large-scale wind farms are connected to the electric power transmission network. Smaller turbines are used to provide electricity to isolated locations. Utility companies increasingly buy back surplus electricity produced by small domestic turbines. Wind energy as a power source is attractive as an alternative to fossil fuels, because it is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean, and produces no greenhouse gas emissions; however, the construction of wind farms (as with other forms of power generation) is not universally welcomed due to their visual impact and other effects on the environment.

Wind power is non-dispatchable, meaning that for economic operation all of the available output must be taken when it is available, and other resources, such as hydropower, and standard load management techniques must be used to match supply with demand. The intermittency of wind seldom creates problems when using wind power to supply a low proportion of total demand. Where wind is to be used for a moderate fraction of demand, additional costs for compensation of intermittency are considered to be modest.

This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA