Sunday, January 22, 2012

Wind Power: Longevity of this Source of Energy

As the research finally got under way over the past recent years to find other ways to harness that power as well as the suns power with searches into new clean and less damaging alternatives, way to long out of site and minds!

Power anywhere the wind blows
Jan 22, 2012 - Even before industrialisation created a near-unquenchable thirst for energy, agrarian societies have benefited from wind power harvested by rotary blades, as one of the most famous literary characters reminds us.

Don Quixote's famous charges at La Mancha's windmills in a novel written in the 17th century are a reminder of the longevity of this source of energy, and wind power has since attracted enough enthusiasm to become a multibillion dollar industry.

Modern wind turbines, capable of generating multiple megawatts of electricity, are also an important element of the renewable-energy targets set by the world's biggest economies. China, which recently raised its target for renewable energy to 11.4 per cent of all electricity produced, already has an installed wind power capacity of 47 gigawatts and has overtaken the US as the biggest market.

The EU has mandated that its members get a fifth of their energy from renewables by 2020, and it is expected that offshore wind farms alone will contribute 40 gigawatts to the European grid by then.

In the US, wind turbines contributed almost 44 gigawatts to the national grid last year.

But these impressive numbers hide some uncomfortable truths for turbine manufacturers. read more>>>

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