Other forms of energy are in the news lots these days. In Germany, where a couple has built a home insulated by clay and solar water heaters and panels sufficient to generate enough power for what they need to an island that is almost completely powered by solar energy and more.
What's with all the debate and intensity for something that is a good alternative for energy that can easily be transmitted to many people?
Among renewable energy technologies, wind turbines have the odd distinction of being at once the most celebrated and the most reviled. People either love wind turbines or hate them. With a passion.
A wind turbine is a device that converts the wind's kinetic energy into electrical energy.
Located 2.8 miles off the coast of Rhode Island, the Block Island Wind Farm is the United States' first commercial offshore wind plant. It already has five turbines that are capable of producing a total of 30 MW of power. Since May 1, 2017, the island's 2,000 electric customers receive almost all of their energy from offshore wind—and the island uses only a fraction of the power produced.
Wind power offers a significant amount of advantages, which may be one of the reasons that it is one of the fastest-growing energy sources in the world.
Some of the major benefits include it being cost effective. It also creates jobs (I mean someone has to do all the work to put them up and maintain them.). In fact, the U.S. wind sector employed more than 100,000 workers in 2016, and wind turbine technician is one of the fastest-growing American jobs of the decade.
Wind is a domestic source of energy. The nation's wind supply is abundant and inexhaustible.
Not only that but there are environmental advantages too. Cleaner air, cleaner water, and stopping the need for destructive resource mining or fuel transportation to a processing facility.
Of course, there still are some challenges to overcome when pursuing wind power.
Among others, turbines (themselves) might cause noise and aesthetic pollution ( although they have a relatively little impact on the environment compared to conventional power plants) concern exists over the noise produced by the turbine blades and visual impacts to the landscape.
Not only that but, turbine blades could damage local wildlife. Birds have been known to be killed by flying into the spinning blades.
At this point, you're most likely asking yourself "Ok, so why wind power?"
Simple. It is and will continue to be one of the most promising renewable energy sources.
Over the last decade, the wind industry has seen exponential growth, and wind farms are popping up all over the world. It's currently the renewable energy source that can best compete with fossil fuel power plants—in some regions around the world, the clean, safe energy it generates is already just as cheap as coal.
Chances are, we will be seeing a lot more wind turbines in the future, despite how "ugly" they are.