subject: Why Is Wind Energy So Important? [print this page] Unless a person has been completely out of touch from society for the past several years, they will understand all too well about the debate over global warming as well as the constantly changing costs of oil in the last decade. These are merely two of the reasons why wind power has become such an important topic of discussion when discussing the future of energy sources.
Wind power is completely clean and regularly renewable. After all, is there anyone who has ever known the wind to simply cease to exist forever? Certain environments, or areas of the country are much better than others to capture wind energy, but just about anywhere that experiences generally sustained winds, especially in mountain passes and canyons, can produce wind power.
Why do so many people advocate for wind power? Depending on the group that you talk to, you'll get a different emphasis on this answer. For the countless individuals who believe that global warming is being driven by human consumption and more specifically by the carbon emissions commonly linked to burning oil, then the advantages of wind power can be easily recognized.
Wind puts out no emissions that can damage the environment that contributes to global warming. These malicious emissions also cause smog around many metropolitan cities, most notably Los Angeles that deals with pollution on a regular basis. Wind power is never-ending; when one day ends, you shouldn't worry about how much wind you have used. Wind will never die out.
Of course, there will be days that have more wind that others, and some days may not create any wind whatsoever, but that is minor. The force that is captured by wind turbines -those large modern-style windmills- on what are known as wind farms, is transmitted along power lines to a location that maintains that energy for distribution. At the moment, wind power doesn't power any towns or cities completely, but rather supplements the usual forms of electricity.
What does it mean for most people when it comes to wind power? If you own or rent a home and are responsible for the power in your home, then by having a portion of the energy brought in to your home created by wind power, then you will be able to minimize the annual cost of your electric bill. When you have more electricity created by wind power, the greater the savings.
So, in effect, wind power is important to many people for financial gain, rather than the advantages it can offer to the global climate. Perhaps the most important benefit that wind power can be of to people is that wind won't cost more based on supply and demand, as is the case with oil or coal. Since it is a replenishing supply of power, then any rate increase using wind power would have to be caused by inflation, not because it is becoming a scarce commodity.
Wind power is important for anyone who cares about the environment, or who wishes to save money over the long-term.
