subject: Is Wind Power Renewable Energy? [print this page] Because of all the energy terminology floating around these days by the people who read the news, many people are asking, Is wind power renewable energy?
This is a most valid question, but wind energy most definitely is renewable and here are the definitions and reasons why
It will never run out - This is the primary definition of renewable energy. If you are looking at a source that is rechargeable and will therefore never run out, then you have by definition, a renewable energy resource.
The bottom line is all of renewable energy resources originally come from the sun. It is the heat that is transferred to the earth that manifests itself in so many other forms that allows us to harvest it and use it for electricity creation. Since the sun isn't going anywhere soon, renewable energy is also similarly strongly situated.
Wind power is natural - There is no synthesis required in order to convert renewable energy to electricity. In other words there is no conversion required the basic raw material from one state to another before it can be used in the process. This is the nature of renewable energy resources-they do not require you to first process the fuel before it is consumed.
This is very different than traditional fossil fuel generation facilities in that all of these traditional power generation facilities require that you first refine the fuel before it can be consumed efficiently by the power generator. (This is the case with oil, coal, and natural gas - none are used in their raw form and require energy to make energy, so to speak.) Renewable energy projects deal with the inefficiency of the fuel source on the front end do not require any intermediate processing step in order to accomplish the creation of the electricity with a wind turbine.
There are many sources of renewable energy:
Solar power - Solar energy is probably the most widely popular form of renewable power available now. Solar collectors have been used along with solar batteries in a variety of small appliances, like calculators, for years. They are a very passive source of power creation with no moving parts. They are not of course as intuitively obvious as wind turbines and not as easily repairable by the average person as are wind turbine systems.
Geothermal - This is an excellent form of renewable energy generation but is very expensive to tap. However, most people are not willing to invest the upfront money needed to get a geothermal system of their own at their house.The tides - The tides are being explored as potential source of electricity for people living near the coast. While it is certainly impractical to do this on an individual homeowner basis, the tides are definitely renewable forms of energy and in the surges the tides produce, there is a lot of latent electricity that can be converted and used as power for homes after it has been transmitted over a high voltage power line.
In summary, the question of whether wind power is renewable energy or not is a good one and it is very important that we understand their perpetual nature pursue them aggressively as a society.
