subject: Wind Turbine Generators: What Will Become Of Overhead Wires? [print this page] The concept of wind turbine generators producing power for our homes is changing the way we view electricity creation. It is changing things permanently and for the better. So, this the way we will make power from here on out.
For the better part of this century the way we have made power in America and around the world is to generate it centrally and then distribute it to people's homes over a system of overhead wires. This worked perfectly well while fossil fuels were plentiful and we were finding new supplies of oil and coal almost everywhere we happened to look.
Since we are now facing shortages and probably extinction of these power supplies we once thought were limitless, we are having to rethink the whole strategy. While power can be made cheaply by burning up fossil fuels like coal in a central plant, as those fuels become less readily available, the model no longer holds up. It is becoming increasingly expensive to maintain and operate the complexity that our power distribution systems have turned into.
Now, with wind turbine generators and other renewable energy sources like solar collectors, we have the option of making our power at our homes, close to the point of use. With this paradigm shift, there is no need for a system of overhead wires to move the power around and in the process, suffer wasteful line losses. These line loses alone account for a number of pollution-emitting power plants having to be run just to keep up with these leaks in the system.
Wind turbine generators in particular are changing the way we think about power generation because they can be constructed and installed by the average homeowner. These devices can be purchased now in the form of wind turbine kits that only have to be assembled and installed. All of this is within the reach of the home do-it-yourselfer.
While it is difficult to supply all of your power from a wind turbine kit, it is certainly possible to make enough power for an appliance, for example. As home wind turbine devices become more and more efficient, it will be increasingly cheaper and easier to install multiple devices on your roof or elsewhere on your property to take advantage of the wind that you have at your disposal.
In the next 20 years, expect to see wind turbine generators springing up everywhere and even in very low wind environments. The shift that this means for our energy economy is revolutionary and a once in a century event to witness.
