The United States uses about 337,059,000 megawatt hours of electricity in one year. According to the U.S. Energy and Information Administration, the leading state in the U.S. for wind production is North Dakota. We Produce 6.34 million megawatt hours from wind energy. That’s 17.5% of all of the power produced in North Dakota, and 5.7% of all of U.S. power. One wind turbine generates enough power to power 500 medium si
zed homes.
The Wind turbine is a common name for the generator used to create wind power. The correct name is the aero-foil powered generator. There are different types of these, including: horizontal axis, vertical axis, and Darrieus turbines. Horizontal are the most common and the most powerful.
Currently, the U.S. department of Energy (DOE) leads the search for new ways to make Wind turbines easier to use, more efficient, and lower the cost. Thanks to them, since 2000, the amount of energy produced by wind has increased by 18 times what it was at 15 years ago. This also creates 75,000 jobs for people across the country in 44 different states. Companies have been working to make more and more Wind generators to help with the growing need for power in the U.S.
As of 2014, the U.S. had 46,000 Wind turbines on land. That does not include all of the generators of-shore. If we took advantage of all of the wind created in the United States in one year, we could power the entire country 10 times over. I think we need to take this advantage, and build more wind turbines. Most would say that it is too expensive, but from the money saved by no longer having any coal burning factories, or nuclear power plants, we could afford to make all of the wind turbines.
Overall, wind energy is more efficient, less damaging to the environment, and cheaper to use. If we invest as people as a country, we can help to better the future for ourselves and future generations. We will save ourselves from killing our planet with harmful chemicals and oxides like pollution form coal and gas. We could also create better ways to harness the power of the wind and improve turbines if we focus more on them and not on other resources.
How long do you think it will take for the U.S. and the rest of the world to convert to complete “green” energy?
What country do you think will fully sustain itself on wind energy first? and why?
How much power do you think one turbine can create over its lifetime?
WOW! This was a very catchy article. I learned a lot about wind turbines. I think its a good idea to have these because its a clean and renewable resource and its not polluting the air. One wind turbine can power up to 500 medium sized homes which is crazy if you think about it. I think that we need to get the whole world to go more green because it would help from pollution in our world. operation costs are nearly at nothing since wind is free and that’s how these towers are powered.
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/wind-power-profile/
I found this article to be very good! I personally think that their should be more towers being built around the country. This is mainly because coal is a non renewable resource which can be harmful to the environment. I learned that wind turbines effectiveness of producing energy is largely based on amount of wind. This is a reason why off the shorelines it is much greater.
http://www.globalwindday.org/faqs/how-efficient-are-wind-turbines/
I think that it’s interesting how many jobs that wind energy has increased over a 15 year time span. It has created roughly 75,000 jobs across 44 states. The money you save over time with wind energy, is worth switching from other energy sources like coal. Other energy sources will eventually run out, and upgrading win energy, and other energy sources, will help people in the long run. Even though people are killed from wind turbines, it doesn’t kill nearly as much people as other things that happen in daily life, like a car crash. I don’t think that the U.S will completely convert to green energy, unless they have to. I think that the country with not as much natural resources will sustain itself first. I think that a wind turbine can create enough power over its lifetime to power half of a small town. Considering that it powers 500 medium sized homes, I think that half of a small town is a good equivalent. Here is a link to more information for wind turbines and wind energy.
http://www.globalwindday.org/faqs/how-efficient-are-wind-turbines/
Wind energy is a very good resource for energy, especially if you want to be conservative. Other than North Dakota; California, Texas, Oregon, and Indiana are other major wind power states. I also found out that wind energy is slowly closing the gap on coal power for overall use in supplying energy for North Dakota. Coal has always been larger, but wind power is starting to pick up.
http://triblive.com/business/headlines/7343409-74/wind-turbines-basin#axzz3Z6q415cP
This article is very interesting because I never knew how good wind energy could be for our economy. One wind turbine can power over 600 homes, so that is why we should keep investing into building more of these. Some people actually complain about it killing birds or bats, with the big propellers it uses to generate energy. The truth is that cars, power lines, and tall buildings kill more birds than wind turbines. If growth like this continues, wind energy would be the source of one-third of the world’s energy supply.
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/wind-power-profile/