Wind energy is one of the fastest growing source of renewable energy in the world. Apart from being a clean power source, wind energy is one of the cheapest source of energy.

As the United States has plenty of wind, the use of wind energy can fairly reduce the country’s dependence on rapidly depleting natural resources.

Wind energy is not a new concept to generate power. Long ago, the Egyptians used wind energy to sail their ships on the Nile River over 5,000 years ago. In Persia, windmills were developed about 500 to 900 A.D. for grinding grains and pumping water. The same concept has been modernized to generate electricity.

There are mainly two types of wind turbines being used today. Horizontal-axis turbines have the axis of their rotating shaft horizontal to the ground, whereas the vertical-axis turbines have the axis of the rotating shaft vertical to the ground. Horizontal-axis turbines are more commonly being used today.

Wind turbines can be of various sizes ranging from small turbines having a capacity of 100 kilowatts, to large turbines with a capacity of more 5 million watts.

Although wind energy is a great source of energy, but the unreliable nature of wind makes it difficult for us to harness it properly. We may experience great force of wind on one day, and sometimes it may not blow at all, making it impossible for us to use wind energy to fulfill all of our energy needs. Still, the U.S. Department of Energy has estimated that wind power could fulfill 20% of the nation’s electricity requirements by 2030.

However, certain important issues related to the usage of wind energy such as the negative effect on wild bird populations and their visual impact on the land and sea, need to be addressed before its usage becomes common.

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