Sources of energy
Energy is the fuel that runs the engine of the world economy. Believe it or not our need for energy is not primarily to run economies but intrinsically to create order in the world.
Wind energy
Wind energy is the kinetic energy associated with the movement of atmospheric air. It has been used for hundreds of years for sailing, grinding grain, and for irrigation. Wind energy systems convert this kinetic energy to more useful forms of power. Wind energy systems for irrigation and milling have been in use since ancient times.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, wind energy is being used to generate electric power. Windmills for water pumping have been installed in many countries particularly in the rural areas. Wind turbines transform the energy if the wind, into mechanical power, which can then be used directly for grinding etc. or further converting to electric power to generate electricity. Wind turbines can be used singly or in clusters called ‘wind farms’. Small wind turbines called aero-generators can be used to charge large batteries. Five nations – Germany, USA, Denmark, Spain and India – account for 80% of the world’s installed wind energy capacity. Wind energy continues to be the fastest growing renewable energy source with worldwide wind power installed capacity reaching 14,000 MW.
India ranks 5th in the world with a total wind power capacity of 1080MW out of which 1025 MW have been established in commercial projects. Realising the growing importance of wind energy, manufacturers have steadily been increasing the unit size of the wind electric generators since the late 1980s. Another important development has been the offshore (i.e. in the sea) wind farms in some regions of Europe, which have several advantages over the on-shore ones. The third major development has been die use of new techniques to assess the wind resource for techno-commercial viability. This energy is used for: sailing ships, pumping water/Irrigation, grinding grains, power
Wind energy
Wind energy is the kinetic energy associated with the movement of atmospheric air. It has been used for hundreds of years for sailing, grinding grain, and for irrigation. Wind energy systems convert this kinetic energy to more useful forms of power. Wind energy systems for irrigation and milling have been in use since ancient times.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, wind energy is being used to generate electric power. Windmills for water pumping have been installed in many countries particularly in the rural areas. Wind turbines transform the energy if the wind, into mechanical power, which can then be used directly for grinding etc. or further converting to electric power to generate electricity. Wind turbines can be used singly or in clusters called ‘wind farms’. Small wind turbines called aero-generators can be used to charge large batteries. Five nations – Germany, USA, Denmark, Spain and India – account for 80% of the world’s installed wind energy capacity. Wind energy continues to be the fastest growing renewable energy source with worldwide wind power installed capacity reaching 14,000 MW.
India ranks 5th in the world with a total wind power capacity of 1080MW out of which 1025 MW have been established in commercial projects. Realising the growing importance of wind energy, manufacturers have steadily been increasing the unit size of the wind electric generators since the late 1980s. Another important development has been the offshore (i.e. in the sea) wind farms in some regions of Europe, which have several advantages over the on-shore ones. The third major development has been die use of new techniques to assess the wind resource for techno-commercial viability. This energy is used for: sailing ships, pumping water/Irrigation, grinding grains, power