Institute for Energy Research

Wind

Historically, harnessing the power of the wind as an energy source has freed man from manual labor for centuries. Windmills were first broadly used to mill grain by turning stones, and later as an efficient means of pumping water into storage for later use on demand. Today, wind power is turned into electricity by converting the rotation of turbine blades on windmills into electrical current.

Wind power is typically generated by large-scale wind farms which are located either on land or just off shore where they are connected to power grids that distribute their electricity to end users. Some small consumers of power also employ wind power where construction of transmission lines is expensive or prohibited.

Courtesy DOE/NREL PPM Energy

Today, wind power provides about one-quarter of 1% of all the energy consumed in the United States. Though wind power has increased substantially since 1970, it constitutes only a small fraction of US electricity supply. Wind power accounts for about two-thirds of 1% of all electricity generated in the US.

Wind power can be viable for companies in areas where prevailing conditions are favorable, especially if the government compels the production of renewable energy.

However, sufficient wind for economically generated power is not always available. For example, according to the Energy Information Administration, relatively few areas in the eastern half of the United States are rated as having “class six” winds—15.7 mph at a height of 33 feet—or “superb” for wind power generation. Other areas of the country hold great promise for expanding wind power generation, but in many instances opposition has grown just as the industry has approached commercial viability.

Like solar power, wind power requires an extensive amount of land or, in the case of near-shore power generation, sea. According to the Institute for Energy Research, to generate as much electricity as a traditional 1,000 megawatt power plant requires 2,500 four hundred kilowatt wind turbines, in turn disturbing a considerable amount of land.

Recent technological and efficiency gains have led to more sophisticated wind units, capable of producing as much as 3 megawatts each, and trading surface disturbance for the larger, higher and more visible newer units.

Though wind farms release no emissions into the air, they have their own set of environmental problems. Rotating wind turbines can injure or kill birds and bats. They also strike some individuals as aesthetically degrading to the landscapes and seascapes they occupy. Some complain of noise. Others have objected to the transmission lines necessary to transmit electricity from remote locations to the electricity consumers.

Wind power has seen substantial growth in recent years, aided by tax subsidies and government mandates to purchase renewable energy through establishment of “renewable portfolio standards,” or RPS. Many utilities mandated by the government to sell a certain amount of their electricity from renewable sources have turned to wind power as one of the less expensive renewable power sources.

Printable Wind Charts

• Wind 1: Historic Windpower Consumption in US
  

• Wind 2: Percent of Total US Energy Consumption

• Wind 3: Annual Average Wind Power in US