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Wind energy is clean
energy, it is 100% renewable, produces zero emissions and does
not use water to generate electricity.
Wind is created
naturally in the atmosphere. As a form of energy, it is
an inexhaustible supply of clean, environmentally friendly
electricity. Wind energy is a converted form of solar
energy. The sun’s radiation heats different parts of the earth
at different rates – most notably during the day and night,
but also when different surfaces (for example, water and land)
absorb or reflect at different rates. This is turn causes
portions of the atmosphere to warm differently. Hot air rises,
reducing the atmospheric pressure at the earth’s surface, and
cooler air is drawn in to replace it. The result is wind.
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A wind
turbine is a device consisting of a tower, blades (typically
three), and an enclosure behind the blades containing the
rotor and generator. The wind turbine is
built to capture the energy of the wind. When wind blows past
the turbine’s blades, the wind makes the blades turn, which
turns the rotor in the electrical generator creating
electricity. The turbines are connected to the electric grid
by underground wires so the electricity can be transported
over the utilities transmission and distribution system and
used for everyday purposes in homes and businesses.
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Global Warming is a
growing concern in the U.S. and around the world. Carbon
dioxide is a greenhouse gas that is considered the major
contributor to global warming collecting in the atmosphere
like a thickening blanket, trapping the sun's heat and causing
the planet to warm up. Climate change is expected to raise sea
level, change precipitation, and alter forests, crop yields,
and water supplies. Global warming can also affect human
health, animals, and many types of ecosystems. Coal burning
power plants are the largest source of carbon dioxide
pollution in the U.S. Coal plants contribute nearly two-thirds
of the nation’s carbon emissions producing 2.5 billion tons
every year. Coal accounted for more than 48% of U.S.
electricity supply in 2007 and the proportion is set to remain
steady.
Wind generation is part of the solution, it
can generate a significant amount of clean, renewable
electricity that will displace fossil fuel plants such as
coal, oil and natural gas reducing the amount of carbon
emissions into the atmosphere and reducing global warming.
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Over the past decade, the wind community
has learned that wind farms and wildlife can and do coexist
successfully. Wind energy development’s overall impact on
birds is extremely low (<1 of 30,000), when compared with
collisions with buildings and windows, which are responsible
for about 55% of annual bird deaths, or housecats which are
responsible for about 10% of bird deaths annually representing
a far greater threat to birds than wind farms.
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Modern wind turbines
produce very little noise. The turbine blades produce a
whooshing sound as they encounter turbulence in the air, but
this noise is generally masked by the background noise of the
blowing wind. An operating modern wind farm at a distance of
750 feet to 1,000 feet is no more noisy than a kitchen
refrigerator.
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Wind farms are built
in places with strong, steady winds to ensure that they
produce as much power as possible, as much of the time as
possible. However, wind is variable depending on the
time of day and time of the year. A typical wind farm
would produce electricity in the range of 25-40% of its rated
capacity over the course of the year, but can produce
electricity at full capacity on any given day when the wind
exceeds a certain threshold amount.
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A wind farm or wind
generation facility is a group of wind turbines sited near
each other in order to generate more electricity than a single
turbine.
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The amount of
electricity that a turbine can produce depends on a variety of
factors, including the size of the wind turbine and the amount
of wind on the property. Today’s commercial scale wind
turbines typically range from 1.0 MW to 2.5 MW. A 1.5 MW
turbine can generate enough clean energy to power
approximately 500 homes per year.
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A 20 MW wind
generation facility can generate enough electricity for
approximately 5,000 to 6,000 homes per year. There are more
than 20,000 MW of installed wind capacity in the United States
spanning 34 states, supplying approximately 1% of the nation’s
electricity and enough to power more than 5 million homes.
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