interesting facts for wind power
interesting facts for wind power are plentiful. With more and more investment into, and takeup of, wind power the number of facts and statistics are growing almost day by day. Here, we've taken various different snippets of informationa and have presented them in sections relating to different aspects of wind power:
interesting facts for wind power - historical facts
wind power was first deliberately harnessed thousands of years ago by early sailing boats.
The first windmills built were in Iran and were used to grind grain.
The first electricity generated by a large-scale wind powered generator was produced in Cleveland, Ohio in 1888. Its inventor was one Charles Brush and his massive machine measured more than 55 feet (17m) in diameter.
The first 'industrial-scale' wind power generator was built in Russia in 1931. This was the Balaclava generator and had a massive 100kW generating capacity.
Variable pitch blades were pioneered by the German professor Ulrich Hutter in the 1960s.
interesting facts for wind power - modern day
California is now the biggest US user of wind power, generating more than twice the amount of the next most wind-power-friendly state
The USA generates more than 17 billion kW a year by harnessing the power of the wind, with more than 100 billion kW being generated globally.
The biggest global producer of electricity from wind power is Germany.
Europe accounts for nearly 85% of the world's $10billion wind industry.
A poll carried out in Scotland suggested more than 80% of tourists would be keen to visit a wind farm.
Global wind power potential is said to be capable of supplying between 10 and 20 times the total global demand for power.
A modern wind turbine typically takes less than 8 months to cover its whole-life-cycle energy requirement with its own energy output.
President George W Bush has stated he feels it's possible for the USA to generate up to 20% of it's electricity needs through wind power.
The cost of producing electricity from wind power has fallen by more than 80% in the last 20 years.
interesting facts for wind power - scientific
Wind power is an indirect form of solar energy - wind is created by different surface areas of the earth heating up under sunlight at different rates. The differing air pressures this creates produces the wind.
Europe is rich in wind power potential and of those the UK is the windiest.
One typical UK wind turbine will generate enough electricity in its lifetime to power a computer for more than 1,600 years.
A modern wind turbine moves more than 48 tons of air every second.
Today's wind turbines have a design life of more than 20 years - that more than 120,000 hours of continuously generating electricity.
wind power in the news
1 Aug 2010 at 12:09am
Letter Wind power is not deliveringScotsmanIn a paper published on the website Master Resource, electrical engineer Kent Hawkins has shown that when wind power surpasses 5 per cent of power generated ...
30 Jul 2010 at 2:32pm
Fury over four planned wind turbines near GillinghamBBC NewsA new campaign has been launched against a proposal to build wind turbines near Gillingham. Two years ago 1987 people wrote to the council to object to ...
31 Jul 2010 at 5:02pm
Norfolk Eastern Daily PressNorfolk council ordered to pay wind farm protest costsNorfolk Eastern Daily PressJohn Fuller, leader of South Norfolk District Council, said: ?Obviously we are disappointed, but wind turbines raise strong passions on either side. ...and more »
30 Jul 2010 at 5:53pm
GazetteNETTerra-Gen Power Breaks Ground on World's Largest Wind ProjectEarthtimesAWEC will increase the installed wind power capacity in California by 25 percent and conserve more than 888 million gallons of water annually. ...Powerful argumentPlanningResource (subscription)US wind falls back to 2007 levelsBusiness GreenUS wind industry calls for national renewable energy standardSmartPlanet.co...
26 Jul 2010 at 5:59am
Telegraph.co.ukEngineers race to design world's biggest offshore wind turbinesThe GuardianBritish, American and Norwegian engineers are in a race to design and build the holy grail of wind turbines ? giant, 10MW offshore machines twice the size ...Wind turbines set for 'increase'BBC NewsChris Huhne to announce increase in wind turbinesTelegraph.co.ukMore cheap wind turbines are key to power str...
29 Jul 2010 at 2:21pm
The Economist (blog)Wind powerThe Economist (blog)American power companies with significant wind power installations are struggling to cope with fluctuations in the juice their turbines are producing, ...and more »
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