11 Reasons To Consider Wind Power

Wind power is a technology that has been around for over 100 years, but hasn't gotten much attention until recently. Wind power is most effective in very windy areas, but the power of wind can be harnessed anywhere on Earth.

Here are 11 reasons why you should consider wind power as your alternative energy source.

Wind power is a clean source of energy. It does not need to burn any fossil fuels and has no harmful byproducts.

Wind power uses very little water compared to nuclear and coal power. Water is used on wind turbines to clean the blades to keep from free of dust/dirt and insect which change the shape of the blades as they build up. Here's how wind power compares to other energy technologies:

• Type of Power    Gallons/KW
• Wind                     0.001
• Photovoltaic         0.030
• Oil                        0.430
• Coal                     0.490
• Nuclear                0.620
  

Wind is caused by uneven heating of the Earth's atmosphere by the Sun. The sun is expected to continue burning for at least the next 4 billion years. So for the next 4 billion years, there will be wind on Earth.

While wind turbines placed in fields are generally very massive, that doesn't the entire field has to go to waste. Wind turbines are not harmful to the environment, not even the ground around the base. With that in mind, many farmers have gladly rented patches of land and allowed wind turbines to be built on those patches. That way the farmers make money from having the turbines in their fields and they can still plant their crops around the turbines.

Wind energy is not subject to an fluctuating market which makes prices far more stable and predictable than the market for oil. We won't see prices of wind energy jumping up and down like we do with oil.

Wind is a wind turbine's fuel and wind is free. Nobody can charge you for wind. Why? Refer back to reason #3.

On average, wind turbines save many people up to 60% on their energy bills. In places where air conditioners are run less, those savings tend to be higher.

When someone says "wind power" most of us automatically think about the giant wind turbines we've all seen in the media or somewhere in a field. But that's not the only size (or even shape) that wind turbines come in. Small wind turbines for residential use so that you don't have to buy an acreage to put up a wind turbine.

Solar panels may be an attractive choice when considering an alternative energy source due to their ability to be place almost where ever you please, but they're not as efficient as wind turbines. Wind turbines generally take up more room than 1 or 2 solar panels, but a single wind turbine can generate as much energy at 5 solar panels and the wind turbine even keeps working at night.

Like other renewable energy sources, the efficiency of wind turbines continues to grow and the products continue to be brought to us and more and more affordable prices.

The wind power market brings many jobs with it. There are jobs in production of the turbines, marketing them, transporting them, installation, maintenance, etc. A show called Dirty Jobs showed a small crew in charge of repairing turbine rotors if they ever got a crack in them. Even that is a job that comes along with the wind power industry.