Wind energy: advantages and disadvantages

The development of wind energy around the world has been very rapid in recent years. The leaders at the moment are China and the USA, but the rest of the world is gradually developing this promising area of ​​"clean" energy based on an inexhaustible natural resource - wind energy. Every year in the world more and more wind turbinesand there is a trend towards further diffusion of technology.

Wind energy resources are so vast that they cannot be fully exploited even in the future. From a quantitative point of view, the question can only be about a possible degree of concentration of wind power plants in a certain limited area.

Let's look at the advantages and disadvantages of using wind turbines.

Advantages:

1. A fully renewable energy source is used. As a result of the action of the sun, air currents are constantly moving in the atmosphere, the creation of which does not require the extraction, transportation and burning of fuel. The source is fundamentally inexhaustible.

2. During the operation of the wind power plant there are no harmful emissions.This means no greenhouse gases or industrial waste in general. That is, the technology is ecological.

3. The wind farm does not use water for its operation.

4. The wind turbine and the main working parts of such generators are located at a considerable height above the ground. The mast on which the wind turbine is mounted occupies a small area of ​​the ground, so the surrounding space can be successfully used for domestic needs, various buildings and structures can be placed, for example, for agriculture.

5. The use of wind generators is especially justified for isolated areas where electricity cannot be supplied by conventional means, and autonomous provision for such areas is perhaps the only way out.

6. After putting a wind power plant into operation, the price per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated in this way is significantly reduced. For example, in the USA, the operation of newly installed stations is specially studied, these systems are optimized, and thus it is possible to reduce the cost of electricity for consumers up to 20 times the original price.

7. Maintenance during operation is minimal.

Disadvantages:

1. Dependence on external conditions at a certain moment. The wind may be strong or there may be no wind at all. In order to ensure a continuous supply of electricity to the consumer under such variable conditions, an electricity storage system of considerable capacity is required. In addition, infrastructure is needed to transfer this energy.

2. Building a wind turbine requires material costs. In some cases, investments are attracted on a regional scale, which is not always easy to secure.This is the initial stage, the construction of the project itself, which is a very expensive undertaking. The infrastructure mentioned above is an important part of the project that also costs money.

On average, the cost of 1 kW of installed capacity is $1,000.

3. Some experts believe that wind turbines distort the natural landscape, that their appearance violates the natural aesthetics of nature. Therefore, large companies should resort to the help of professionals in design and landscape architecture.

4. Wind turbines generate aerodynamic noise that can cause discomfort to people. For this reason, a law has been passed in some European countries, according to which the distance from the wind turbine to residential buildings should not be less than 300 meters, and the noise level should not exceed 45 dB during the day and 35 dB at night.

5. There is a small chance of a bird hitting a windmill blade, but it is so small that it hardly needs serious consideration. But bats are more vulnerable because their lung structure, unlike that of birds, contributes to fatal barotrauma when a mammal enters a zone of reduced pressure near the edge of a blade.

Despite the drawbacks, the environmental benefits of wind turbines are clear. For clarity, it is worth noting that operating a 1 MW wind turbine saves about 29,000 tons of coal or 92,000 barrels of oil over 20 years.