The Winds of Change

Compared to traditional energy sources, the environmental effects of wind power are relatively minor.

Wind power consumes no fuel, and emits no pollution. Simple decision really.

The tropics are blessed with an abundance of sunshine, rain and of course, strong trade winds and it is easy to harness this energy with simple wind turbines of any size, be it for personal home use or large-scale industrial wind farms that add power to the national grid. It is by far the cleanest and safest option currently available, and while not being used to its full potential, it stands to provide us with one of the most dependable energy supplies in the coming years as oil prices spiral out of control and smart money gets invested in green technologies.

Wind turbines for household electricity generation in combination with battery storage have been around for decades and in fact the humble windmill has its origins deep in antiquity, utilizing the power of the wind to mill wheat for our all important daily bread for millenia. Wind power in our atmosphere is much greater than current world energy consumption and if it could be harnessed effectively there would be a revolution in the way we view and use energy. And by only using 13% of the total global land area we could have five times as much power as we consume in all its forms today.

There are downsides of course. Wind farms are unsightly and the turbines and so large that they can be seen for miles around, invoking the ire of the not-in-my-backyard crowds right across the class spectrum. Wind turbines also don’t always run at 100% of their capacity like many other energy sources due to the fluctuation of wind speeds. They can also be noisy if they are of the very large variety. But, used in combination with other renewable energy sources like solar, wind power is an extremely viable option for saving power and taking pressure off our fossil fuel dependence. With modern small- and medium-scale turbines, wind energ can make a significant contribution to our power needs, cutting costs and reducing atmospheric CO2. This makes wind power something that should be considered for every renewable energy use project.