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Wind Power
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Electricity is harnessed from the wind by wind turbines. There are two types: the horizontal model with blades that look like a windmill or propeller, and the vertical model with blades that resemble an egg beater. They come in a variety of sizes designed to provide different amounts of electricity. They may be alone, or part of a wind farm. Turbines are placed high up (>30 metres) in order to access a more constant flow of wind. The wind turns the turbine blades, which are connected to the generator and generate electricity. The harder the wind blows, the more electricity is generated. A modern land based wind turbine produces enough electricity to power about 1,000 homes (Pembina, CanWEA). Try harnessing the power of the wind online.
Offshore turbines are another option for generating wind power. These turbines are placed in oceans (and may be placed in the Great Lakes in the future) to catch the strong, constant ocean breeze. Because of this, they are more reliable and efficient than their on-shore counterparts, though they are also more expensive and difficult to maintain.
Wind power makes up a very small portion of Canada's electricity generation. There is far more potential for generating electricity from wind power than is currently being taken advantage of. As Canada continues its deployment of wind turbines, and as the turbine technology continues to improve, the country will generate more of its electricity from the wind. Have a look at Canada's current wind power generation, by province, on the Canadian Wind Association's map.
Ontario generates the most wind power in Canada, and its capacity for generating this kind of electricity is increasing. Under Ontario's recently passed Green Energy Act, the Province plans to significantly increase its wind and solar capacity in coming years.
What are wind power's benefits? What are its drawbacks and environmental impact?
Wind is renewable and abundant- Though wind does not always blow (or blow strongly enough to generate electricity), it is available throughout the world and is a source that cannot be depleted.
- While the construction and installation of turbines creates some GHGs, no GHG emissions or other air pollutants are released during electricity generation.
- Wind itself is free, and large-scale wind power generation is becoming cost-competitive to traditional power generation.
No solid waste or water pollution is produced during electricity generation
- The construction and installation of wind power may produce some waste and water pollution, but the actual generation of electricity results in neither.
Wind turbines can be constructed and installed quickly
- Wind turbines are fast and easy to install because they are fairly simple and straightforward. This allows wind farms to expand relatively quickly and easily.
- While wind turbines may need large stretches of land, they have little impact on it.
- Wind turbines can share land with other activities, such as growing crops or grazing livestock. Installing turbines on farmland creates an additional income source for farmers.
- Offshore turbines placed out in the sea have no impact on land, though they have minimal impact on the ocean floor.
It's easy to expand wind power generation
- If the area permits, either on land or at sea, wind farms can be expanded simply by installing more turbines.
Drawbacks and Environmental Impact
Wind power is intermittent- Because it is intermittent, it is unreliable for large-scale electricity generation. However, it may be paired with a non-intermittent source such as hydro, which can provide electricity when there is insufficient wind or no wind at all.
- There may not always be enough wind to generate electricity. Turbines typically require winds of at least 13 kilometres an hour to generate electricity. There also may be too much wind. Fifty-five kilometer an hour winds are typically the maximum, and in winds above this turbines shut down for safety reasons.
- Placing turbines offshore helps with some of the problem of too little wind, because ocean winds are stronger and more constant.
- Land-based wind turbines capture about 15 to 40% of their total potential capacity to generate electricity. Offshore turbines are more efficient, though still not to the point where they can become a primary electricity source.
Wind turbines may harm and kill birds and bats
- Turbines sometimes kill birds or interfere with their migratory routes. Wind power companies try to curb this by ensuring their turbines are not in the migratory path of birds. Overall, however, turbines kill remarkably fewer birds each year than do buildings, cats, and communication towers.
- More often turbines kill or harm bats. Spinning turbine blades create an area of low air pressure. When bats fly through this low air pressure, their lungs and blood vessels expand. The bats' blood vessels may burst and fill their lungs with blood and fluid, killing them. Less frequently, they are struck and killed by turbine blades.
Wind farms take up a lot of space
- Wind farms need large amounts of land in sufficiently windy areas, though, they can share the land with other activities.
- Noise from rotating turbine blades may bother nearby residents. New technologies continue to reduce turbine sound, and wind projects must meet government noise regulations, but this is still a concern.
Some people find wind turbines visually unappealing
- Some people don't like the look of wind turbines and feel they ruin the appearance of natural landscapes.
Some people report experiencing "wind turbine syndrome"
- Some people living near turbines report symptoms such as headaches, anxiety, ringing in the ears, dizziness, and insomnia, which some link to the low frequency noise from turbines. Similar low frequency noise is created by background city noise, such as local traffic. Whether or not living near a wind turbine causes illness needs further study, still, minimum set back rules require turbines to be at least 550 metres from residences to minimize noise.
Canadian Wind Energy Association (2008). Wind Energy. Available here.
Centre for Energy (2010). What is wind energy? Available here.
David Suzuki Foundation (2010). Wind. Available here.
National Geographic (2010). Wind Power. Available here.
The Pembina Institute. Wind. Available here.
Pollution Probe (2003). Primer on the Technologies of Renewable Energy. Available here.
U.S. Energy Information Administration. Wind. Available here.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2010). Wind. Available here.
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