Prof. C
Comp. 1-Research Paper
7 Nov. 2008
Within the next few years, one can expect to see a vast change in the way that mankind
harnesses energy. Alternative fuels will play a colossal role in what has become one of our
generations largest challenges, limited supplies of fossil fuels. Scientists have been
working for years to develop alternative methods to power the globe given that materials
such as coal and oil are not renewable resources. Once they are used up, they are gone
forever. New forms of energy have to be developed but what other sources are there and
where will each work best?
With fuel prices increasing every year and the theory that CO2 emissions from coal and
petroleum products are heating up the globe, other resources of energy are being
developed and put into use around the world. One of the new resources that is being put to
use is wind energy. This particular type of energy is based on the old concept of windmills
that used to be used on farms. When the wind blows it causes the blades on the windmill to
spin. This spinning in turn, spins a turbine inside of a small generator. That action creates
electricity. Although windmills are fantastic, they are not practical everywhere. Wind
turbines need to have at least a 14 mph wind speed in order to do any good( Wind Power).
Unfortunately this is not found everywhere. So wind turbines must be put only in places
that remain consistently windy. The wind farms are also built in areas that are wide open
with flat terrain. Iowa is now home to over 600 wind turbines (Wind Power). This number
of wind turbines produces enough electricity to power about 140,000 homes. Minnesota
and Wisconsin are also putting the technology to use in there windy locations. Some
schools in Iowa are even using these wind turbines to power their schools (Wind Power).
And when it comes to size on these, bigger is most definitely better. The higher that the
turbine is, the more wind that it reaches, thus, creating more electricity. At the flying Cloud
wind plant in northeast Iowa the wind turbines are about 240 feet tall. The largest wind
turbine in the world is located in Hawaii, it stands 20 stories tall and has blades the length
of a football field. The tower which holds the blades of the turbine high in the air is hollow
