Florida Wind Power Technology

Florida Wind Power Technology

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In order to have a discussion of Florida wind power, the interested needs to understand the background and technology of wind energy. We will provide some background and then try to explain why Florida wind power is falling behind other states. At this time, Florida stands 47th among U.S. States in the production of electric energy.

Wind power is the converting of wind energy into a useful form, such as electrical power, by the use of wind turbines. At the finish of 2008, worldwide production by wind-powered generators was 120.8 gigawatts.

Throughout history the wind has been used to propel sailboats or transformed into mechanical energy for moving water or crushing grain, but the principal application of wind power today is the generation of electrical energy. Huge wind farms are typically fed directly to the local electric power transmission network, with lower capacity turbines providing electric power to isolated locations. Power companies increasingly reimburse customer for extra electrical power generated by small home size generators. Wind energy as a power source is favored by many environmentalists as an alternative to fossil fuels, as it is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean, and produces lower greenhouse gas emissions, although the building of wind farms is not always met with open arms due to their and possible effects on the Eco-system. The intermittency of wind doesn't create challenges when using wind turbines to supply a low percentage of total usage. When wind is to be used for a larger proportion of usage, additional costs for adjustments due to intermittency are considered to be modest.

In recent years, the US has added more wind energy to its transmission network than anyone; American wind power capacity increased by 45% to 16.8 gigawatts in 2007 and overtaking Germany's production capacity in 2008. California was one of the incubators of the modern wind generation industry, and has been the U.S. leader in installed capacity for quite some time; by the end of 2006, however, Texas became the leading wind production state and continues to extend its advantage. By the end of 2008, the state had 7,116 MW capacity installed, which would have placed it sixth in the world if Texas were a separate country.

Sadly, Florida has not kept pace with these impressive gains. The top resources in the industry are in agreement that Florida wind power is not economically feasible due to the state's inconsistent wind conditions. Even the one site that is under construction is admittedly a political move and most knowledgeable experts have determined that the best conditions in Florida would not be considered as viable sites in any state that has wind farms. On the positive side, this doesn't mean that homeowners cannot incorporate wind power into a system to reduce dependence on commercial electricity.

Note: The whole quantity of economically extractable energy available from the wind is considerably more than current human power use from all sources. An estimated 72 terawatts of wind energy on the Earth potentially can be commercially viable, compared to about 15 terawatts typical world energy used from all sources in 2005. These numbers are in spite of the fact that not all the energy of the wind flowing past a given point can be extracted.

It is important to mention that there are available diy guides that allow almost anyone to construct a quality wind generator with readily available components at a very reasonable price. http://diyenergy.newagelinx.com/review.html

About the Author:
The author has been curious about Wind Power and other forms of renewable energy, for longer than most. Being a man who has always had a curiosity about the science involved, he writes on this topic frequently. Florida Wind Power Technology is a very good resource!

For the Do-it-yourselfer: http://diyenergy.newagelinx.com/review.html



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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