Wind Energy and Its Consistency

Like many other forms of renewable energy, the prime energy source of wind power is the sun. The sun heats the Earth's surface causing movements of air due to temperature and pressure differences. Wind power harnesses the kinetic energy of wind and converts this into mechanical energy. Historically windmills used this energy to turn machinery e.g. grinding corn or pumping water. In a wind turbine the energy is used to produce electricity by driving a generator or alternator.

The big question is whether this source of energy can really be sustainable. While the list of these 'sustainable' sources of energy is very long, wind energy is considered as one of the ideal examples of clean and renewable sources of energy. The easiest and most common source of energy is the wind energy. This as compared to solar energy and geothermal energy has not been widely accepted. Certain disadvantages of wind energy have been emphasized and most likely they are not into using this in the future as the main alternative. Let us take a look at some of the main challenges that questions wind energy from becoming truly sustainable.

We see three disadvantages of wind energy: commercial factors, natural or environmental factor and other factors. Natural Factors – Obviously, we cannot get enough amounts of wind everyday. So inconsistency occurs. We cannot expect the same level of wind to blow every single day, some days would be more winds others less. The intensity of wind tends to change on a daily basis. One day the wind would be perfectly suited for generation of wind energy. Another day the wind would blow with an extreme force; so much that it would take the blade of mill with itself. In some cases, the wind would be too calm to be of any use. Another nature related disadvantage of wind energy is that it adversely affects the bird population in a given area. In case of rural area, this can be extremely disastrous. The birds play an important role in our ecosystem and they are also a natural pesticide and can really help farmers especially in crop production. Loss in the bird population would mean the growth of pests and insects which could affect agricultural industry.

Commercial - Apart from the fact that wind is rather unreliable and inconsistent; a big commercial disadvantage of wind energy is that it requires a huge initial amount of money. The equipments use for wind energy is a simple wind mill but this costs a lot. The maintenance of windmills is not something which may be considered as cheap. In a number of cases batteries are to be used to store the energy and overcome inconsistency issues. This is not an option for large scale power generation projects.

Secondly, you would need big hectares of land to install these windmills. To make wind energy working, the number of windmills to be installed should be very high or else it is useless. These windmills would require big areas to act as wind mill fields. Purchase or lease of such large pieces of land is not really an economically attractive option. It is not possible to find such stretches of land in urban areas which is a great hurdle. If ever there is a good and economical land available, the question is the consistency of the amounts of wind coming through everyday.

Finally, the other factors on disadvantages of wind energy, is a mixed of both the above disadvantages. Windmills can create noise pollution and windmills make land looks so vague and idle.