Wind
We all know about the wind and its effects — from the gentle swaying of a tree to the commotion of a stormy night. But did you know that the wind can be harnessed to produce the electrical power for everything from a single house to an entire city? Humans have used the wind for thousands of years for tasks such as pumping water and sailing. The term "windmill" came into usage as mills used the wind to grind grain.
About 120 years ago, people started to use the wind to generate electricity. Today, wind power is one of the most popular of the renewable energies. In Canada, wind already supplies 3% of all our energy – enough to power over 2 million homes. While small windmills are still common on farms for pumping water, some farms now have wind turbines — large wind-powered machines that generate electricity. There are also 68 wind farms in Canada – collections of turbines that generate electricity for the electrical grid. Where is a wind turbine or wind farm near you?
How Does Wind Become Energy For Human Use?
Wind is created when the unequal heating of the earth's surface causes heat to rise in certain places and cooler air to flow into the spaces left behind. Because the heating of the earth's surface will always create wind, wind is considered a renewable energy source. Wind power is created when we use the force of the wind to generate electricity using a wind turbine. If there is enough wind in a certain area, wind turbines can be put up and electricity can be generated.
With our interactive wind turbine, see the impact of wind speed and wind direction, measure electrical output, and get to know the parts of the turbine. Click image to launch the activity!
A wind turbine is connected to the electricity system called the "grid." The electricity grid distributes power to homes, schools, farms and businesses.
The generation of wind power can be large-scale or small-scale. Large-scale wind generation provides electricity to the electrical grid just as coal, hydro or natural gas electrical generation facilities provide electricity. A single large-scale wind turbine produces enough electricity to power hundreds of homes. Clustered together on a "wind farm," turbines can produce enough electricity for thousands of homes and businesses!
Small-scale wind turbines provide local, on-site electricity to a single home or business, or to remote off-grid locations. Small wind turbines are set up where the electricity is needed. Any additional electricity generated by the turbine — electricity that is not needed by the home or business owner — can be sent to the local electrical grid.
What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Wind Energy?
Like all energy sources, wind power has both advantages and disadvantages.
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There has been some concern about the impact of wind turbines on wildlife such as birds. Because birds can be harmed or killed if they fly into the blade of a wind turbine, some people believe that wind power should not be used. When we think of this problem in isolation, it does make us question whether wind turbines are a good choice.
When we think of the bigger picture, however, we are better able to weigh and measure the risk. Wind power is not unique in its impact on birds: consider the harm done to birds by non-renewable energy sources (e.g., from mining operations that remove all wildlife habitat), by human structures such as large downtown office buildings or the bay windows in houses, or even by domestic cats. A recent study in southern Alberta found that, on average, there was one bird collision for every five wind turbines in the farm each year. This number is kept low because bird migration patterns are always considered when sites are chosen for wind turbines.
Can Wind Power Help Meet Canada's Needs?
Wind power is efficient and clean and its energy source, the wind, costs nothing. As the cost of generating electricity increases and people worry more and more about the effects of climate change, wind power is becoming increasingly appealing. Although wind power cannot completely replace all other sources of power, it is one important way for us to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels like oil and natural gas.
Experts say that there is the potential in Canada for wind energy to meet a full 20% of all of our electricity needs! Currently, Canada is behind many other developed countries in how much electricity we produce from wind, but the industry is rapidly growing in many parts of the country. Experts can now help families, farmers, businesses and even cities decide whether wind is the right choice for them.
Wind Power Fact Sheet
Wind Energy Facts
- The bigger the diameter of a wind turbine's blades, the more power it makes at any speed.
- A small increase in wind equals a big increase in power generated. The power in the wind is proportional to the cube of the wind speed.
- Wind speeds tend to increase as winds go over a hill and then decrease on the down side.
- Wind power ranges from Class 1 to Class 7, with each class representing wind-power density or mean wind-speed. Areas designated Class 4 or greater are suitable for the advanced wind-turbine technology that is under development today.
- Shore lines and open areas such as farmers' fields tend to have the best and most easily accessible wind resources.
- A 1 MW turbine with a 30% capacity factor produces about 2,600 MWh per year — enough to power about 320 homes.
- A wind turbine typically lasts 20-25 years. During this time, as with any machinery, some parts may need replacing.
- A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is one kilowatt (or 1,000 watts) of electricity produced or consumed for one hour. One 100 watt light bulb left on for 10 hours consumes one kWh of electricity (100 watts x 10 hours = 1,000 watt-hours = 1 kWh). The average Canadian household consumes about 9,000 kWh each year.
- Turbines being manufactured now have power ratings ranging from 250 watts (for battery charging) to 10kW (which can generate about 15,000 kWh annually, more than enough to power a typical house or cottage) to 3.0 megawatts (MW) or enough to power close to 1,000 households.
- Today, in good wind areas, the cost of generating electricity from wind ranges from 6 to 12 cents per kWh. This is a significant decrease from 30 cents per kWh, which was the cost less than 10 years ago. Prices even lower than the current 6 to 12 cents can be achieved at large wind farms through economies of scale.
- Experts predict that in the year 2020 the cost of wind energy will range from 3.4 to 5.5 cents per kWh in U.S. dollars.
Global Facts
- The biggest producers of wind energy are Germany, the United States, Spain, India and Denmark.
- Denmark has the highest proportion of its power generated from the wind: close to 25% of the country's annual electrical needs are met by wind power.
- The global wind energy potential, even excluding environmentally sensitive areas, is roughly five times current global electricity use.
- Wind power is the world's fastest growing energy source, increasing by more than 30% each year for the past five years. In March 2007, worldwide wind-generated capacity exceeded 70,000 MW, the capacity of about 140 coal power plants.
- As wind energy has increased by approximately 32% per year globally over the last five years, it has proven to be a clean, abundant and completely renewable source of electricity.
Canadian Facts
- Every year for the past nine years, Canada has installed more megawatts of wind energy capacity than the previous year.
- Since 2001, the Government of Canada has provided a one cent per kWh in financial support for the installation of wind energy projects.
- As of March 2007, Canada's installed wind energy capacity was 1,419MW — already powering over 440,000 homes and businesses in a clean, reliable and efficient manner.
- Northern Quebec (Nunavik) alone has enough wind resource to produce 40% of Canada's electricity needs!
- As of March 2007, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec were at the forefront of wind power production in Canada, with an installed capacity of 384.97 MW in Alberta, 415.31 MW in Ontario and 321.75 MW in Quebec.