The Benefits Of Wind Power

The Benefits Of Wind Power by Susan Banks Sr
We live in an energy conscious world today and more and more people are seeking ways to reduce carbon emissions and help protect the environment. Cutting down on fossil fuels and the use of renewable energy is a key part of protecting our planet.
Wind power has emerged as one of the most effective ways of harnessing the Earth's natural resources to produce a clean form of energy that doesn't damage our environment.
As oil prices continue to rise and pressure mounts to cut down on carbon emissions, the benefits of wind power and other alternative energy sources are becoming more and more apparent.
According to experts, wind power could meet 10 per cent of the world's electricity within 20 years, even if the amount of electricity used doubled. At present, the annual growth rate of wind power is more than 40 per cent and it should soon supply electricity to 100 million people worldwide. Europe is currently the world leader when it comes to wind power with Germany and Spain providing the most electricity through wind power. The United States is third on the list, followed by India and Denmark.
Wind power is the fastest growing source of alternative energy in the United States and around the world. Every year, more an more households get their electricity through wind power. However, this cheap and clean source of energy is still only being used to a fraction of its potential. However, this is likely to change in the next few years for a number of reasons.
Wind power is clean
The chief advantage of wind power is that it is clean. There is no smoke, no fumes, no smog and no dirty air for us to breath. A turbine simply harnesses the energy of the wind and produces electricity without producing any waste whatsoever.
Wind power can produce electricity that can be fed directly to homes and factories, replacing the power supplied by major power plants. Today, power plants are among the biggest polluters in the United States. However, a single 1-MW wind turbine can save on 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide in one year. This is the same of planting one square mile of forest. And that is just from one turbine, imagine what one hundred turbines will do to help save our environment.
Wind power is cheap
Wind is free so wind energy is cheap. In fact, it is the most competitive of all the renewable energy sources when it comes to cost and can easily rival the cost of other more tradition fuels like gas or oil.
Wind power is a relatively new technology and at the outset it was quite an expensive source of power. However, developments in the technology means that costs have reduced drastically and are continuing to fall. Meanwhile, the cost of power provide by fossil fuels is going up so wind power is likely to become the cheapest for of electricity in the near future. And once it becomes the cheapest, we can expect to see a significant rise in the number of wind farms in the United States.
Wind power is local
Wind is everywhere so there is the potential to build wind farms anywhere. Of course, some areas are better than others for harnessing wind power but the ability to have wind power as a local source of energy is a real plus. It can save on miles and miles of cabling, provide jobs and investment in local areas, and generally boost local economies.
Wind power also benefits society on a wider level. It makes for a cleaner environment which means healthier people and fewer air pollution-related medical problems. It can also be put in place quickly, cheaply and easily to deliver a reliable source of energy in a relatively short space of time.
Wider issues
The future of wind power is affected by any number of larger, global environmental and geo-political issues. With world leaders currently developing a new agreement on how the world is going to tackle climate change, a number of major changes can be expected in the world's energy supply. A move to greener, cleaner sources of energy is inevitable.
This signals a busy future for wind power. At the moment we have barely scratched the surface of this valuable resource. In the United States, wind power supplies less than 1 per cent of the country's total electricity needs. However, there is the potential to have 60 per cent of electricity supplied by wind power, and the figures are similar on a global scale.
So, in the coming years we are likely to see the number of wind farms around the world rocket as more and more countries harness this clean and cheap source of electricity.

Susan is a regular contributing copywriter to Fuzing.com. This view is proudly brought to you via trade leads from the Wind Turbines area of our portal.
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2008 is the Year of Solar Energy, According to New ChangeWave Survey

2008 Is The Year Of Solar Energy According To New Changewave Survey by
2008 is the Year of Solar Energy, According to New ChangeWave Survey
“Keep your face to the sunshine...” -- Helen Keller
No matter where you look, alternative energy is the topic du jour. Driven by the economics of record-high crude oil, the spotlight is shifting to non-traditional renewable energy sources, particularly solar power.
But while solar stocks were some of the biggest gainers for much of last year, recently the solar power industry has taken big hits – with several key leaders such as First Solar (FLSR) SunPower (SPWR) and Evergreen Solar (ESLR) down as much as 50% off their 52 week highs.
To find out what's going on with solar energy and the other renewable energy sources, we recently surveyed 182 respondents working directly in the alternative energy industry.
Solar Leads
Solar energy continues to show the most momentum of all alternative energy segments, according to industry respondents. Not only has it shown strong gains since our previous survey in February 2007, but it also leads in each of the following areas:
• Most Rapid Economic Growth – Past 12 Months: When asked which alternative energy sector has experienced the fastest growth over the past year, solar energy (49%) topped the list – up a whopping 14-pts since our previous survey in February. In comparison, Biomass – including biofuels and bio-products – came in at 41%.
• Most Rapid Economic Growth – Next 12-24 Months: Going forward, respondents see solar energy (58%; up 20-pts) as experiencing the most rapid growth in the industry for the next one-to-two years.
•Most Momentum – Next 5 Years: Over the long term, solar energy also retains its strength, as 31% of respondents (up 5-pts) say it will be the top sector for the next half decade.
In sum, solar energy leads all of the other major alternative energy categories in terms of rapid economic growth.
Solar energy is also seen as experiencing the biggest technology breakthroughs (27%; up 2-pts). But perhaps most importantly, solar cells are expected to be affordable enough to achieve a competitive return on investment within seven years (by 2015).
(Detailed charts, along with additional ChangeWave Solar Industry survey findings, can be downloaded at http://www.changewave.com/energy).
“Demand for solar cells is unquestionably robust, the price of oil is trending higher, and solar tax credits will likely be extended,” according to ChangeWave Analyst Josh Levine. The forces are all lining up exceptionally well for the solar industry. It’s the right time for investors to be exposed to the sun and invest in solar stocks.”
According to solar industry experts, the sector’s growth is being propelled forward by global photovoltaics manufacturers like First Solar (FSLR), SunPower Corp. (SPWR) and SunTech Power Holdings (STP) - companies that have developed superior business models and excelled in project management.
Levine adds that the next big challenge for the solar industry is the scaling of production facilities for mass production at the gigawatt level. "The next generation of leaders will be those companies that are best equipped to leverage the latest innovations in materials research through manufacturing know-how," he said.
Clearly, solar energy has the momentum in our latest ChangeWave survey. We’ll continue tracking solar energy and other non-traditional energy sources in the alternative energy industry for new opportunities in 2008.

The ChangeWave expert research network is composed of 15,000 highly qualified professionals. Members are surveyed weekly on a range of topics, and ChangeWave converts the findings into proprietary reports. For more ChangeWave Solar findings, go to: http://www.changewave.com/energy
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