We have been naturally gifted with lots and lots of sources to extract energy from. The basic unit of life, the sun, provides us with warmth and light which can also be used to extract energy. The flowing river can be used to power houses through hydro-electricity. The heat as well can be used to extract electricity. The wind energy too is and alternative source of energy. There are areas all around the globe where the wind flow at just right speed over higher course of time that can be used to drive huge blades of windmills.

Wind costs us nothing, it is free everywhere and for everyone. This leads to a conclusion that the operation cost too is cheaper after once when the turbine starts to move and electricity is produced. The United States is planning to produce 20% of its energy from the wind by 2030, decreasing the reliability on the traditional fossil fuels. Research and development is taking place to address the challenges of making the wind power cheaper and more viable to individuals and the business enterprises out there.

Pros and Cons of Wind Energy:

After the solar energy, wind is speculated to be the alternative source of energy that could possibly aid in decreasing the consumption of fossil fuels. Though every technology has it upward side as well as the down side and wind energy too has it. The pros and cons of wind energy is listed below.

Pros of Wind Energy

• Clean Source of Energy:

The production of electricity from wind is clean opposed to the coal, oil and other source which pollute the environment. Wind energy decreases our reliability on fossil fuels and helps in the improvement of environment as well as nations economy.

• Renewable source:

Wind is renewable source of energy in a sense that till there is atmosphere on Earth, there will always be wind. Unlike fossil fuel, burning the fuel decreases the availability but wind energy doesn’t spend up on using. As long as the sun shines and wind blows, the wind energy can always be harnessed.

• Cost effective:

Wind energy is produced through rotation of turbines. The turbine provides continuous energy as long as wind blows and doesn’t need any external energy to run the turbine. You don’t even have to harvest the turbine to produce electricity from your home, rather you can buy energy from the organizations which provide electricity from wind energy. It is cheaper to buy and cleaner to use.

• Use of modern technology:
  Modern wind mills look sleek and attractive unlike older chunky and rusty wind mills. Modern ones are white, slick and good looking, if you have one on your land, you don’t have to worry about them being an eyesore.
• Rapid Growth and Huge Potential:
  Wind energy has seen tremendous growth over last few years. U.S has seen growth on wind power capacity and is planning on producing 30% of total consumption of energy through wind power. Wind turbine are available in many shapes and sizes and you can have them according to your requirement and budget. It has huge potential as an alternative source, the need is just to have proper research done in order to find areas with maximum potential.

Also Read: Solar Energy Pros and Cons

Cons of Wind Energy:

• Wind reliability:
  Wind doesn’t have any fixed schedule to flow. It does have a fixed time of year when it is the fastest, but it cannot be said that it will be this windy today. At the time when wind won’t help you, you won’t have any energy produced. And sometimes when there are high winds or storms, the wind might damage the turbine as well.
• Threat to wildlife:
  The wildlife is under potential threat by the turbines, specially the flying ones. It becomes harder for the birds to fly across the areas with wind turbines. There isn’t a particular solution to the problem, but it’s definitely something that has to be watched for the possible consequences.
• Noise Pollution:
  The wind turbines can become very noisy as they produce around 50-60dB of sound. If you have one by your house, it can be annoying. It’s a 24hrs torture. However, technology has been searching for a potential solution to minimize the noise of the turbine, but having house away from such wind turbine would be ideal.
• Suitable to certain location:
  There are certain areas on Earth where the flow rate of wind is relatively constant and productive. The wind turbines are mostly set up in rural areas and for the energy to be transported to the urban areas, there has to be longer transmission lines to be set up which can cost extra in infrastructures.
• Cost:
  Wind turbines are relatively costlier to setup in the beginning. The infrastructures will cost you a lot and it is hard to find someone who actually harvests wind energy to sell. As fossil fuels are easier to extract and easy to use, wind energy has potential disadvantage over fossil fuel due to cost.

Conclusion on Wind Energy Pros and Cons

The bottom line to this energy production technology is that the world is preparing for the alternative source and the wind energy looks promising one. There will be a day when along with solar PV panels’ farms, there will be a farm for the wind turbines as well and the consumption of the fossil fuel could be decreased to nil.