Wind Energy and Green Energy

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WIND ENERGY AND GREEN ENERGY

Prepared by Lee Bao Nov. 31, 2009

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RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WIND ENERGY AND GREEN ENERGY INTRODUCTION Many countries have developed wind farms to meet the targets of Kyoto Protocol, which is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), aimed at combating global warming (“Kyoto Protocol”). As a result, wind energy gets rapid growth in most countries. Canada is a good example. Figure 1 shows wind energy installed capacity from year 2000 to year 2009 in Canada. The capacity increases every year. What are the causes of rapid growth? In relation to energy, is wind energy really green energy?

Definition of Wind Energy

What is wind energy? It is energy obtained from turbine engines powered by wind (“Glossary of Terms”). The definition indicates (1) it is a kind of energy; (2) it gets energy through wind; (3) wind is collected by turbine engines.

History of Wind Energy

Wind energy is not a new concept. People have used it for thousands of years. • • As early as 6000 BC, the ancient Egyptians used wind (not wind energy) to sail along the Nile River (“An Introduction”). The ancient Persians created windmills to grind grain and pump water (“An Introduction”), and about 200 BC, windmills were also used to grind grain and pump water in China (“History”).

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In the 1600s, the Dutch refined windmills to reclaim land from the sea by draining wetlands (“An Introduction”). In the 1800s, windmills were first used to generate electricity in North America (“An Introduction”). In the 21st century, the continued evolution of wind turbines means that wind energy will be used greatly in the future.

Facts of Wind Energy • •

Today, wind energy is mainly used for generation of electricity.

According to the World Energy Council, during the last decade, global wind energy capacity has doubled every 3 years—about 30% increase annually (“An Introduction”). Figure 2...