By John Lawrence
This series of articles is based on an excellent book by Tom Rand: “Kick the Fossil Fuel Habit– 10 Clean Technologies to Save Our World.” InPart 1 we dealt with all the possibilities for solar power generation. In this article we will consider wind. For centuries wind powered ships and windmills drew water out of the ground. We are now in a position to reconnect with this form of energy and convert it into electricity. How it works is very simple: As the wind blows, enough force is created to spin a turbine which in turn generates electrical energy. These days a single wind turbine can power a decent sized town.
The US Department of Energy has calculated that wind could generate 15 times the total world energy use. That’s 15 times all the energy generated by oil, coal and nuclear at the present time. Even oil magnate T. Boone Pickens has called the US the “Saudi Arabia of wind.” [Read more…]