How then we can produce enough energy to power an entire country without damaging the environment? What can we use as an alternative, reliable form of energy, which will generate as much power as fossil fuels and nuclear energy, but have none of the drawbacks? Well, as people are increasingly coming to realise, the answer is all around us. Well, as people are increasingly coming to realise, the answer is all around us. Wind power!
Wind power is an alternative energy source which has been used for many years in countries like Holland and Denmark. In face, the stronger winds generated at sea make offshore wind farms a practical alternative. strangely enough, even though it is one of the windiest countries in Europe, Britain has been slow to take advantage of wind power. The strong winds which blow around Britain's coastline could easily be used to provide us with all our energy needs, All we need to do now is set up some wind farms.
Wind farm are actually arrays of electricity-generating wind turbines, which are tall, slim towers with two or three rotor blades at the top. The wind turns the blades, which spin a pole. his pole is connected to a generator, where the electricity is made. There can be as few as one and as many as thousands of wind turbines in a single array. Computers monitor the wind direction and speed, and can shut down the turbines if the wind becomes too strong.
What is more, wind turbines make hardly any noise and they are not unpleasant to look at, certainly not as ugly as nuclear power stations! Although wind farms do take up a lot of space, they are often located on unoccupied sites or in areas that can also possible. Wind power has been used for many years to pump water. Offshore wind farms also mean that much larger turbines can be built, without objections from the public.
A single wind turbine can produce enough electricity to power 375 homes and these wind farms are already making a small but significant difference. These are encouraging statistics As this number increases, we may well see wind power supplying as much as 10% of world's electricity demands and up to 20% of Britain's total.
At the moment there are only around sixty wind farms in Britain both on land and offshore. So, why delay? Wind power offers a solution to all our energy problems by being a renewable, clean and safe source of energy which is easy to live and work with. Isn't it about time we started building more wind farms in Britain and protecting our environment for future generations?