Huge Usefull Amount of Wind Power - Research Paper Example

Wind Power (Wind power turbines to supply building by all needed power) Introduction - this should be a short summary (100 - 200- words) of what theobjectives are/what you are going to write about. Wind is a sensation of motion of air and generating power out of it is rather sensational. This essay talks about the basics of wind power generation and the potential of it in the modern era for sustainable development. The civil engineering and construction sectors are critical to the development of sustainable infrastructure for our cities. The paper discuss on the various ways in which UK infrastructure, buildings and transportation solutions could be provided in a more sustainable manner. Increased energy demand due to ever increasing infrastructure development is forcing more energy development. World is facing major energy crisis due to the pollution attached to the presently available energy sources and technology. The commitment to develop clean energy sources is forcing economies to develop sustainable and clean power generation. Wind energy is a major source of clean power. It is important to mainstream this source of power as a clean alternative to support the power requirements. Background - this should assume the reader knows nothing and give them a- full account of what they need to know to appreciate the issues at stake. Use of wind as a reliable source of energy for various purposes like navigation, pumping water, grinding grains, sawing etc. is evident from the historical times. Wind is one of the cleanest sources of energy available in the world. The science of power generation from wind is rather simple. Earth is made of different materials, distributed unevenly all over the space and hence it absorbs heat from the sun with variance. During day, air over the land surface gets heated quickly than the air above water surface. Heating causes expansion of air and hence it becomes lighter and moves upwards and the heaver air replaces it causing wind. The process is reversed during night time, as air over the land surface gets cool quickly than the air above water surface. In simple words, wind is generated by movement of air between high pressure to low pressure area. In terms of energy flow, heat energy is converted into kinetic energy. Production of power from wind energy is quite interesting and it follows basic principles of energy conversion. Power is generated when the kinetic energy of the wind is converted to mechanical energy. This power could be used for generating electricity or power for running machines etc. Hence, wind power could be used for many purposes. The present day wind machines uses blades to collect the kinetic energy from the wind. When wind strikes the blades of the machines, it slow down the wind by capturing its energy and thus allows the blades to rotate. These blades are connected to a shaft at the centre which transfers its power to the electric generator to produce electricity. The interesting part is that in the entire process, there is no pollution involves with the process. Wind power is a potential form of renewable energy which is available to humankind. Although it has a long history, this source of energy is not mainstreamed due to lack of improved technology and huge production cost. Although developed much earlier, cheaper technologies were developed for power generation from alternate sources which alienated the use of wind power for commercial purposes. The cost factor had impacted this majorly. The major constrain of the wind power is the reliability factor as the power is generated only when there is wind. During lean period, one has to depend on other sources for power supply. This drawback makes it difficult for people to adopt this technology for daily use. The only alternative for this problem is to use other sources of power for the lean period. In the present scenario, energy is produced in the world from coal, crude oil, petroleum products, natural gas, nuclear, hydro, combustible renewables & waste etc. Most of these sources are not reliable and causes emission of Green House Gases (GHG) in the process of power generation. A major portion of the world energy is causing emission of large amount of GHG to the atmosphere causing global warming. This also causes serious danger to the ecosystems and damage to the livelihood of the vulnerable communities all over the world. There is an urgent call for action throughout the world to mitigate climate change. A major portion of GHG emissions could be controlled by switching over to clean energy sources and hence there is a large potential for generating wind energy in the coming future. UK is committed to switch to cleaner source of energy. It is also striving to increase the production of power through renewable sources. Methodology- what you are going to do and how you plan on doing it.- This study explores the ways and means to mainstream the use of wind energy for domestic, industrial, transport and service sectors to achieve a sustainable development of the cities. It is hence important to mainstream it to develop sustainable infrastructure facilities. The study will develop understanding about the status of energy use in UK and develop potential for mainstreaming wind power as a major source of energy. The study will provide recommendations for actions at various levels to ensure that sustainable energy sources are encouraged to use in all sectors. Literature Review - a review of relevant theory and the most recent- published information on the issue. Wind power in the UK (2005) The report from Sustainable Development Commission States that wind power is already cheaper if credit is given in terms of social cost of carbon, it is one of the cheapest source of energy. The study also states that the production cost of onshore wind power are around 3.2 p/kWh ( 0.3 p/kWh), and offshore is around 5.5 p/kWh. It also predicts further decrease in this cost with development of improved technology. The report mentions about the commitment of UK to reduce CO2 emissions to 60% by 2050 which could be achieved by development of more renewable energy sources which is clean and carbon neutral. It also describes that wind resources in UK is enough to meet the target of reducing 10% energy from renewable sources by 2010 and 20% by 2020. The study confirms that UK has enough and more wind resources available to achieve the energy demand. It also mentions about the possibility of adding wind capacity the electricity system. The study encourages the community participation from the early stage to address concerns and develop acceptance among the community. This will also bring ownership in partnership which will eventually leads to successful functioning of the windmill. It also brings hope by predicting that the cost of energy production through windmill may reduce in the next 15 years by development of improved technology. Key World Energy Statistics (2007) Analysis of IEA reveals that the total energy supply of the world has increased significantly from 6128 Mtoe to 11435 Mtoe between 1973 and 2005 respectively. It also reveals that the proportional use of Coal and Oil has reduced significantly during this period but observed no significant increase of renewable sources. The report focuses on the supply, transformation, consumption, energy balances prices, emissions etc. which is linked to overall delivery of the technology. The report shows the consumption status of various energy sources on a regional basis. Total consumption of fuels shares has increased from 4700 Mtoe to 7912 Mtoe between 1973 and 2005. Energy consumption in the United Kingdom (n.d.) The study compared a comprehensive set of data from 1070 to develop trend in the energy consumption in UK. It also shows specific trend emerges in the sector from 1990 onwards. Analysis of various factors driving changes and energy consumption in various sectors like transport, domestic, industrial and service sectors are presented in the study. An increase of 13% is observed in the primary energy consumption between 1970 and 2001 while there was an 11% increase between 1990 to 2001. The study also discusses about the factors affecting energy consumption and mentions about an increase in energy consumption of 11.4 million tonnes of oil equivalent between 1990 and 2000. Evidence - what you have- discovered and what you have concluded from it. This most not simply be descriptive but must make a considered analysis of the findings, moving towards a detailed and visionary strategy for development. Coal, natural gas and nuclear power are the major source of energy in UK. The production of energy from coal is not sustainable as well as it causes a lot pollution in the process of power generation. Pollution from other sources is comparatively less but still dangerous. Damage caused to the environment is irreversible with current levels of emissions and hence poses danger to the ecology. The existence of many rare species is in danger and livelihoods of communities are threatened due to global warming. The only was to stop it is by stopping further pollution. Increasing energy demand in the past has already forced the overexploitation of the resources and projected energy requirements also poses serious danger for sustainable availability of these sources. Hence, it is rather important to look for sustainable sources which can supply the desired energy requirements in a sustainable manner. It is evident from the past experience that wind energy is one of the cleanest energy sources available and most of other options available are causing serious damage to the environment. It is important to promote wind energy as a clean source of energy and large investments are required to improve the technology. Use of wind energy can reduce a considerable amount of CO2 emissions. The studies also revealed that there is an urgent demand to bring awareness among the communities on the issue and stakeholder participation is extremely important for the success of the ventures. It is also important to encourage and support the new infrastructure initiatives to develop reliable energy sources. Stakeholder participation holds key for the success of its functioning. Wind being sufficiently available all across UK, it has sufficient potential for further development as a reliable source of energy. There is also possibility of generating it locally by pooling areas together in a grid. This will help in easy functioning of the wind power infrastructure. Infrastructure, industries and transport sectors use a large amount of energy for its functioning. This could be easily generated locally through joint ventures. Hence it is also required to initiate a thinking process among the people together to think for innovative technologies which would support their ever growing energy demand. There is also a need to bring down the conveyance losses to improve energy efficiency. Conclusion- - what you have discovered and what you have concluded from it. This most not simply be descriptive but must make a considered analysis of the findings, moving towards a detailed and visionary strategy for development. It could be concluded from the discussions that: Present scenario of energy use poses serious threat to the environment. There is an urgent need to develop sustainable sources to support energy requirement of the country. UK has commitment to reduce its GHG emissions by taking appropriate measures. Wind power is a clean and renewable source of energy. UK has enough potential to develop wind power as the primary source of energy. Capacity building of various sectors is required to integrate the power generation in the town planning. Stakeholder awareness and participation is crucial for success of initiatives. Large investments are required to improve wind power technology. Measures should be taken to improve the transmission losses. Recommendations - where appropriate. These should emerge from- the conclusion, suggest what is to be done, who is to do it and how/when it is to be done, and be justified based on findings, not just the opinion of the writer The following recommendations should be used to mainstream the use of wind power in varius sectors in the country. UK government should take immediate steps to bring various sectors together to generate awareness on the non-sustainability and the damage caused by the use of presently available resources. Capacity building of all sectors to adopt wind power as major source of energy. City level energy plan should be developed and stakeholder participation should be ensured in the process. Integration of city level plans at national level should be done to reallocation and redistribution of power supply. Invite large level investments for installation of wind turbines all across UK. Plan for introduction of new technologies to use wind energy. References: Wind Power in the UK, 2005. A guide to the key issues surrounding onshore wind power development in the UK. London: Sustainable Development Commission Key World Energy Statistics, 2007. International Energy Agency, France: OECD/IEA. Energy Consumption in the United Kingdom, n.d. UK: Energy Publications, Department of Trade and Industry. Read More