Wind Energy

1/10/13 1 Wind Energy By Tatiana Cherne, Dean Koman, Peter Schott What is wind and how can it be captured? Wind - flows of air created by the difference in solar heating of the earth between the equator and the poles together with the earth's rotation *Blades of the turbine harness the wind to create rotational energy* *A generator then transforms the energy into electricity* 1/10/13 2 Potential Global - Capturing 1/5 of the wind energy at the best sites could generate more than 7X the amount of electricity currently used - Possible to phase out non-renewable energy by the end of the century (coal burning and nuclear) United States - Wind farms operate in 36 states generating 1% of the country?s electricity - Lead by Texas and California