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Each year we release millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels (oil, coal and gas). In 2010, on average, every single EU citizen emitted 9.4 tonnes of CO2 – that’s enough to fill ten three-storey buildings. For every kWh of wind energy that you use, you will save approximately 696g of CO2. EWEA estimates that wind energy avoided the emission of 140 million tonnes of CO2 in 2011 in the EU, equivalent to taking 33% of cars in the EU – 71 million vehicles – off the road. This avoided CO2 costs of around €3.5 billion (assuming a price of €25/t CO2). Choosing how your electricity is produced plays an important role in protecting the climate: it’s easy to switch to a green power provider; you request the change and your current and future providers will organise it themselves.

1 MW of wind energy can offset approximately 2,600 tons Waste heat recovery  file size 4MB of carbon dioxide annually.

29,440 Megawatts (MW) of wind energy are currently installed in the United States, and an additional 5,866 MW are under construction.Over 8,500 MW were installed in the US in 2008 (just beating out China with 6,300 MW). This represents: 50 percent increase from 200742 percent of all new generating capacity installed in 2008$17 billion investment44 million tons of carbon emissions avoided (equivalent of 7 million cars)35,000 new jobs

Wave energy is produced when electricity generators are placed on the surface of the ocean

Energy output is determined by wave height, wave speed, wavelength, and water density.

The energy provided is most often used in desalination plants, power plants and water pumps.

Tidal Energy is valuable to environmentalists because unlike fossil fuels the source of energy will not be depleted in the foreseeable future no matter how much energy is collected.

The report finds that in 2011, roughly 6,800 megawatts (MW) of new wind power capacity was added to the U.S. grid, a 31 percent increase from 2010 installations.  The United States’ wind power capacity reached 47,000 MW by the end of 2011 and has since grown to 50,000 MW, enough electricity to power 13 million homes annually or as many as in Nevada, Colorado, Wisconsin, Virginia, Alabama, and Connecticut combined. The country’s cumulative installed wind energy capacity grew 16 percent from 2010, and has increased more than18-fold since 2000.  The report also finds that six states now meet more than 10 percent of their total electricity needs with wind power.

The wind power boom has benefited consumers in regions where wind development is fastest, contributing to a 40 percent wholesale power-price plunge since 2008

U.S. wind installations have risen 10-fold since 2003 to 60,007 megawatts,

Sailboats and sailing ships have been using wind power for thousands of years, and architects have used wind-driven natural ventilation in buildings since similarly ancient times. The use of wind to provide mechanical power came somewhat later in antiquity. The windwheel of the Greek engineer Heron of Alexandria in the 1st century AD is the earliest known instance of using a wind-driven wheel to power a machine.[15][16].

Wind farms can cause climate change, according to new research, that shows for the first time the new technology is already pushing up temperatures.

Usually at night the air closer to the ground becomes colder when the sun goes down and the earth cools. But on huge wind farms the motion of the turbines mixes the air higher in the atmosphere that is warmer, pushing up the overall temperature.

Wind power is generated by moving air. As the sun heats the land, the air above also warms and rises. Cold air then replaces the rising air. This creates the Winds that we feel most days of the year.

If you visit the seaside or coastal area you will probably find that the weather is more breezy or windy than inland. This is because the warm air rises over the land and cold air over the sea replaces it.

3.Wind Turbines Interfere with Television Reception.

Some of these blades can have a span of 100 or more feet.

birds easily fly into the blade path and get killed.

How Does Wind Energy Work? The diagram below shows a simplified version how a Wind turbine converts the kinetic energy in the Wind to electrical energy around the country. If you can't see the diagram you will need to download flash to see it. The Wind blows on the blades and makes them turn. The blades turns a shaft inside the nacelle (the box at the top of the turbine) The shaft goes into a gearbox which increases the rotation speed enough for... The generator, which uses magnetic fields to convert the rotational energy into electrical energy. These are similar to those found in normal power stations. The power output goes to a transformer, which converts the electricity coming out of the generator at around 700 Volts (V) to the right voltage for distribution system, typically 33,000 V. The national grid transmits the power around the country.

The most noticeable impact a wind turbine places upon the environment is noise pollution.

This is down to the noise, and many people compare the sound output of a wind turbine to a small jet engine.

Another disadvantage regarding a wind turbine and it's impact on the surrounding environment can be expressed with the term "visual impact" or "visual pollution".

It is popular because it is abundant and provides many communities with a clean, local source of electricity

wind power could account for 20 percent of the nation’s electricity supply by 2030

two main problems. First, the wind does not blow all the time, so there must be backup power plants

A wind turbine is a rotating machine which converts the kinetic energy in wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used directly by machinery, such as a pump or grinding stones, the machine is usually called a windmill.

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The United States has enough wind resources to generate electricity for every home and business in the nation. But not all areas are suitable for wind energy development.

What is wave energy? Waves are generated by the passage of wind across the surface of the sea.  Energy is transferred from the wind to the waves.  Waves travel vast distances across the ocean and at great speed and the energy is concentrated near the water surface.  The energy within a wave is proportional to the square of the wave height.  Therefore a two-meter high wave has four times the power of a one-meter high wave. The longer and stronger the wind blows over the surface of the sea, the higher, longer, faster and more powerful the sea is.

Although wave energy is a form of concentrated wind energy, as it has often travelled over large distances it is regularly out of phase with the local wind conditions.  Wave energy can therefore help to balance output variability from other renewable sources and maximise the efficient use of the electricity networks.   Wave energy is also more predictable than many other forms of renewable energy, such as wind or solar, and can be forecast accurately up to five days in advance.

Wave energy is clean and renewable!  It is one of the last renewable energy forms which mankind has yet to harness, and its potential is huge.

Method Cents/kW-h Limitations and Externalities WindCurrently supplies approximately 1.4% of the global electricity demand. Wind is considered to be about 30% reliable. 4.0 - 6.0 Cents/kW-h Wind is currently the only cost-effective alternative energy method, but has a number of problems. Wind farms are highly subject to lightning strikes, have high mechanical fatigue failure, are limited in size by hub stress, do not function well, if at all, under conditions of heavy rain, icing conditions or very cold climates, and are noisy and cannot be insulated for sound reduction due to their size and subsequent loss of Wind velocity and power. GeothermalCurrently supplies approximately 0.23% of the global electricity demand. Geothermal is considered 90-95% reliable. 4.5 - 30 Cents/kW-h New low temperature conversion of heat to electricity is likely to make geothermal substantially more plausible (more shallow drilling possible) and less expensive. Generally, the bigger the plant, the less the cost and cost also depends upon the depth to be drilled and the temperature at the depth. The higher the temperature, the lower the cost per kwh. Cost may also be affect by where the drilling is to take place as concerns distance from the grid and another factor may be the permeability of the rock. HydroCurrently supplies around 19.9% of the global electricity demand. Hydro is considered to be 60% reliable. 5.1 - 11.3 Cents/kW-h Hydro is currently the only source of renewable energy making substantive contributions to global energy demand. Hydro plants, however, can (obviously) only be built in a limited number of places, and can significantly damage aquatic ecosystems. SolarCurrently supplies approximately 0.8% of the global electricity demand. 15 - 30 Cents/kW-h Solar power has been expensive, but soon is expected to drop to as low as 3.5 cents/kW-h. Once the silicon shortage is remedied through alternative materials, a solar energy revolution is expected.

Tide 2 - 5 Cents/kW-h Blue Energy's tidal fence, engineered and ready for implementation, would provide a land bridge (road) while also generating electricity. Environmental impact is low. Tides are highly predictable.

Method Cents/kW-h Limitations and Externalities GasCurrently supplies around 15% of the global electricity demand. 3.9 - 4.4 Cents/kW-h Gas-fired plants and generally quicker and less expensive to build than coal or nuclear, but a relatively high percentage of the cost/KWh is derived from the cost of the fuel. Due to the current (and projected future) upwards trend in gas prices, there is uncertainty around the cost / KWh over the lifetime of plants. Gas burns more cleanly than coal, but the gas itself (largely methane) is a potent greenhouse gas. Some energy conversions to calculate your cost of natural gas per kwh. 100 cubic feet (CCF)~ 1 Therm = 100,000 btu ~ 29.3 kwh. CoalCurrently supplies around 38% of the global electricity demand. 4.8 - 5.5 Cents/kW-h Increasingly difficult to build new coal plants in the developed world, due to environmental requirements governing the plants. Growing concern about coal fired plants in the developing world (China, for instance, imposes less environmental overhead, and has large supplies of high sulphur content coal). The supply of coal is plentiful, but the coal generation method is perceived to make a larger contribution to air pollution than the rest of the methods combined.

Wind speed and direction is a result of high and low pressure areas in the atmosphere.

Wind machines were used in Persia as early as 200 B.C

The first windmill for electricity production in the United States was built in Cleveland, Ohio by Charles F Brush in 1888, and in 1908 there were 72 wind-driven electric generators from 5 kW to 25 kW.

The first utility grid-connected wind turbine operated in the UK was built by the John Brown Company in 1954