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Wind is a form of solar energy. Winds are caused by the uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun, the irregularities of the earth's surface, and rotation of the earth. Wind flow patterns are modified by the earth's terrain, bodies of water, and vegetative cover. This wind flow, or motion energy, when "harvested" by modern wind turbines, can be used to generate electricity.

The terms "wind energy" or "wind power" describe the process by which the wind is used to generate mechanical power or electricity

The terms "wind energy" or "wind power" describe the process by which the wind is used to generate mechanical power or electricity. Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in the wind into mechanical power

In the hydrogen economy, there is no storehouse to tap into. We have to actually create the e­nergy in real-time.

There are two possible sources for the hydrogen: Electrolysis of water - Using electricity, it is easy to split water molecules to create pure hydrogen and oxygen. One big advantage of this process is that you can do it anywhere. For example, you could have a box in your garage producing hydrogen from tap water, and you could fuel your car with that hydrogen. Reforming fossil fuels - Oil and natural gas contain hydrocarbons -- molecules consisting of hydrogen and carbon. Using a device called a fuel processor or a reformer, you can split the hydrogen off the carbon in a hydrocarbon relatively easily and then use the hydrogen. You discard the leftover carbon to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.

To have a pure hydrogen economy, the hydrogen must be derived from renewable sources rather than fossil fuels so that we stop releasing carbon into the atmosphere. Having enough electricity to separate hydrogen from water, and generating that electricity without using fossil fuels, will be the biggest change that we see in creating the hydrogen economy.

12.48 billion gal of ethanol

The 2004 US corn crop totaled about 11.7 billion bushels,

The entire 2004 US corn and soybean crop, converted to biomass fuels, could replace about 10.41 billion gal of petroleum (7.6 billion as ethanol and 2.81 billion as biodiesel).

Price projections vary among fuel cell developers, but most are targeting costs below $1,500/kW

Maintenance costs of a fuel cell are expected to be comparable to that of a microturbine, ranging from $0.005-$0.010/kWh (based on an annual inspection visit to the unit).

At the current price, units are only used in high value, "niche" markets where reliability is premium, and in areas where electricity prices are very high and natural gas prices are low.

As of October 2009, Fortune magazine estimated the cost of producing the Honda Clarity at $300,000 per car

by 2010, the Department of Energy estimated that the cost had fallen 80% and that such fuel cells could be manufactured for $51/kW,

When compared to ICE vehicles using gasoline, however, fuel cell vehicles using hydrogen produced from natural gas reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60%

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.

Advantages by Application Telecoms CHP Fuel Cell Generators Electric Vehicles - APU's and Range Extenders Fuel Cell Forklifts Marine Power Portable Power

Increased biofuel demand has contributed to higher world food and feed prices.

Global biofuel production has tripled from 4.8 billion gallons in 2000 to about 16.0 billion in 2007, but still accounts for less than 3 percent of the global transportation fuel supply.

Cellulosic ethanol could raise per acre ethanol yields to more than 1,000 gallons, significantly reducing land requirements. Cellulosic ethanol is made by breaking down the tough cellular material that gives plants rigidity and structure and converting the resulting sugar into ethanol. Cellulose is the world’s most widely available biological material, present in such low-value materials as wood chips and wood waste, fast-growing grasses, crop residues like corn stover, and municipal waste.

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.

Wind energy releases no pollution into the air or water, and does not contribute to global warming

"on average, each MWh of electricity generated in the U.S. results in the emission of 1,341 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2)

his avoided CO2 equals over 1.8 million tons of carbon, enough to fill 180 trains, each 100 cars long, with each car holding 100 tons of carbon every year."

Solar power is pollution free during use. Production end wastes and emissions are manageable using existing pollution controls.

In situations where connection to the electricity grid is difficult, costly, or impossible (such as island communities, areas not served by a power grid, illuminated roadside signs, and ocean-going vessels) harvesting solar power is often an economically competitive alternative to energy from traditional source

Intermittency: It is not available at night and is reduced when there is cloud cover, decreasing the reliability of peak output performance or requiring a means of energy storage.

The dirty secret of clean energy is that while generating it is getting easier, moving it to market is not.

While the United States today gets barely 1 percent of its electricity from wind turbines, many experts are starting to think that figure could hit 20 percent.

Achieving that would require moving large amounts of power over long distances, from the windy, lightly populated plains in the middle of the country to the coasts where many people live.

Hydrogen is colorless, odorless, tasteless and non-toxic. It is a gas at temperatures above -423° F and is highly diffuse, having a density approximately 14 times less than that of air. Because it is buoyant and diffusive, hydrogen dissipates quickly in open areas and can move through small spaces, which makes it difficult to store. Hydrogen is flammable over a broad range of gas concentration (from 4 to 74 percent), although its lower flammability limit – that is, the lowest temperature and pressure at which it will combust – is higher than those for some common fuels such as gasoline, propane or diesel.1 Hydrogen has been described as “the fuel of the future.” On Earth, hydrogen is found in combination with other elements such as carbon (hydrocarbons), oxygen (water) and nitrogen (ammonia). Although hydrogen may sometimes be used as a fuel, it is most often used as an energy carrier, such as electricity, and not an energy source. To make hydrogen a usable, stand-alone fuel, it must be separated from these other elements by chemical, thermal or electrochemical processes.

History British scientist Henry Cavendish identified hydrogen as a distinct element in 1766. Subsequent experiments by British and French scientists resulted in the first flight of a hydrogen balloon and the discovery that applying electricity to water can produce hydrogen and oxygen.

In the 1960s, NASA space capsules used hydrogen fuel cells for onboard electric power, heat and water.

Thirty-eight nationally recognized companies in the United States, including eleven Fortune 500 corporations, are collectively saving millions of dollars in electricity costs while reducing carbon emissions by tens of thousands of tons per year by using fuel cells, according to a new report by Fuel Cells 2000, a non-profit education and outreach organization. 

Challenges Wind power must compete with conventional generation sources on a cost basis. Depending on how energetic a wind site is, the wind farm may or may not be cost competitive. Even though the cost of wind power has decreased dramatically in the past 10 years, the technology requires a higher initial investment than fossil-fueled generators. Good wind sites are often located in remote locations, far from cities where the electricity is needed. Transmission lines must be built to bring the electricity from the wind farm to the city. Wind resource development may compete with other uses for the land and those alternative uses may be more highly valued than electricity generation. Although wind power plants have relatively little impact on the environment compared to other conventional power plants, there is some concern over the noise produced by the rotor blades, aesthetic (visual) impacts, and sometimes birds have been killed by flying into the rotors. Most of these problems have been resolved or greatly reduced through technological development or by properly siting wind plants.

Since early recorded history, people have been harnessing the energy of the wind. Wind energy propelled boats along the Nile River as early as 5000 B.C. By 200 B.C.,

Commonly called wind turbines, these machines appeared in Denmark as early as 1890. In the 1940s the largest wind turbine of the time began operating on a Vermont hilltop known as Grandpa's Knob. This turbine, rated at 1.25 megawatts in winds of about 30 mph, fed electric power to the local utility network for several months during World War II.

Since early recorded history, people have been harnessing the energy of the wind