Whitelee wind farm, located near Glasgow in the UK, is a success story for those who support wind energy generation. According to a 2019 Engineering and Technology article, this wind farm began producing energy in 2008, and the National Grid incorporated it in 2009. Experts in the UK found that not only did the farm generate enough electricity to power 90 percent of households and businesses in Scotland, but it also captured five million tons of carbon emissions.
Wind energy has many advantages, including creating possibilities for placing wind turbines in more locations through advances in this technology. Wind turbines are located on land or near the coast and rely on shafts and gears to rotate the turbine's blades and power a generator that produces electricity.
Some of the advantages of wind energy generation are that it is cheaper to maintain and is a cleaner fuel source. According to the US Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, the land-based energy source is one of the lowest-priced sources of energy available today. It costs one to two cents per kilowatt after the production tax credit, a one to two-cent tax credit given to wind energy producers in the first 10 years.
Furthermore, energy buyers purchase wind energy at one fixed price over an extended time, avoiding price fluctuations that occur with other energy sources. Finally, after initial installation costs, wind turbines cost little to maintain.
Additionally, some experts state that, with advances, the cost to integrate this technology will decrease in the future. In the last 40 years, prices have dropped drastically, and while prices might not continue to drop as sharply, past trends indicate that prices are on a decline.
Outside of cost, wind turbines generate a cleaner source of energy. With turbines, wind generates energy without negative impacts, emitting harmful pollutants such as nitrogen oxide, particulate matter (a mix of solid particles and liquid droplets), or sulfur dioxide. In addition, wind energy does not contribute to acid rain, greenhouse gases, or smog.
Because the wind provides an inexhaustible energy source, it provides the country with some measure of energy independence. According to the US Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, the US wind power capacity has expanded 15 percent every year over 10 years, illustrating its potential as a viable energy source.
Finally, most experts report that wind energy also generates jobs. The wind turbine engineer is one of the fastest-growing jobs in the country. Also, some experts state wind energy will create over 600,000 jobs in maintenance, manufacturing, installation, and support services by 2050.
These advantages have fueled innovations in wind energy, for example, the vertical axis wind power revolution. Vertical axis wind turbines work differently from standard turbines in the blades rotate around the tower (central axis) compared with blades that oscillate circularly out in front and at the top of the turbine tower.
While the vertical axis wind turbine has been around since the beginning of the millennia, it is only in recent years that advances in this technology have made it possible to place these turbines in more locations outside of open plains. This technology has advanced so much since its early days that the US Air Force incorporated vertical axis wind turbines as a part of its Expeditionary Energy campaign, an initiative to fund innovative fuel and renewable sources.
Moreover, because of its ability to be placed in more locations, it can be deployed for on-site use, also called distributed wind power. Corporate campuses, farms, and industrial facilities are just a few of the places where vertical axis wind turbines might be installed.
