Alternative energy ((wind power)) Research Paper

Alternative energy ((wind power)) - Research Paper Example Wind power is one of the oldest sources of energy. The history of the wind power dates back to 5,500 years when the first sail boats made use of this great energy. Around 500-900 AD, the first documented windmills made use of the wind power to grind grain as well as water pumping. Since then, the man has progressed in leaps and bounds: from the traditional windmills to the modern day wind turbines greatly harnessing the energy of the wind for its many uses. (Dodge, 2006) Wind energy has, however, gained prominence in recent years around the globe as shown in figure 2. United States was the second largest producer of the wind energy with an installed capacity of 40.2 GW in the world. Energy analysts state that the lands of the United States have a vast potential of wind energy generation. They believe that the best areas in US have the potential to supply 20% of the total US energy requirement. Likewise, figure 3 shows the current installed wind energy capacity as of 2011 with the highest wind energy production in the state of Texas. In March 2012, the US energy department announced a budget of $180 million to develop offshore wind energy projects. This will enable the country to diversify its energy production mix while as the same time move towards the green energy agenda (US DOE, 2012). The future of the wind power around the world is very bright with the growing demand of cleaner energy. Energy analysts envision the wind energy source perched on every rooftop-be it a business or a house, in near future. Dennis Noonan, owner of Blanchard Machine Development in Hillsboro, has completely revolutionized the technology of the wind turbines, shown in figure 2, which delivers more power with less wind. This will enable the future generation to extract more energy at less cost. (Augustine,