8. List the advantages and disadvantages of using wind to produce electricity?

Question

please help me =)

Answer 1

Here are a few of each, I believe wind is a good supplemental power source, not so good for base load.

Advantage: Even though you use the wind to produce electricity, it doesn't ever run out, it is continuously renewed by the sun. No fossil fuel is used in the actual production of the electricity.

Disadvantage: Construction takes energy and materials.

Eventually the windmill becomes waste material.

Windmills tend to kill migrating birds.

Windmills have a huge "footprint" for the power they produce.

Wind is unreliable, relatively low %  availability, so back-up baseload power is required,.electricity is difficult to store.

Answer 2

The biggest disadvantage is you can't rely on it.  What happens if it's not windy?

The biggest advantage is it's free... mother nature doesn't charge us for her services.  :)

Answer 3

We've used the wind as an energy source for a long time. The Babylonians and Chinese were using wind power to pump water for irrigating crops 4,000 years ago, and sailing boats were around long before that.

Wind power was used in the Middle Ages, in Europe, to grind corn, which is where the term "windmill" comes from.

   Advantages

Wind is free, wind farms need no fuel.

Produces no waste or greenhouse gases.

The land beneath can usually still be used for farming.

Wind farms can be tourist attractions.

A good method of supplying energy to remote areas.

  

Wind power is renewable. Winds will keep on blowing, it makes sense to use them.



Disadvantages

The wind is not always predictable - some days have no wind.

Suitable areas for wind farms are often near the coast, where land is expensive.

Some people feel that covering the landscape with these towers is unsightly.

Can kill birds - migrating flocks tend to like strong winds.

However, this is rare, and we tend not to build wind farms on migratory routes anyway.

Can affect television reception if you live nearby.

Can be noisy. Wind generators have a reputation for making a constant, low, "swooshing" noise day and night, which can drive you nuts.

Having said that, as aerodynamic designs have improved modern wind farms are much quieter. A lot quieter than, say, a fossil fuel power station; and wind farms tend not to be close to residential areas anyway. The small modern wind generators used on boats and caravans make hardly any sound at all.



How it works

The Sun heats our atmosphere unevenly, so some patches become warmer than others.

These warm patches of air rise, other air blows in to replace them - and we feel a wind blowing.

We can use the energy in the wind by building a tall tower, with a large propellor on the top.