Wind power
Topic: Environment and Sustainable Development · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 7 "Environment and Sustainable Development"
Meaning
Wind power is electricity made by turbines placed where the wind is strong. It is a non-conventional, renewable source: the wind never runs out, and turbines give off almost no pollution while running. Turbines cost a lot to set up, but running costs are low. NCERT says the benefits "absorb" the high initial cost. The drawbacks are the land turbines occupy, their noise, and the birds they kill.
Example
A wind farm in a high-wind coastal or plateau area costs a lot to build. After that it produces power for years at very low cost and without the CO2 or fly ash of a coal plant. Fly ash is the ash left after burning coal, and it pollutes water and land.
Don't confuse with
- Conventional energy: coal, oil and large hydro. NCERT wrongly calls wind and solar "conventional" sources. They are non-conventional.
Related concepts
- Non-conventional sources of energy
- Solar photovoltaic power
- Mini-hydel plants
- LPG as clean fuel
- Biogas
- Compressed Natural Gas
- Road space rationing
- Energy poverty