Wind Energy: Advantages and Disadvantages

This page covers the advantages and disadvantages of Wind Energy. It mentions Wind Energy advantages and Wind Energy disadvantages.

Advantages of Wind Energy

Following are the advantages of Wind Energy:

• Wind turbines are used here which are great resource to generate wind energy in remote locations such as mountains and hilly areas.
• It causes little to no global warming emissions. This is due to the fact that no fossil fuels are burnt to generate electricity. Wind is used which is natural resource.
• It does not pollute air and water and hence it is environment friendly source of energy production.
• It is a renewable energy source which is in-exhaustible and resilient.
• It helps in creation of jobs and also has other major economic benefits.
• It is a very cost effective source of energy.
• It requires lesser space for installation compared to average power station.
• Newer technologies are helping extraction of wind energy much more efficient than previous ones.

Refer to types and basics of Wind Energy harvesting techniques.

Disadvantages of Wind Energy

Following are the disadvantages of Wind Energy:

• The plant setup requires high initial investment.
• As wind is unreliable in nature, it may impact energy production sometimes.
• It generates temporary employment at the time of installation only. Once turbines are ready it requires very few maintenance workers.
• Wind power stations cause threats to wildlife e.g. birds, bats etc. This is due to blades of turbines rotating at very high speeds.
• Commercial wind turbines generate noise pollution similar to jet engine. This is annoying if people live near to it. Hence wind turbines are installed away from residential areas.
• It interferes with aesthetics of the region.
• It is very expensive to store energy produced using wind power.
• Wind turbines produce less electricity compared to average fossil fuelled power station.

Conclusion

When combined with solar electricity, wind energy is a great resource as advantages of both solar energy and wind energy are being utilized. This combined method is being used in developed and developing countries across the globe for steady and reliable supply of electricity.