I wonder what else we could get to turn one of those electric turbines. What if we put a large blade on the front of the turbine so that wind could turn it. Yup. That’s wind power.
Since energy is conserved, that must mean that when you get electrical energy from the wind turbine then something else must decrease in energy. Yes, this is true. As the wind moves through the turbine, it pushes the blades to make them spin. In the process of this interaction, the air decreases in speed—even if just a little bit. That means the air decreases in kinetic energy, and that’s where the electrical energy comes from.
Why does this air move in the first place? Well, that’s what we call “weather.” But maybe you won’t be too surprised to learn that the sun is at least partially responsible for wind. As the sun warms the atmosphere, the air increases in pressure and expands. Now you have regions of air with higher pressure and regions with lower pressure. The air moves into the lower pressure regions, and that’s wind. Wind power is as renewable as solar (as long as the sun keeps shining).
Oh, I hate to say this—but I guess I should add it for completeness. No, wind turbines don’t cause cancer.
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