Wind Power
The origin of wind is energy from the Sun. Radiation from the sun is absorbed mainly by the land and the sea, which, in turn, heats the surrounding air. The sea water retains the heat from the Sun better better than the land. So, when the air warmed by the land rises, it rises at different rates to the air warmed by the sea, since it is at a different temperature. This difference in movement can cause a wind.
On a global scale, the high solar radiation at the equator causes warm air to rise and cooler air to flow in from the poles. Combined with the rotation of the Earth, this sets up the large wind streams that influence the global weather patterns.
Wind has long been used to generate power. This accelerated in the 1970’s when oil prices jumped. Many different designs of modern wind turbine, with both horizontal and vertical axis have been explored. Designs with a horizontal axis have the benefit of being able to be placed at heights that can exploit stronger winds, and this modality now dominates modern large power installations.
While there has been a great deal of optimization of modern wind turbines, there remain considerable challenges that need to be addressed as these are deployed on a large scale. Members of the RASEI community used advanced computational and experimental tools to explore the implications of how turbines are placed, where wind farms are installed, and the system-level implications of a transition to wind power.