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Wind farmsDate: 2015-10-07; view: 532. Wind power The most common way of getting energy from the wind is through setting up 'wind farms'.
How they work:
· wind turbines generally have 3 blades and they rotate at 10-30 revolutions per minute · the blades face into the wind, the wind forces them to go round, which then spins a shaft inside the turbine, which is connected to a generator which produces the electricity.
Advantages: · electricity is produced in an environmentally friendly way: no chemical or radioactive emissions · ground on which the turbines are positioned can still be used for agricultural purposes, e. g. as sheep grazing · if the turbines need to be taken down, there is no damage to the environment and no residues are left behind
Disadvantages: · ruin the landscape because they generally have to be positioned on hills to get the maximum benefits of the wind · take up much more space to produce the same amount of energy as other methods such coal-fire powered stations · can be costly to maintain · the noise generated from wind turbines · the turbines can cause some slight electromagnetic interference, which can cause interference with television signals and some communications equipment
The costs: · electricity produced by this method is more expensive than that produced by other means The future:
· The initial costs of setting these kinds of farms up is the main obstacle at the moment, but this could be an avenue to explore.
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