Wind Power - Harnessing the Power of Nature Essay -- Exploratory Essay

  Abstract:   Wind power is an up and coming form of energy production in the United States and on the world stage.   Wind energy production is the process of harnessing the power of the natural world for the benefit of humans.   It has developed from incipient stages in tenth century Persia to highly sophisticated systems which take advantage of modern knowledge of physics and environmental science to maximize energy potential.   Many challenges to its success exist, including public apathy, governmental disinterest, and environmental hazards, but on the whole it is among the cleanest and most promising means of producing electricity.   Without understanding wind power, one cannot hope to adequately comprehend the future of energy.       Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wind power is among the fastest growing and least polluting forms of energy available today.   The recent rise of public interest in renewable energy over the past few years has inspired an explosive twenty-five percent growth per year in the wind industry.   Though wind power currently provides just one percent of the world’s energy, it is for the most part an untapped resource.   Estimates place its potential for energy production at twenty percent of the world’s total needs.   In short, wind power is going places, and it is important that scientists and citizens keep up.   (Botkin and Keller, 357)    History   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wind power originated under the most practical of circumstances:   the need to crush grain for flour.   Originally a labor-intensive process of hand pressing between stones, the challenge to find a better way to mill flour soon engaged the human imagination.   This led to hand cranks, horse- drawn axles, and eventually watermill... ... Wind Power and Other Energy Options.   Ann Arbor, Michigan:   The University  of Michigan Press, 1978.    National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).   â€Å"Clean Energy Basics:   Introduction to Wind Energy.†Ã‚   2003.   27 April 2003.   clean_energy/wind.html>    Righter, Robert.   Wind Energy in America.   Norman, Oklahoma:   University of Oklahoma Press, 1996.    Tse, Lawrence, and Duane Bong.   â€Å"Environmental Impact of Wind Turbines.†Ã‚   Vision Engineer.com.   2003.   29 April 2003.   www.visionengineer.com/env/wind environmental_impact.shtml>    United States Department of Energy.   â€Å"Wind Energy Program.†Ã‚   2001.   28 April 2003.  Ã‚      Union of Concerned Scientists.   â€Å"Bush Budget Slashes Funds for Renewable Energy Sources.†Ã‚   News.   2003.   29 April 2003.   www.ucsusa.org/news.cfm?newsID=328>