Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form, such as electricity, using wind turbines. Wind power produces about 1.5% of worldwide electricity use, and is growing rapidly, having doubled in the three years between 2005 and 2008. Several countries have achieved relatively high levels of wind power penetration, such as 19% of stationary electricity production in Denmark, 11% in Spain and Portugal, and 7% in Germany and the Republic of Ireland in 2008. As of May 2009, eighty countries around the world are using wind power on a commercial basis.

Large-scale wind farms are typically connected to the local electric power transmission network; smaller turbines are used to provide electricity to isolated locations. Wind (and solar) energy as power sources is favored by environmentalists as an alternative to fossil fuels, because they are plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean, and produce no greenhouse gas emissions; however, the construction of wind farms is not universally welcomed due to their visual impact and other effects on the environment.

One of the big challenges with using wind power is the wind doesn't blow all the time. To make sure enough power is available when the wind isn't blowing, backup generators would be needed. That could mean maintaining natural gas plants in case of emergency, or implementing even more novel ideas like systems in Europe that use excess wind electricity to pump water uphill when the wind is blowing, then release it through hydro dams when the wind stops.

Solution? Technological advances will allow several wind farms from varying regions of the country to be tied together in the same electricity grid; when some are idle, others could make up the difference. The more we focus on how to get this done, the quicker we'll solve our problems.

THE FACTS

The EIA says if strict greenhouse gas restrictions become law, renewables might go from 3% percent of the nation's electricity mix to around 25%. Coal, meanwhile, would likely go from more than half to less than a quarter. The EIA said that under the worst-case scenario in bringing about this shift, electricity prices may double.