Do you know how we can get electricity from windmills? Here are five wonderful wind power facts for kids.
The first time wind turbines were used to create electricity was in 1887 in Scotland but wind turbines were used to harness the power of the wind long before that. People have been turning wind energy into mechanical energy for over 5000 years. Windmills are a great example of this. When the wind pushes the wings of the windmill the energy moves the workings of the mill creating flour by grinding up grains. Ancient people used this energy from the wind to work very heavy machinery that they could never move themselves.
Wind turbines create electricity when the wind moves the wings of the turbine so the amount of energy created depends on the weather. In America the average wind turbine can create 402 megawatts per month. That’s around enough to power 460 homes even if it isn’t windy every day. That is 460 more homes that don’t have to rely on fossil fuels for their electricity. That reduced the amount of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere, reducing the effects of climate change. That’s a very big impact for just one wind turbine.
They look small from a distance, especially if they are placed out at sea on the horizon but wind turbines have to be very big to catch enough wind to make energy. Wind turbines come in a range of sizes and they have been made taller in the last 20 years. On average each blade of the turbine is 170 feet long. That’s around half of a football field. The turbine itself is around 280 feet tall. That is almost as tall as the Statue of Liberty in New York or Big Ben in London.
The largest wind farm in the world is being built in China to have 7000 wind turbines. China has the fastest growing wind energy industry in the world. This wind farm makes over 7000 megawatts of electricity but when it is fully built it will produce 20,000 megawatts.
Wind is very strong high up in the air so to get the most power from the wind we need to get the turbines high up. Turbines are already very tall but scientists have now developed an airborne wind turbine which can fly even higher. These turbines don’t fly around as they are tethered to the ground and they look a bit like a plane engine or a large kite. It is a very new technology but it could be a big breakthrough for us getting the most out of the energy made by wind.
We hope you enjoyed learning more things about wind power as much as we loved teaching you about it. Now that you know how important this wind power is to our planet Earth, you can move on to learn more about our environment like: Energy, Wind Energy, Electricity, Water, Electromagnetic Waves, Recycling, Recycling Crafts, Recycling Paper, Plastic recycling, Rainbows, Farming, Seas and Lakes, Miraculous Atmosphere, Earth and Water Cycle.
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