H A R N ESSING ENERG Y H A R NESSING E N E R G Y WIND POWER BY DIANE BAILEY CREATIVE DIGITAL
I N T R O D U C T I O N PEACE AND WAR WEALTH AND POVERTY PROGRESS AND SETBACKS HISTORY HAS BROUGHT HUGE SWINGS IN THE HUMAN CONDITION AND WITH EVERY CHOICE PEOPLE MAKE THERE IS THE POTENTIAL TO MOVE FORWARD OR STEP BACKWARD AT THE CORE OF THIS CONTINUAL STRUGGLE HAS BEEN THE QUEST FOR ENERGY ENERGY GAVE HUMANS POWER AND MOTIVATED THEM TO DO GREAT THINGS WITH BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EFFECTS WITHOUT ENERGY PEOPLE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO DRIVE CARS OPERATE COMPUTERS OR POWER FACTORIES WARS ARE FOUGHT TRYING TO DOMINATE SOURCES OF ENERGY FORTUNES ARE MADE AND LOST DEPENDING ON HOW THAT ENERGY IS MANAGED THE LAWS OF PHYSICS STATE THAT ENERGY CANNOT BE CREATED OR DESTROYED THAT IS TRUE BUT ENERGY CAN BE HARNESSED AND DIRECTED IT CAN BE WASTED OR IT CAN BE COAXED INTO EFFICIENCY CIVILIZATIONS AND TECHNOLOGIES HAVE LEAPED FORWARD AND SOMETIMES BACKWARD AS HUMANS HAVE TAPPED INTO EARTH’S SOURCES OF ENERGY Wind power is one of the world’s fastest growing energy sources 4
In medieval times when storms blew down dead branches from trees peasants were sometimes allowed to take this wood for free and use it to warm their homes This windfall was a welcome bonus in their difficult lives Today wind provides another bonus to people in the form of energy Wind power has been used for cen turies but in the last 50 years it’s be come an industry On land and across the sea from the Great Plains of the United States to the seas in northern Europe wind provides electricity to millions of people Fossil fuels are becoming scarcer more expensive and more problematic making renewable energy much more popu lar As people turn toward new ways of producing energy wind power has a window of opportunity 5
