Small Wind Information
We use it to fly kites, carry bubbles through the sky and push our toy sailboat across a lake. But power our homes? How can that be?
For starters, wind energy is the use of the wind as an energy source. It is a clean, safe and renewable (inexhaustible) power source. A wind energy system, like GALE™, can transform the moving energy of the wind into mechanical or electrical energy that can be harnessed for practical use.
Mechanical energy: Wind energy can be harnessed for purposes such as grinding grain and pumping water. In the United States, some six million mechanical windmills were in operation in the late 1880s until about 1935, helping homesteaders and farmers to settle the West. Mechanical wind energy is most commonly used today for pumping water in rural or remote locations.
Electrical energy: Harnessing the wind for electricity generation is the most widespread use of wind energy today. Wind turbines, activated by the wind, generate electricity for homes, businesses and for sale to utilities.
Wind power is a growing source of electricity generation today. Worldwide, wind is the fastest-growing energy source -- installed generating capacity increased by an average 32% annually from 1998 to 2002. In areas with an excellent wind resource, it can sometimes be more affordable to get new power by installing vertical axis wind turbines than by building a coal, natural gas, or other type of power plant.