Here’s Wind power – a renewable energy who loves to keep fit! She’s a lively one…
Oh. Alright, not always.
Sometimes, she just can’t get moving.
But as soon as the wind blows, it’s work out time!
Humans discovered wind power a looong time ago.
And we’ve got better and better at building wind machines.
But where does wind come from?
Well, what really gets wind power moving is the sun.
The sun heats up air in some places more than others.
When air is warmed it rises, and cold air rushes in to take its place.
This movement of hot and cold air is how wind is generated.
It’s kind of like when you let go of a balloon and all the air rushes out… Whoops!
The modern turbine has blades that keep turning even if there’s not that much wind.
That’s because they’re perfectly shaped to capture the wind’s kinetic energy.
The blades spin a shaft, which is connected to a generator.
Inside the generator, copper coils turn through a magnetic field to convert kinetic energy into electricity.
Whitelee Wind Farm, just outside Glasgow, is the biggest onshore wind farm in the UK – with 215 turbines!
It can generate enough electricity for almost 350,000 homes.
One of the best things about wind power is that she’s a clean form of energy, meaning she doesn’t burn anything or put any carbon in the atmosphere.
Plus we’ll never run out of wind.
She doesn’t work everywhere though, only in open spaces – like at sea or on a hill.
And she does have a couple of wee problems.
One is that she can harm birds.
The other… I don’t really like to say it, but…
Well, some people think she spoils the view!
That’s one of the reasons most new wind farms are being built out at sea.
Ah the wind’s up again.
Actually, that’s a bit too fast…
Making me dizzy! Could you…?
Urgh… I’d better go…
