Wind Energy
Wind energy path diagram
Wind energy is one of the more commonly used forms of renewable energy. As it sounds, wind energy converts the wind into electricity. The wind flows past the blades causing them to rotate, which in turn causes an electric generator to turn and generate electricity eventually reaching your house (See picture). What makes wind energy such a suitable way of producing electricity is the fact that its costs are relatively cheap and the doesn't really release any environmentally harmful by-products during production. After the wind turbine is built and installed, there aren't really any costs of production other than the basic maintenance every once in a while. And, the only pollution caused by the turbine is released when the turbine itself is being produced; however, any power source used is going to have pollution during the production of the apparatus. The only draw back is the fact it can only produce a relatively small amount of electricity, only about 750 kW per turbine, as compared to the power of say a coal plant: about 500 MW.