Environmental Benefits of Wind Power

A 1MW turbine will typically have a tower height of approximately 50m and a rotor diameter in the region of 50 - 55m. The energy output of such a machine would be around 3,000,000 kWh on a site with an average wind speed of 7.0 m/s. This is equivalent amount of energy used by 800 typical UK homes. In addition, the electrical generation from this turbine will reduce the amount of electricity that needs to be generated from conventional fossil fuel sources and therefore each turbine of this size will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by over 2,200 tonnes per year.

The trade association for the wind industry in the UK is the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA). They have a compressive website (www.bwea.com) that includes detailed technical information about wind energy. Also, the BWEA have produced many other documents addressing concerns that people may have on wind energy, and the association is an excellent source of well researched information.