Renewable sources of energy are the new concept of energy production. These include harnessing energy from the nature, with the help of advanced technologies. Since nature has a vast source of energy which can be renewed every time, these sources are called renewable sources of energy. The renewable sources of energy include wind energy, solar energy and ocean energy.
Among the renewable sources in use today, wind energy holds a great potential. Studies reveal that the potential of wind power on land and near-shore is 72 terrawatts (TW), which is over five times the world's current energy use in all forms (15 TW from all sources in 2005). This would mean that the total wind power available in the atmosphere is much greater than the current world energy consumption.
Even though wind produces only 1% of the total world energy consumption, its usage is growing rapidly. By 2010, the World Wind Energy Association expects 60GW of capacity to be installed worldwide, up from 73.9 GW at the end of 2006, implying an anticipated net growth rate of more than 21% per year. This would mean that the investments in wind energy (http://www.worldenergyresearch.com/ServiceandContact.aspx?id=3) will be much greater, in the coming years.
I'm from the land of the wind mill. At least, we're called that.
I can tell you people tend to hate windmills. They ruin our horizon, and make unwanted noise, especially at night. We just completed a windmill park 10km off the coast. Not sure how many households can be run off that, but it's relatively minor.
If every house or building had a giant windmill on the roof, I'm sure we'd get the electricity we need. The noise would be crazy though, let alone the sight. Time for anti-noise to be put to use here, perhaps?