Ever since when green and clean energies made their first “appearance”, and in the following decades when they became more and more important year after year, we have always been accustomed to calling them “alternative sources of energy”, as to emphasize an alternative to the classic fossil fuels that, for decades, have established the destinies of the world. To be more precise, however, when we refer to wind and solar energies as “renewable,” it’s because they are regenerable and non-exhaustive.
Wind power is a resource which may be able to meet the energy needs of the entire world population, for an emission cost close to zero.
According to a study published some years ago by Nature magazine, the exploitation of high-altitude wind currents would be able to produce a sufficient amount of energy for the needs of all human beings and their activities: in short, in the wind, there would be all the power we need.
According to the authors of the article, there is the possibility that wind becomes the primary source of energy but is significant to make a comparison with geothermal energy, another important and widespread energy resource that is, among other things, better for two main reasons.
The first one is that geothermal (http://exergy-orc.com/applications/geothermal) is accessible 24/7, with average availability levels of about 90% of the time. On the contrary, wind plants depend – simply to say – from the wind: if it’s windy they work, otherwise not. That said, it’s simple to understand that turbines alone cannot guarantee all the energy the world needs.
Another advantage of geothermal is both visual and environmental: imagine you’ve never seen a wind turbine, the first time you see it, it will look like such a positive thing, tied to human progress. Conversely, living near a wind farm have some serious problems, including the fact that turbine rotor generates much noise, which can be quite annoying.
Conclusively, wind power is a positive resource that must be exploited, but this should be done carefully and without forgetting that there are other forms of clean energy, such geothermal, that in certain situations are more efficient.
