|
Author: Will Reece Article source: http://choosetoprosper.com/. Used with author's permission.
With the increased costs of energy derived from fossil fuels, many consumers are interested in alternative sources of energy. Unfortunately the market trend tells us that little to no relief in oil prices is in sight. A great source of power can be harnessed from the wind using electricity generating windmills. Below is a brief history of wind power, and how it came to be.
Wind power has been harnessed for many, many years. Nobody knows for sure when man started using the wind's power to grind flour or pump water, but it is thought that the first windmill appeared in the Persian region. From there this windmill technology spread back to northern Europe. Windmills crafted by the Dutch were used primarily to pump water.
Windmills were definitely not the first structures to harness the wind. This award belongs to the sailboat. More than likely, founded in small scale (small canoe with an animal skin as a sail) the sailboat became the only way to cross large areas of water. The sailboat evolved into large ships moving great distances by using only wind as a source of power.
Windmills on a smaller scale showed up in America in the mid 19th Century. The Aermotor and Dempster design were invented and many are still in use. From 1850 to 1970 more than 6,000,000 windmills were installed in the United States. The main application was pumping water for livestock and providing farm homes with a water supply.
In the late 19th Century, the first windmill to generate electricity was born! This was the Brush postmill in Cleveland Ohio, and the year was 1888! The rotor was approximately 17 meters in diameter. This windmill had a gearbox with a high spin ratio attached to a DC generator.
By the middle 1920's, several small scale systems were found across the Midwestern plains and used to supply farms with electricity. These systems generally had a 1 to 3 kilowatt output.
1941 saw the largest wind generator to date. This generator's capacity was 1.25 megawatts. It was known as the Smith-Putnam machine. The rotor measured an astonishing 175 feet in diameter.
Today, many wind turbines are in operation from small scale residential systems that are affordable to the homeowner to large scale wind turbine farms that are used to supply a large amount of electricity to utility customers.
For more information on wind power, visit us online at fuelfromthewind.com. Fuelfromthewind.com is one of the alternative energy sites Will Reece owns and operates. Please visit us today!
Online Sales: 10 High Octane Online Sales Generators
Do you want to spark up sales at your website?
To Picket Fences
The "fence height" controversy has traveled to the California communities of Burbank, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Richmond and Glendale where angry homeowners ha...
A Golf Specific Workout Will Energize Your Golf Game
A Golf specific workout designed specifically for your physical limitations will give you the greatest results in the quickest amount of time. You may not be i...
Points to Consider When Contemplating Bulgaria Holiday Homes
Consider carefully how you intend to use your Bulgaria holiday homes.
Female Mannequins: An Overview
Female mannequins are very common in clothing stores. They are often found throughout the store, from the front window where they display the store's latest and...
Finding the UK Loan that You Need
Because it can sometimes be difficult to find a UK loan with a low interest rate and acceptable loan terms, many people get frustrated with the entire borrowing...
Rugged Individualism vs Human Nature
"Rugged individualism" is actually a euphemism for Thomas Hobbes' baseless concept of man's natural condition as a war of everyone against everyone else. Even d...
Understanding Bariatric Surgery
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity among adults has risen significantly in the U.S. over the last 20 years. In fact, statistic...
Coaching Skills for Peers: Extending Influence
Peer coaching requires asking questions, gaining an understanding of the other person's issues and viewpoints, and identifying areas of shared interest or conce...
Anti oxidants – Why Its a Must in Your Diet
While oxygen is the key to human survival, it is also responsible for maximum damage to the human body as 'free radicals'. Free radicals form when oxygen is me...
Banned By Google And Back Again
How my website got de-indexed by the search engine Google, and how I got it back in.
Raising Capital Using a Public Company
There are a variety of ways of going public. One way for a company to go public is an IPO. In an initial public offering a company is doing two things simultane...
What You Should Know About Cosmetic Surgery
Cosmetic surgery - Read over this information page and consider the 11 questions to be sure you won't regret it.
Hawaii Mortgage and Home Loan Trends
One of the latest trends in the mortgage industry in the Hawaiian islands involves pre-approving borrower loans. This article explores recent updates in the Haw...
Golf Equipment Doesnt Work
Golf equipment doesn't work? Did that catch your attention? I hope so. Now keep reading. Just the other day I was watching the Golf Channel and they were ta...
Drug Addiction Treatment Centers: A Fresh Start
Each year millions of people across America, enter treatment
centers. For many, this marks a fresh start, a rebirth. It
is an opportunity to rebuild broken re...
Piano Playing and Performance Anxiety
Looks at the main reason for performance anxiety and suggests an answer to overcoming it.
Information - The Art Of Selling
Money may well make the world go round, but facts, details and data oil the machine that beats at the heart of it. We supposedly live in the age of information,...
You are Closer to Being Vitamin C Deficient Than You Think
Few people would expect that the average modern diet is deficient in a vitamin essential to life. Research now shows that vitamin C deficiency is widely spread...
Nutritional Supplements - How To Choose A High Quality Product
Looking for quality nutritional supplements can seem quite overwhelming at times, especially if you're just starting out. It is just as important to be sure you...
What Values Are We Giving Our Children?
What values are we giving our children in foreign lands? Is it the environment or our work that forbids us from giving our children good values, home training,...
Nonsurgical Options for Prostate Cancer
You have Prostate Cancer and you don't know what to do. Should I have surgery or use other options? This article explains some of the nonsurgical options for ...
Feng Shui Monsters Under Your Bed
Good feng shui often requires making wise decisions based on your specific circumstances, rather than blinding following an ideal rule. The feng shui rule for s...
Client Attraction Technique #1: Niche Marketing
When asked "what business are you in" many business owners often identify an industry, for example, "I'm an accountant" or "I run a beauty salon " or "I own a r...
|
Print this page