Wind Power

Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into more useful forms of energy, usually electricity using wind turbines. Although wind power has not yet been widely adapted in Dublin, we can expect to see this trend changing in the near future. Globally, wind power generation more than quadrupled between 2000 and 2006. Most modern wind power is generated in the form of electricity by converting the rotation of turbine blades into electrical current by means of an electrical generator. In windmills (a much older form of technology) wind power can be used to power mechanical machinery in factories or agriculture, like crushing grain or pumping water, but that form of wind power is not used much any more. Wind power is used in large scale wind farms for national electrical grids as well as in small individual turbines for providing electricity to rural residences or grid-isolated locations. Wind energy is ample, renewable, widely distributed, clean, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere if used to replace fossil-fuel-derived electricity. Intermittency of wind can create challenges in using this source of energy efficiently. Dublin has some wind power resources and Dublin county council have looked at the issue of using wind power as a means of making energy. Although Dublin is only at the starting stages we can expect to see a lot more wind power used in the coming years