Wind Energy

Yesterday’s windmills In 1200’s Europeans used mills to grind grain between millstones In 1600’s the Dutch used windmills to pump water, draining flooded land Windmills made Holland one of the world’s most industrialized countries in the 17th Century

What were they used for? Grinding cocoa, gunpowder and mustard Oil mills pressed oil from seeds Glue mills processed cowhides and animal bones Paint mills ground pigments for paint as well as herb and chemicals for medicines

Windmills in America American colonists used windmills to grind grain, cut wood and pump water Americans used windmills to generate electricity in the 1920’s

The discovery of coal and oil In the 1890’s the first windmills were designed to generate electricity Shortly thereafter, large power plants were built running off coal and oil People no longer needed wind turbines

Wind energy for the future? Wind is the fastest growing energy source in the world Germany is the world leader in terms of installed wind power North Dakota, alone has greater wind energy potential than all of Germany

Wind energy in the U.S. U.S. wind power generating capacity grew by 45% in 2008 Wind energy generated 1.5% of U.S. electricity in 2008 powering 5.7 million homes The top three wind generating states are: Texas, California and Iowa. Wind energy is expected to provide 6% of the nations energy by 2020

How big are they? Vestas V-80 2.0 MW wind turbine 70 tons $300,000 to purchase and install It takes 70 semi trucks to deliver all the parts to the site

Design your own Turbine blades competition Roosevelt High School is accepting proposals from local wind energy design engineers for turbine blades to be used in our new school wind turbine. Working as a team you must design and build blades to fit on the turbine shown Your model will be tested against other teams. The team that generates the most electricity will win a prize