Harness Wind Power Instead of Drilling for Fossil Fuel

Wind power is one of the most underestimated power sources in the world today. We are only now beginning to take advantage of technology that can help make it better and more reliable. Harnessing wind power is an excellent source of electricity. Contrary to popular perceptions, the potential of wind power is enormous. A Department of Energy inventory found that North Dakota, Texas, and Kansas alone have enough wind energy to meet the electricity needs for the whole country. Also, cheap electricity created by wind can be used to electrolyze water, producing hydrogen, the fuel of choice for new fuel cell engines in cars due out on the market in a few years. This makes wind power useful for transportation. Harnessing wind power to heat homes and businesses is also quite feasible because more and more homes are being heated with electricity. Wind power is clearly one of the cleanest sources of power available. It produces no chemical or radioactive emissions and leaves the local ecosystems largely intact for continued use as agricultural land. Already competitive with other sources, the cost of wind-generated electricity is expected to continue to decline. Once at $0.38 per kilowatt-hour in the 1980¿s, average wind-generated electricity prices are now between $0.03 and $0.06 per kW-h. Modern wind generators are very inexpensive compared to their older models. They can be built within a year, whereas the average gas plant takes five. Wind power is becoming more reliable, now working close to 98% of the time. The government should invest more money in clean energy sources like wind power. They are the best bet for the future with increasing oil scarcity and threats of global warming.