preview

Windmills: Hero Of Alexandria

Decent Essays

Windmills date as far back as 200 BC. The first windmill was known as “Hero of Alexandria”, located in what is now known as Iran, but was not too successful. These windmills were tweaked over many years to have a well functioning purpose. The main purposes of the windmills in ancient times were water pumping and grain grinding. Windmills have been used for thousands of years, allowing for a revolutionary way of completing certain tasks.
Today, we have what is known as wind turbines. These large structures are used as a renewable and free energy source. The way a wind turbine works is very simple. As the wind blows, it moves the blades, which then turns a generator and makes electricity. These wind turbines are only a small source of energy because they work about 65 to 90 percent of the time. When many wind turbines are placed together in one area, it is known as a wind farm. The majority of wind farms are found in Texas and California. Wind farms are hoped to be spread all across the country to become a more prominent source of energy that is not only renewable, but also free. …show more content…

One downfall to this form of renewable energy is the threat to birds and bats. The large blades that turn could potentially hit any flying species, causing death. Another small but still negative impact is the placement of wind farms. Wind turbines take up a sizeable amount of land, and when there is more than one in a single area, clearing may need to occur. Also, roads need to be made for workers to access the wind farms. Despite these small environmental impacts, the overall purpose of the wind turbine does enough good for the energy source to almost cancel out these

Get Access