Renewable Energy Source
Renewable Energy and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
The United States Department of Energy has a lot in the works these days, fueled by the priorities of President Barack Obama. If the President has his way, the United States will make history by going from being one of the largest importers of foreign oil to being one of the largest exporters of renewable energy. In addition to reducing or eliminating America’s economic reliance on foreign fuel sources and fostering an export opportunity that would boost the overall American economy and stock market, the shift to renewable energy would have a positive environmental impact, reducing oil and coal energy air emissions. And finally, the shift will support the domestic energy industry specifically, by investing in American technology and creating jobs in the energy field, ultimately strengthening the United States energy market. The government, and in particular, the Department of Energy, is poised to facilitate this shift in our primary energy sources. The shift starts with the regulations rolled out on February 17Th, 2009 in the form of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
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Wind Energy: A Brief History
Harnessing wind energy has been a task for mankind since 1000 b.c. Beginning with the simple cloth sail to use the energy from wind to propel boats, early civilizations realized the inherent power of wind and continued to invent new technologies in order to efficiently use this renewable energy source. The Persians continued this research into utilization of wind energy by creating one of the first known vertical axis windmill systems around 500 a.d. This windmill was primarily used for the grinding of grains and the pumping of water for irrigation purposes. Information of this wind energy harnessing ability spread throughout Asia and Europe over time and newer more efficient windmills were developed. Most uses of wind energy consisted of only direct action from wind on turbines which were used to simply automate what normally took an inordinate amount of time by human hands. Wind energy was being harnessed not for its potential energy but rather for its current energy. People of this time period could not discover a way to save the energy that was collected; wind energy had to be used as it flowed past the blades of the turbine. When this technology arrived in America around 1850, it was primarily used for the same purposes; pumping water to the many farm homes in need of irrigation and for allowing livestock fresh water to drink. During the late 19th century, Charles Brush was able to develop the first wind powered turbine that generated electricity in the United States. Even though his windmill was innovative for the time, it had a few drawbacks. Due to its low blade speed, the 17-meter rotor would only generate around 12 kilowatts. Modern rotors of similar size can generate up to 100 kilowatts of power.
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