RENEWABLE ENERGY: WIND ENERGY

Introduction
The rise in globalization has led to the formulation of regulations and treaties meant to guard the environment from destruction (Royal Academy of Engineering, 2014). The destruction has been proven to result from anthropogenic activities that involve the extraction of resources and thus use of energy (Royal Academy of Engineering, 2014). More emphasis has been on the sources of energy that are associated with the production of greenhouse gases that have the capacity to
cause global warming (Royal Academy of Engineering, 2014). Pursuant to the ever increasing debates on the sustainability of energy production, most organizations both governmental and nongovernmental have been championing for the adoption of renewable energy. Renewable energy is that which is extracted from resources that are replenished naturally as time progresses. These energies depend on one another and include wind energy, solar energy, tidal and wave’s energy, hydrogen and fuel cells energy, geothermal power energy, and biomass energy (Royal Academy of Engineering, 2014). The advancement of technology has made the exploitation of renewable sources of energy easier and cheaper. Being that most nations are developing and the energy requirements increase, there has been wide focus on renewable energy so as to reduce the carbon dioxide .Wind energy forms the core of this paper being that it is the source of energy that is getting a lot of appreciation in countries due to the advantages it has. The aim of this paper is to explore wind energy discussing all the possible advantages and disadvantages as well as the infrastructural requirements for wind energy exploitation together with its uses.
Trends in Global Usage of Wind Energy
The supply and demand of wind energy in the market has expanded since the year 2000. This indicates that there have been commercial and economic benefits of wind energy in the whole world. A number of countries have formulated policies that make them more inclined to the exploitation of wind energy to supplement other sources of energy (Wiser et al., 2014). However, the global representation has not been uniform due to difference in developments as well as poor resource allocation. The exploitation has been for both onshore and offshore winds (Royal Academy of Engineering, 2014). In the overall electricity industry, wind energy remains outstanding in supplementing solar and hydropower based energy (Wiser et al., 2014). Since the year 1999 the cumulative capacity of electricity that is generated from wind has increased by a constant 28% and is recorded to increase even further due to the shift of focus on harnessing wind energy (Royal Academy of Engineering, 2014).
 The most exploited wind systems for energy production have been the onshore winds. However, this is not to mean that wind energy has not been exploited offshore (Wiser et al., 2014). There has also been some percentage of exploitation offshore as well but not as much as onshore wind energy (Royal Academy of Engineering, 2014). Forecasts indicate that in the coming years, offshore winds exploitation shall take precedence over onshore due to the strain of resources onshore as well as the development of offshore wind technologies (Royal Academy of Engineering, 2014).   It is worth noting that the most explored form of wind energy is its capacity to turn turbines that convert the energy into electric energy (Wiser et al., 2014). The energy is then transmitted through the national grid systems to the final consumers comprising of industries, commercial centers and households.
Wind energy is being exploited; however, this happens at small fractions compared to the total energy demand of the whole world. By the end of the year 2009, the total wind energy exploitation plants that were installed only accounted for 1.8% of worldwide electricity demand (Wiser et al., 2014). This compared to 1.5% in the year 2008, is a substantial increase (Royal Academy of Engineering, 2014). The countries whose wind power capacity installations have been outstanding include USA, China, Germany, Spain, India and Denmark. With reference to regions, the Europe located countries account for the largest market share, a clear indication that wind energy is mostly exploited in the EU region. This accounts for 48% of the world energy wind capacity (Royal Academy of Engineering, 2014). The Asian region follows closely with 25%, then North America with 24% (Wiser et al., 2014). German and Spain have been the key wind energy users for the last two decades. Spain in 2013 accounted for 22% of total electricity produced in Spain. China and UK account for half of all the wind energy extracted with reference to the world share (Royal Academy of Engineering, 2014). UK only accounted for 3% despite being the greatest exploiter of wind energy in the UK (Royal Academy of Engineering, 2014). However, considering the offshore winds exploitation, UK outperforms any region in the world.
Advantages and disadvantages of Wind Energy
Advantages of Wind Energy
Like any other source of energy, wind energy also has its merits and demerits. However, being that the advantages are more than disadvantages there the inclination towards wind as the source of energy has increased substantially (Maehlum, 2015). First off, wind is a clean source of energy. This is because compared to fossil fuels; it produces less carbon dioxide and other associated gases (Maehlum, 2015). Generally the only emissions experienced come from the transmission lines and few other activities at the wind farms or turbine sites (Maehlum, 2015). Secondly, wind energy is abundant and has been forecasted to increase. In the US alone the increase has hit 30% annual rate of increase compared to 28% annual increase worldwide (Royal Academy of Engineering, 2014). Thirdly, wind energy is sustainable on its own since there are no triggers required to make winds flow unlike the fossil fuels where there must be extraction and at times the resources end up being depleted (Maehlum, 2015). Wind comes by the solar energy heating the atmosphere and rotation of the earth that are beyond the control of human beings (Royal Academy of Engineering, 2014). It also depends on the topographical variations of the earth surface. This means that as long as the aforementioned conditions are in place wind energy production and extraction is assured.
The third advantage of wind energy is that it is cost effective (Royal Academy of Engineering, 2014). Statistics across the world indicate that wind energy is the lowest priced and the least regulated form of energy. The cost per kilowatt-hour electric energy produced varies between 5 and 6 cents when the process of harnessing and distribution is well planned and maintained (Maehlum, 2015). The design of the turbines is less complex compared to the design of natural gas and hydroelectric power that take a lot of investments to run (Royal Academy of Engineering, 2014).  Additionally, the time taken to construct a wind farm full of turbines is less compared to that taken in constructing hydro and natural gas power plants (Maehlum, 2015).  The turbines can also be located in farms and ranches without posing threts to the existence of activities therein. This means that the location of the turbines is economically viable. Wind energy also has a good domestic potential in that those around the wind turbine farms are able to get clean supply at lower rates (Maehlum, 2015). Lastly, wind energy exploitation creates employment to most individuals thus raising the economy and social wellbeing of a country or region.
Disadvantages of Wind Energy
The turbines have the ability to cause noises and thus aesthetic pollution of the environment. The rotors produce a lot of noises especially when rotating due to resistance with air (Maehlum, 2015). There have also been cases when the rotors have caused accidents of both wildlife and planes. This threatens the wildlife that also is significant to the economy (Maehlum, 2015). Wind is also unpredictable due to the fluctuations of weather patterns across the world at a rate that is not predictable. This makes it inefficient and less reliable as the load energy source of a country. This means that it can only complement other sources of energy that have a wide carbon footprint (Maehlum, 2015). Wind power exploitation also has associated costs however much the costs are low compared to other sources of energy.
The Future of Wind Energy
The global exploitation of wind energy has been forecasted to increase to 20% of all the electricity demand of the world by 2050 (Wiser et al., 2014). This has mainly been contributed by the increase in the number of technologies that are meant to increase the efficiency of wind energy extraction systems (Royal Academy of Engineering, 2014). The demand of wind energy has also been shown to increase as a result of policies and development agendas that are meant to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide.  The UK estimates its wind energy capacity by the end of 2020 to be at 17 and 36 Gigawatts (Wiser et al., 2014). Meaning that there are plans for developing more wind farms to meet the set target. The demand of wind energy to supplement the hydropower in the UK is set to increase with the increase in the number of electric vehicles in the region by 2020 (Royal Academy of Engineering, 2014). The demand will be at 50 Gigawatts meaning that UK will have to also explore onshore winds as a source of wind energy (Royal Academy of Engineering, 2014). Wind will mostly be exploited for electricity supplementing the electric power needs of countries.
Conclusion
There are many sources of renewable energy as have been seen in the introduction. However, the main focus of this paper was wind energy which is one of such. The global trends of wind energy consumption and capacity have increased and have been forecasted to increase at the rate of 28% annually. China, Germany, Spain, USA, Denmark and UK top the list of regions where wind energy has been exploited widely. The UK is the windiest region and thus has much offshore wind energy harnessing activities. There are advantages and disadvantages of wind energy as further explored in the paper. Noteworthy is the fact that despite having the stated demerits or challenges wind energy still outstands as the most growing form of energy across the world. The limitations of wind exploitation as stated in the paper include the costs, unpredictability, threats to wildlife, lack of clear policies, and pollution of the environment. Gaps exist in literature concerning the exploitation of renewable sources of energy. Most authors should therefore focus their attention to the development of future research on the field. This will help come up with alternative solutions for the above mentioned limitations in the exploitation of wind energy.  Investors in the energy sector should consider this growing field of energy production as the potential energy of the future supplementing that from other forms of energy such as coal and natural gas. Technology should be invented to ensure that there is equal capacity of offshore and onshore wind energy. This will make the exploitation of wind energy across the globe regardless of the prevailing topographical factors since no region is windless. Research should also be conducted on how the sustainability of wind energy can be ensured through various practices. This will in the long run reduce the carbon footprint that is currently an issue of concern globally and has engulfed much funds with no solutions other thus reduction procedures alone.

Bibliography
Maehlum, M. A. 2015, March 23, “Wind Energy Pros and Cons - Energy Informative”. Retrieved from http://energyinformative.org/wind-energy-pros-and-cons/
Royal Academy of Engineering. 2014, April, “Wind Energy: Implications of Large-Scale Deployment on the GB Electricity System”. Retrieved from http://www.raeng.org.uk/publications/reports/wind-energy-implications-of-large-scale-deployment
Wiser et al. 2014, “Chapter 7 Wind Energy”. Retrieved from http://srren.ipcc-wg3.de/report/IPCC_SRREN_Ch07.pdf