What wind power is:
- WindWind is air in motion. Wind is caused by uneven heating of the earth's surface by the sun. power is a renewable resource because it will never be used up.
- Wind power is power created by changing the energy of the wind into a useful form of energy.
- Wind energy can be used to generate electricity.
History of wind power in North Dakota:
Early Use of Windmills: This photo from 1922 shows a young woman in front of a windmill. Early settlers used windmills on farmsteads to pump water from wells. Photo courtesy of NDSU Institute for Regional Studies.
- In the early 1900s, some North Dakota residents began using wind power to produce electricity.
- Wind chargers generated electricity for small electrical devices in rural (country) homes.
- Generating electricity from wind chargers had drawbacks.
- Only very small devices could be powered by wind chargers.
- A battery back-up was needed when the wind was not blowing.
- Generating electricity from wind chargers had drawbacks.
- Wind chargers generated electricity for small electrical devices in rural (country) homes.
- In the 1940s, electricity was brought to North Dakota farms by Rural Electric Cooperatives (RECs).
- The RECs built power lines to carry electricity to the farms.
- By 1954, almost all of the farms in North Dakota had electricity brought by the RECs.
- The small wind chargers were no longer needed.
- The RECs built power lines to carry electricity to the farms.