Wind energy is a "clean" and renewable energy source that can be harvested using turbines to create power or electricity. There are two primary types of wind turbines used for the production of electricity: horizontal-axis and vertical-axis turbines. These turbines can be found in many different applications, and in varying quantities, design, and scale, ranging from a single turbine used to power a private home or another structure with small electricity needs, to a large-scale installation where many large turbines are placed together (commonly referred to as a "wind farm").

Wind farms are becoming increasingly common, with a 30% increase in wind-generated electricity between 2006 and 2007 and a 51% increase between 2007 and 2008. Wind farms have the capacity to provide large quantities of power to regional conventional electrical grids. Wind resource potential varies with geography and topography, and wind farm development occurs both on land and off shore. Off shore wind farm development can be useful to supplement limited onshore site availability, however onshore wind farms have an additional benefit of providing tax revenue and economic gain to rural landowners and communities experiencing economic decline. The Bureau of Land Management manages 20.6 million acres of the lands that hold the potential to generate more than 800 megawatts of new power capacity from wind.

Advantages: clean, renewable, and cost effective
Wind energy is a clean and renewable resource, meaning it does not release greenhouse gases as a byproduct, has fewer environmental impacts than conventional energy resources, and is not being depleted over time. It can be developed in concert with other land use activities such as farming and ranching. It is also one of the lower priced renewable energy technologies currently available.

Disadvantages: transmission costs and wildlife effects
The widespread implementation of wind power has its own set of challenges, despite having many advantages. Large scale wind farm development has considerable up-front costs for turbine and transmission line installation. In addition, bird and bat collisions with wind turbines are an associated environmental impact that must be addressed in the continued development of this resource. (For more information on these topics, visit the Pollinators and Bird Conservation web pages). Finally, research indicates that global warming associated with climate change may affect prevailing wind currents and wind speeds, which may in turn alter regional wind energy siting potential and the production capacity of existing wind energy developments.

Sources:
American Wind Energy Association
Breslow, P.B. and D.J. Sailor. 2002. Vulnerability of wind power resources to climate change in the continental United States. Renewable Energy 27(4):585-598.
Sailor, D.J., M. Smith, and M. Hart. 2008. Climate change implications for wind power resources in the Northwest United States. Renewable Energy 33(11):2393-2406.
U.S. Department of Energy: Wind and Water Power Program
U.S. Department of the Interior New Energy Frontier