Continue with Microsoft TeamsRead About Leon and Kerry's Opinions on Wind Energy
Vocabulary
Can you find where all the definitions are in the text?
Natural resources come from nature.
Renewable resources can be replaced or grow again.
Non-Renewable resources cannot be replaced.
Power From the Wind
Wind turbines are large windmills that produce energy. As wind moves the blades of a wind turbine, electricity is produced. Read the two texts about wind turbines.
Letter to the Editor
More and more people today are realizing that we need to stop relying so much on getting energy from oil and coal. Using these pollution that leads to climate change.
How do we get energy if we do not use fossil fuels? I often hear people talk about building more nuclear power plants and getting energy from the alternatives, but there is an excellent alternative that people do not seem to talk about as much—using wind turbines to generate electricity.
Throughout history, people have used wind power. Sailboats get power from the wind, and people have been using sailboats for centuries. Windmills have also been around for centuries, and they use power from the wind to grind grain into flour. Today’s wind turbines are a type of windmill that uses wind power to generate electricity.
In my opinion, we need more wind turbines. They do not use up fossil fuels, and wind is a renewable source of energy—we will never run out of wind. The other benefit of wind turbines is that they do not create pollution, so they do not contribute to climate change.
I encourage everyone to learn more about wind turbines, and to ask government officials to build more wind turbines. Wind power is a great way to generate clean energy and use less fossil fuel.
Leon Jones
Blog Entry
So what is the story on wind energy? I have been doing some research. Wind turbines seem to be a pretty good way to produce energy. They do not pollute the air, they are cheaper to build than power-generating plants, and they do not use up fossil fuels, which are non-renewable resources. I found out that some people do not like wind turbines. I am going to tell you some of the problems they point out, and my thoughts on each problem.
Problem 1: Birds are killed when they fly into wind turbines.
Okay, that makes sense, but my research tells me that more birds are killed each year by flying into tall buildings that keep their lights on at night. A huge number of birds are killed each year by pet cats that people let wander outside. In comparison, the number of birds killed by wind turbines is low. If we want to save birds, let us look after the bigger problems first.
Problem 2: Wind turbines produce energy only on windy days
Yes, that is true. But no one is talking about using only wind turbines to produce energy. We do need to have other sources of energy to use on days when there is no wind. Wind turbines can help us reduce the amount of pollution that other energy sources put into the air. Also, wind turbines can help us use less energy from non-renewable sources.
Problem 3: Wind turbines make too much noise
Noise can be a problem when we build wind turbines in areas where people live and work. We do not have to build wind turbines in those places. There is a lot of open land in North America where wind turbines would not bother anyone. I also found out that people are working to design wind turbines that are much quieter.
Wind turbines might not be perfect, but they are still a good idea!
– Kerry