By Pat Mettmer

When you see windmills what comes to your mind? Do you think of the Dutch countryside scattered with these structures? Do you think of the windmill-fighting Don Quixote, the fictional Spanish nobleman? Whatever comes to your mind, one thing is true; wind solar power is now a reality in many places. After decades of neglect, windmills are being adapted and changed in design to allow them to produce the needed energy that is so vital for life in the 21st century.

Although used to turn a grinding stone that would be used to obtain flour for bread, wind mills are being for a completely different purpose today - to produce electricity through wind power. In California, there are more than 16,000 wind turbines that are run by windmills with huge rotor blades.

Exploiting the power of wind is not new to humankind. Even the early humans used it to sail the waters, a long time before the first engines powered boats. They used wind power to power huge saws to saw their wood or to pump water using pumps powered by the wind. You can still see farmers in America pumping water powered by wind when power is lost.

In the 20th century the ease with which fossil fuels could be harnessed and the resultant greater power from these resources pushed wind power to the back seat. In the years following the use of fossil fuels, it seemed that this form of fuel was cheap ad plentiful and thus easily eclipsed wind solar power. However, the'73 oil crisis changed the viewpoint of many and since then, wind solar power again came to light and has done that ever since.

As we have to continue to think about our environment it becomes clear that solar and wind power are the alternative energy sources with the least negative impact. It is also not possible to exhaust these energy sources as long as the sun shines and the wind blows. WInd energy produces no chemical emissions hence there are practically no better alternatives available out there at this time.

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