Wind
For information on wind power in local communities and offshore environments, visit the Cape & Islands Energy Information Clearinghouse.

Wind turbines harness air in motion to make electricity. In the same way that an airplane is pulled upward (lifted) when it moves fast enough, the blades of a turbine are pulled around in a circle as the wind blows across them. The spinning blades turn a shaft that drives a generator to produce electricity.

Small turbines can be used to provide power to a home, while larger units can supply electricity to a business or school. Many large wind turbines linked together create a wind farm, a full-scale utility power plant using the wind to make electricity to sell to homeowners and businesses.

Wind turbines dot the ridgeline at the Green Mountain Power facility, Searsburg, VT.

Wind power represents the world's fastest growing source of energy. Land-based wind farms provide much of this power, but countries in Europe and elsewhere have begun harnessing offshore resources.

Some turbines do not produce electricity, but are instead used to do mechanical work, like pump water from a well. People have used this type of windmill for hundreds of years to do physical work, several examples of which can be seen around this region.

Image from National Renewable Energy Laboratory