How Is Wind Energy Produced?

Wind energy is produced by windmills. Windmills are essentially a type of generator that converts kinetic energy (motion energy) into electrical energy. Wind energy comes from the motion of the air. According to the Department of Energy, air over land heats up faster than air over water. When the warm air over land rises, the cooler air over water rushes in to replace it. This creates wind.

The blades on a windmill catch the wind and the windmill turns. The windmill has an internal shaft that turns inside a generator to produce electricity. The generator produces electricity by spinning a magnet inside a coil of wires. When the magnet turns, it forces electrons through the wires and thus electricity is generated.

The electricity that is generated travels out through wires. A small wind turbine that produces less than 100 kilowatts of electricity can be used to power a single home. Or a large group of wind turbines together make up a "wind farm" that can send electricity out into a power grid and provide electricity for a whole city or even multiple cities.

Resources

• DOE Energy Information Administration Kid's Page