Are You a Wind Power Wiz?

According to the Global Wind Energy Council, at the beginning of 2009 the total world installed capacity for wind power was 120.8 gigawatts. That's a 28.8% growth rate over the previous year.

More: Record-Setting 8.5 GW of New US Wind Power Capacity Added in 2008

According to the World Wind Energy Report, at the start of the year, the United States led the world in installed wind power capacity, with 25,237 MW installed. Germany was second with 23,933 MW; Spain was third, 16,543 MW and China fourth with 12,121 MW. India gets honorable mention with 9,655 MW. The next nearest country, Italy, has about one-third of that.

More: USA is the Number One Biggest Wind Energy Producer

It might be surprising to some people, considering the heavy petro-chemical presence in the state, but Texas currently leads the United States with an installed wind power capacity of 7,118 MW. (That's at the beginning on 2009.)

More: Iowa Moves Into Second Place, Behind Texas, in US Wind Power Capacity Race

According to the American Wind Energy Association North Dakota has a wind power potential, in billions of kilowatt-hours annually, of 1210; Texas comes in second with 1,190; Kansas has 1,070; South Dakota, 1,030. Going down from there to round out the top ten are: Montana, Nebraska, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Minnesota, and Iowa.

More: New High Rez Wind Power Resource Map Covers the Entire Planet

While most wind turbines have their blades rotating around a horizontal hub, a vertical axis wind turbine has them rotating around a central, vertical hub. Currently most designs are small or medium scale.

Here's a good example if you need a visual reference: Windspire Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Wins PopSci Award

The winds offshore are generally more consistent and more powerful than winds hitting onshore wind farms. There are exceptions of course, and offshore wind farms are more expensive, but the potential of offshore wind power truly is huge.

More: 3000 US Coal Power Plants Could be Replaced by Offshore Wind Power: Sec. of Interior

This is sort of a trick question, unless you've been following developments that detail the potential of offshore wind power in the Great Lakes. When you include these inland waters off Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota the total US states with the potential to install an offshore wind farm climbs to thirty.

More: 321 Gigawatts of Wind Power Awaits Exploitation Off Michigan's Shores

Though there is a certain romanticism to having your own wind turbine powering your home, they are far less efficient at generating power than their larger cousins. In many places, solar panels are a far more cost-effective way of generating renewable power for your home.

More: Small Scale Wind Turbine Power Claims Grossly Overstated: New UK Report

Perhaps surprisingly, radar does show some potential in protecting bats from straying too close to wind turbines -- where the pressure changes caused by the moving blades can kill them in the wrong circumstances. Researchers are currently working on determining how a bat-repelling radar deterrent might work.

More: How Radar Could Protect Bats From Wind Turbines

Despite the perceived perception that modern commercial-scale wind turbines are a threat to flying birds, all of the above are far greater threats to our avian friends. In fact, up to 1 billion birds die each year just crashing into plate glass windows; cats kill hundreds of millions of birds. Perhaps 40,000 birds are killed annually by wind turbines.

More: A Risk Management Perspective on Bird Mortality