As contradictory as it sounds, wind energy is a form of solar energy. Nearly all forms of renewable energy, including the energy in fossil fuels, comes ultimately from the sun. The sun’s radiation heats different parts of the earth at different rates-most notably during the day and night, but also when different surfaces (for example, water and land) absorb or reflect at different rates. This in turn causes portions of the atmosphere to warm differently. Hot air rises, reducing the atmospheric pressure at the earth’s surface, and cooler air is drawn in to replace it. The result is wind.

Air has mass, and when it is in motion, it contains the energy of that motion – kinetic energy. Some portion of that energy can converted into other forms mechanical force or electricity that we can use to perform work.

Read more about Where Wind Energy Comes From from the Danish Wind Industry Association. Denmark raises 24.1% of its electricity from wind enery – the highest in the world – and more than half of the world’s wind turbines are created in Denmark.

More and more householders, communities and small businesses are generating their own electricity by using small scale wind turbines, either on their roofs or in their back gardens.