Meaning & use
wind energy
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountable
Electricity or power produced by turning the movement of the wind into usable energy, usually with turbines.
Grammar: No plural; talk about amounts with 'a lot of', 'much' or 'sources of'.
Patterns
- generate wind energy
- produce wind energy
- wind energy from something
- invest in wind energy
The country now gets about a fifth of its electricity from wind energy.
Wind energy is cheaper than coal in many parts of the world.
Engineers are looking for better ways to store wind energy for calm days.
Common combinations
- renewable wind energy
- The island relies on renewable wind energy for most of its power.
- wind energy project
- The wind energy project will add fifty new turbines along the coast.
- wind energy industry
- Jobs in the wind energy industry have grown quickly.
- generate wind energy
- These hills are an ideal place to generate wind energy.
- wind energy farm
- A large wind energy farm is planned for the valley.
Synonyms and how they differ
- wind power
- Very close in meaning and often used in the same contexts, though 'wind power' can also refer to the force of the wind itself.
- solar energy
- A different renewable source; use it when the power comes from sunlight, not from moving air.
Word family
- wind turbine noun
- The tall machine with blades that turns wind into electricity.
- wind farm noun
- A group of wind turbines built together in one area.
Commonly confused: wind energy or wind power?
wind energy vs wind power
Almost the same, but 'wind power' is also used for the physical force of the wind, while 'wind energy' usually means the electricity produced.
Practice
The town hopes to ______ wind energy to power all its homes by 2035.
Choose one answer.
'Generate' is the natural verb for producing electricity from a source. 'Make' is too general here, and 'do' and 'take' do not collocate with energy production.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wind energy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.