The requirement for energy is expected to increase into the foreseeable future, with much of this current and future demand for energy being in the form of electricity. More media and public attention than ever is being directed toward discussion of viable alternatives to our existing energy sources. The world electrical energy demand is forecasted to grow by at least 3% annually through 2020. As in much of the world, the United States is developing new sustainable (sometimes referred to as renewable) energy sources to augment the current sources of coal, nuclear, and natural gas power plants. One of the [Page 947]most economical and technically feasible forms of sustainable electrical energy is derived from wind.

Wind energy has been used since ancient times to directly perform ...