Wind energy offers many advantages, which catapulted it to its current position as one of the fastest-growing energy sources in the world. Researchers are building a solution that limit it's current use. Don't let that fool you into thinking that wind energy isn't ready for widespread use.
Land-based wind energy is one of the cheapest sources of energy available today, costing between 1 to 2 cents per kilowatt-hour of energy after the production tax credit. Since electricity from wind farms are sold at fixed prices, has no real fuel requirement, and is prices for long periods of time, wind energy controls the price fluctuations that traditional energy suffers from.
Wind energy also creates jobs. Currently the more than 100,000 workers are employed in the wind sector. It is also considered one of the fastest growing job sectors in the U.S. The Wind Vision Report estimates that it could “surpass 600,000 jobs by 2050.”
All of this doesn't outshine the effect (or lack there of) it will have on the environment. The processes to create wind turbines are nowhere near as harmful as the coal, natural gas, and biomass plants it replaces. Sadly, many places across the world are looking elsewhere for energy. Germany increased the number of biomass energy plants in recent years, taking a step back from becoming a green energy nation.