Michigan Youth Political Alliance

How feasible is wind energy in the United States? The spinning turbines currently provide 1% of America’s electricity, and according to the Department of Energy, may provide up to 20% of it by 2030. However, there is still a long ways to go. In this entry, I will outline the arguments for and against wind energy, as well as looking at a couple of the other choices for energy development. This took quite a bit of time, so I hope you find it resourceful.

Benefits

Diversifying energy sources & reducing fossil fuel dependency – Wind energy holds major prospects for reducing our need for coal-powered plants and natural gas, at a price that will probably be cheaper than fossil fuels in the future (AWEA). It’ll also be important to utilize multiple energy sources so we don’t rely on one completely, so wind energy is one component of a large-scale energy remodeling plan for the nation.

Reducing environmental risks - Conventional power plants generate a ton of carbon dioxide emissions. Wind energy, in fact, only releases 1-2% of the carbon emissions coal-powered plants release. Continuing to develop our wind energy would have enormous implications since we would be able to cumulatively save 7.6 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2030. At that point, we would save 825 million metric tons annually just by transitioning to wind energy!

Another significant improvement would be made in water consumption where water consumption could be cut by 450 billion gallons a year if we replaced coal-powered plants (which are heavy users of water) with wind turbines (Department of Energy).

Significant job creation – The wind industry could create a significant amount of jobs through turbine design, manufacturing, installment, and maintenance. Keep in mind how so much revenue could be made outside of the actual power production of the turbines. The Department of Energy reported that half a million jobs could be created by the wind industry!

Earning farmers extra income – Wind energy could earn farmers that give up a quarter of an acre of land to install wind turbines $10,000 a year, a pretty impressive figure that could easily be multiplied for a farmer that owns a great deal of land.

Piecemeal construction – Wind farms can be built piecemeal since you can build half a wind farm and it’ll still be operational. This is better than coal-burning or nuclear power plants, where if you build only half a plant, you’re probably in for big trouble.

Shortcomings

Piecemeal maintenance – Wind farms might be versatile because they can be constructed by sections, but that means their power output is reduced significantly while their maintenance costs still stay high. Thus, the economic benefits of a small wind farm are still nil and only large wind farms thrive as power producers.

Costs – While costs are decreasing–one source listing wind energy as 8 cents per kilowatt (kWh)***, another as 4-8 cents per kWh subsidized by the federal wind tax credit and potentially reaching 6-8.5 cents per KWh unsubsidized in the future–it is still generally expensive due to the transmission difficulties, failure rates and maintenance.

In comparison, according to an MIT study, coal-powered plants are at 5 cents per kWh and rising to 8 cents per kWh due to proposals for underground carbon storage or a carbon tax. The California Public Utilities Commission claims solar power costs them 13 cents per kWh, but Sungri recently said they designed technologies that would make solar power cost only 5-7 cents per kWh, making it much more cost-effective.

The California Public Utilities Commission also said that nuclear power costs 15 cents per kWh; however, Jim Harding of the Keystone Panel said that nuclear power costs 20-29 cents per kWh for the first year of operation. Florida Power and Light claimed that it would cost $12 billion to $18 billion total for 2 new nuclear power plants, exhibiting the monstrous toll nuclear power could take on companies and governments. After spending millions on research, Warren Buffet even decided to avoid nuclear power development.

I was extremely surprised by these findings that nuclear power is so costly, but I suppose there is research to support all sides to the story. I just haven’t had the time to dig even deeper.

Transmission line limitations – Wind farms are usually isolated and far away from areas that demand the power. Thus, the power has to be transmitted over long distances, but our highly outdated power grid can not handle it. We depend upon AC circuits, which only carry high capacities over short-distances, when we should be rebuilding our power grid with DC circuits, which can sustain power even through long-distances. The problem is exemplified in the Maple Ridge Wind farm, a $320 million project to place 200 wind turbines in New York that has to shut down at times because of regional grid congestion.

Another aspect of the problem appears with environmentalists. Environmentalists that support wind energy surprisingly oppose the construction of multiple transmission lines because they cross through wildlife and parks. How are we supposed to get anything done then?

What is interesting though is that the Bush Energy Department claims that integrating transmission into the energy costs should be less than 0.5 cents per kWh. Still, transmission is a huge problem that has to be addressed if our lines can ever get enough capacity to circulate power from the wind farms. As many have pointed out, we need something like an interstate highway system for power lines.

Rarely optimal wind conditions – Even a slight adjustment in the wind means a significant shift in the power output of the wind turbines. Wind is also extremely difficult to predict. Thus, finding places to construct wind farms can be a pain. Wind farms can only produce energy 35% of the time while nuclear power plants can provide energy 90% of the time. Thus, wind farms must be of huge sizes to generate significant power.

Low climate-tolerance – Wind turbines break down really easily from rain, snow, and other fatiguing conditions, so finding the right location to place a wind farm can be complicated.

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***Kilowatt-hours (kWh) are used to measure how much electricity you use like gallons are used to measure how much gas you use. One kilowatt appliance used for an hour is one kilowatt-hour in other words. In a practical example, turning on the 100-watt light bulb in your home for an hour costs exactly one kilowatt-hour.

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