Avatar

Environmental Policy Discussion Group

Come Discuss Policy Issues

Wind Power: I'm a Big Fan

Mon. Aug. 03, 06:07pm EST

Saw that on a shirt recently. ( http://www.teehugger.com/product_p/thas1003_thjs1007.htm )

The last 6 months have been crazy!  I'm now officially at my new job at Illinois State University, so I'll try to resume this group since I know many of you are interested.

As I promised long ago, let's talk about wind power.  Pretty close to my current location in Bloomington, IL, is a wind farm, so it's an issue that's relevant for me at least.  But there's one of the fundamental problems with wind energy:  location, location, location.  If you're not in a great area for wind generation, installing a system is just not economically feasible.  Here in the windy Midwest, our windmills are worth installing because the wind generates enough electricity to balance out the large upfront costs.  I recently came across this map of wind energy potential:

Wind Potential

As you can see, the majority of the nation has almost no potential for wind generation, unless you count offshore potential.

Location isn't wind's only problem.  Skeptics point to intermittency:  the fact that the wind doesn't always blow.  This is what causes wind's capacity factor (how much electricity it actually generates as a percentage of it's potential) to be so low (between 20-40%).  Also, many people believe that wind turbines are ugly and detract from scenery or interfere with the behavior of birds.  I also read something about "wind turbine syndrome," which supposedly affects young children living in close proximity to wind turbines (this looked sketchy to me...maybe some of our medical readers could comment). 

That being said, there are some solid advantages of wind power.  First of all, it's cheap.  Once installed, wind turbines need little maintenance.  They also emit no air pollution directly.  Personally, I think they are pretty cool to look at, so I don’t mind them being around from an aesthetic perspective.  Plus, the wind is infinitely renewable.

I’d love to know what you guys think.  I have intentionally not given an exhaustive list of pros or cons because I’d like to see them come out in discussion.

tags: energy environment wind electricity
Comments
Jeffrey Chupp Tue. Aug. 04, 11:05am EST#1

"Wind turbine syndrome"... isn't that what Don Quixote had? Sounds pretty sketchy to me too.

It looks clean and effective (if you're in the right region). Personally, I don't think aesthetics should be part of the equation given our current and future energy needs.

Andrew Chupp Tue. Aug. 04, 11:41am EST#2

Also, one thing to note is that the map is constructed from state provided data. If the state didn't do their homework, then they don't show up on the map. Hence why Missouri looks like a black hole in the middle of the other Midwest states. I doubt the wind suddenly starts blowing after you cross the border into Illinois.

Joe Spears Tue. Aug. 04, 02:58pm EST#3

I am a fan of wind power as well, but there are many who think they are an eyesore. Those costal regions tend to get real fussy about that.

Like you though I think they are cool to look at, if i could put one in my backyard I would ;-)

Bill May Tue. Aug. 04, 03:43pm EST#4

I was watching a special on Jay Leno's (garage/ shop/ BullDog Mechanics whatever you want to call it). Mounted on top of the garage was a type of wind turbine I noticed in the Chesapeake Bay on intermediate sized sail boats. Thin, tall and vertical, they spun at a higher rate than the windmill type and put out a surprisingly amount of energy for the wind captured. Unfortunately, I can't recall the output from the boats, but Mr. Leno stated the vertical turbines on the garage produced enough to operate everything in the shop except the high amperage items like welders, lifts, and the BIG air compressor. Everything else could run off these if necessary. Even these had a mesmerizing effect (maybe this is the Wind Turbine Syndrome). lol

But, they've been doing these huge wind turbines since the late 70's in California. I used to travel from Merced to San Francisco and Monterey on a regular basis and the hills coming into Castro Valley were covered in the machines. It's amazing after 30 plus years, interest is peaking again on this subject. I would hope the new machines would be more effiecient.

Andrew Chupp Wed. Aug. 05, 01:47pm EST#5

I saw a similar walkthrough of Jay Leno's garage. Those personal wind power devices are great. I don't know about their cost effectiveness, but if you live in a state with a net metering rule, you can install one on your house and save a ton on your electric bill. Plus, all the power you generate but don't use can be sold on the grid! Once again, only if your state has net metering rules.

Peter4 Tue. Sep. 15, 03:08pm EST#6

Wind is probably a fine resource for supplemental energy but I agree it lacks the constancy required for a really practical and widely available and reliable resource that modern society demands.

If a retreat from modernity is actually the social and production goal then more dependence on wind would be an acceptable alternative to reliable and widely available energy from other sources.

I think before we get too committed to any particular resource we should carefully consider priorities and goals. After all it was just that kind of short sighted vision that landed us in this predicament in the first place. We may just find that diversification of resources is a more practical approach.

Add comment

You may use some XHTML formatted tags, including <strong>, <em>, <blockquote>, <ul>, <ol>, <a>, <cite> and <q>.

 
Close