As we read as a class in Making the Economic Case for Offshore Wind, the United States lags behind many other industrialized countries when it comes to development of wind energy. Countries such as China, Denmark, the U.K. and Germany have surpassed us in the utilization of this valuable source. Perhaps it is time for U.S. to revaluate this source and see if the benefits will outweigh start-up costs on a large scale and other cons.
One of the major advantages of Wind Energy is that it is considered a green resource. Harnessing wind energy does not pollute air nearly as much as energy fostered from fossil fuels or nuclear energy. Although manufacturing, transporting, and installing wind turbines does contribute to global warming, the electricity production from the turbines does not involve any greenhouse gas emissions. Another advantage of the potent source of energy is that there is enormous potential for wind power. The worldwide wind potential of wind power is more than 400 terawatts. Wind energy can be harnessed almost anywhere and it is a renewable; As long as the sun keeps shining (wind energy originates from the nuclear fission that occurs on the sun) then we’ll have a constant supply of wind energy. Surprisingly, wind energy is considered to be space-efficient. Although wind turbines can’t be placed too close to each other, the land in-between can be used for other things such as farming. Since 1980 the cost of harnessing wind energy has decreased by 80% and once the turbines have been manufactured and erected the operational costs tend to remain relatively low. Despite all these advantages to installing wind energy on a large scale in the U.S. there are still many setbacks that must be accounted for.
Wind energy is unpredictable and the availability of wind energy is not constant. Therefore wind energy is not well suited as a base load energy source. If there were cost effective ways of storing wind energy the case for wind energy would be significantly stronger. Also, the cost competitiveness of wind power is highly debatable. Sources such as fossil fuels and coal, which have already been fostered on a very large scale are already better established with no start-up costs associated. A wind turbine of 10 kilowatts and $40,000 to $70,000 would become a net electricity producer; Investments such as these typically take 10 to 20 years to break even. A negative of wind energy is that it threatens wildlife such as birds, bats, and other flying creatures. This issue, however, is often times blown out of proportion as the estimated number of fatalities cause by U.S. wind turbines from 10,000 to 440,000 whereas collisions with buildings kill around 976 million birds annually. People who live close to wind turbines often times complain about the noise causes by the turbines and the aesthetic appearance. The disadvantages, however, are relatively trivial and can be mitigated by the utilization of off-shore wind energy.
The bottom line is that the future of wind energy looks promising and the U.S. will likely start to take advantage of this major, green powerhouse.
source: http://energyinformative.org/wind-energy-pros-and-cons/
