The Pros and Cons of Wind Energy

 

http://energyinformative.org/wind-energy-pros-and-cons/

Wind energy, also known as wind power,  is considered the second largest renewable resource after solar. The total worldwide wind energy potential is calculated to be about 3600 TW, in other words, more than enough to supply humanity’s energy needs 200 times.
What is wind energy? By wind energy, we mean the kinetic energy (motion) in the wind. There are several methods we can use to harness this energy.
This article is mainly about the advantages and disadvantages of generating electricity with wind turbines. However, many of the same principles apply for the other methods to harness wind energy. More information on these methods can be found in An Overview of How Wind Energy Works.

How does wind power produce electricity? The basic gist is that turbines convert kinetic energy into mechanical energy, which again is converted into electricity by a generator. Read the article mentioned in the above paragraph to get an in depth look on how wind turbines work.

Advantages of Wind Energy

• Wind energy is a green energy source. Harnessing wind energy does not pollute the environment such as fossil fuels, coal and nuclear energy. However, there are some environmental impacts of wind energy that we will discuss later.

• Wind energy is a renewable. This means that the supply is practically unlimited. Wind energy does ultimately come from nuclear fusion on the sun. In other words, as long as the sun shines, we can harness wind energy on Earth. This is not the case for fossil fuels, which we heavily rely on today (e.g. oil and gas). Read An Overview of Non-Renewable Energy Sources if you want to learn more.

• Good availability. Although some places are better suited for harnessing energy from the wind, it can be done most places. However, it all comes down if we can generate cost-competitive electricity with current technology in the particular area.

• Prices have decreased significantly (some sources say as much as 60% since the 1980’s). Better technology and higher demand is expected to continue to push the prices even further.

• The possibility for people to produce own electricity using wind power is now a reality. Some companies specialize in these types of installations. There are also several DIY wind energy kits on the market.

• The fact that residential buildings can produce their own electricity opens up for several possibilities. The first is the ability to save money on the electricity bill. Some people take this to the next level and sell energy back to the grid.

• People can become energy self-sufficient, providing themselves with all of their power needs.  Read Energy Self-Sufficient With Wind and Solar Energy if you are interested to learn more on this subject.

• Becoming energy self-sufficient if only just for a limited amount of time can be a lifesaver in emergency situations where you are cut off the grid.

• Works in harmony with other methods of harnessing energy such as solar panels and geothermal heating.

Disadvantages of Wind Energy

• Wind is unpredictable. The availability of wind energy is fluctuating. Therefore, wind energy is in most cases not suitable for providing a base load of energy. This is why wind turbines should be used together with other renewables or even non-renewables to meet the power demand.

• Are wind turbines cost effective? This is highly debatable. The wind turbines technology is relatively new. In most cases these projects heavily rely on incentives to lower costs.

• Wind turbine noise levels can be annoying. Living too close to big wind turbines could be a problem. However, this is most likely not the case for smaller residential wind turbines.

• Some complain about the aesthetics of wind turbines. This is debatable. I personally like the way wind turbines blend in the environment. One way to deal with aesthetic and sound problems is to make wind turbine parks, concentrating them outside housing areas. Offshore wind turbine parks are another solution.

• Wind turbines kill birds. Birds stand no chance when flying into rotating wind turbine blades.

• Wind turbines can be damaged in heavy weather and repair costs are usually expensive.

The future of wind energy is very promising. Big offshore wind farms are being built right now, allowing more stable and stronger wind resources, eradicating some of the disadvantages talked about in this article. Wind turbines for home use allow everyone to contribute positively to the climate crisis. It will be interesting to see how the situation will be only ten years from now.