Wind Electricity

Wind electricity is the world's fastest growing power generation technology. Wind is a renewable resource because it is inexhaustible. It is a result of the sun shining unevenly on the earth. The corresponding daily and seasonal changes in temperature consistently generate a breeze, producing a fuel source that can never be depleted.

State-of-the-art Wind Electricity power plants use large spinning blades to capture the kinetic energy in moving wind, which then is transferred to rotors that produce power. At the best fuel sites, plants today are nearly competitive with the conventional natural gas-fired combined-cycle plants -- even when natural gas prices have recently been at historically low levels. Regions where average speeds exceed 12 miles per hour are currently the best power plant sites.

Current costs of Wind Electricity power at prime sites approach the costs of a new coal-fired power plant. This kind of power is the lowest-cost renewable energy technology available on the market today. According to the Department of Energy, the costs of this kind of power are projected to continue to fall and may rank the cheapest power source of all options by 2020.

What are the environmental impacts?

These kinds of Wind Electricity generating plants produce no air pollution. They use no water, and there is no need to tear up the land to extract the wind resource that produces power. Nonetheless, there may be environmental problems associated with some plants.

Wind power generates three categories of environmental impacts: visual impacts; noise pollution; wildlife impacts. These impacts can vary immensely from site to site.

• Because these Wind Electricity turbine farms are comprised of large numbers of turbines each mounted atop tall towers in rural areas, they can often be seen for a long distance. Whether this visual impact is good or bad will vary from location to location. Some find turbines to be enduring symbols of self-sufficiency. Others see them as stark intrusions in the "natural" landscape.
• Turbines, particularly older designs, emit noise that can be heard in the vicinity of the farms. The level of noise produced by one turbine is equivalent to that of your washing machine. The frequency and volume of this noise can be controlled but not eliminated by turbine design. The most controversial significant negative environmental impact of early turbines is the impact on bird populations, an issue largely resolved by new turbine designs.
• In the early 1980s, three major Wind Electricity farms were built in passes in California. At the Altamont Pass site, deaths of birds, particularly raptors, prompted a number of studies that subsequently influenced both the design of newer turbines and the siting of wind farms. It was discovered that raptors perch atop the generators for a better view while hunting, and upon rare occasion get caught in the spinning blades when the wind begins to blow. Current turbine technology offers solid tubular towers to prevent birds from perching on them. Turbine blades also rotate more slowly than those of earlier designs, reducing potential for collisions with birds.

If Wind Electricity power plants are sited in regions screened for sensitive local bird populations, the environmental footprint of wind-generated electricity is quite small when compared to the wildlife and ecosystem impacts of fossil fuel mining and fuel combustion.