When it comes to energy, countries around the world always want to look for the best ways to acquire it. When it comes to actually acquiring it, the main goal is to be cost effective and energy efficient. Lately, it has been fossil fuels, specifically in the United States, and other countries as well, that have been the main source of energy. Despite its cheap costs, energy from fossil fuels are not the most energy efficient source of power. Fossil fuels also carry negative effects on the environment such as air pollution and the release of carbon footprint. That’s why there has been a push for more renewable sources of energy that provide more energy without the concern of waste products or cost. One of these renewable energy sources are the use of wind turbines. Opposers believe that wind turbines have many flaws like its ability to harm birds, be unreliable, and have high noise levels. However, regardless of these misconceptions, wind energy shows potential to be the leading alternative energies with its cost effectiveness, energy efficiency, reduced harm to environment and its growing technology and construction.
One of the biggest advantages to wind powered turbines is that it is both cost effective and it is a sustainable source of energy. In other words, wind energy upholds the amount of energy it produces for a low cost. The “cost of wind-generated electricity has fallen from nearly 40 cents per kWh in the early 1980s to 2.5-5 cents per kWh today depending on wind speed and project size.” (Wind Power Is Affordable and Has Low Environmental Impact 2015) This shows that wind energy is a cost friendly alternative and it will only continue to become accessible financially. “Studies show that wind turbines and solar photovoltaic installations now produce more energy than they consume…from an energetic perspective, the wind industry can easily afford lots of storage, enough to provide more than three days of uninterrupted power.” (Wind Power Is Affordable and Has Low Environmental Impact 2015). This excerpt portrays how sufficient and sustainable wind turbine energy can be. First off, wind turbines produce more energy than they consume, which is the opposite of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels consume more energy than they produce. “An efficient wind turbine can produce 175 watts per square meter of propeller blade area at a height of 75 feet (25 m); in fact, turbines being installed today are much higher than this, and so intercept more wind and produce more power per unit of blade area.” (Alternative Energy Sources 2011) Additionally, whatever energy is not used can be stored, and turbines can provide power for a long period of time. This is one of many reasons why wind turbine should be the leading alternative to fossil fuels.
Another advantage that unlike many forms of energy, wind turbines do not pose as a threat to the environment is that “Other sources of electricity produce harmful particulate emissions, which contribute to global climate change and acid rain. Wind energy is pollution free.” (Wind Power Is Affordable and Has Low Environmental Impact 2015) This is a very crucial advantage point because the one of the biggest flaws of fossil fuels is the the amount of carbon emission it releases and other environmental issues that comes with it. With replacing fossil fuels with other renewable sources specifically, wind energy, will “not only help create a more stable energy supply that will never run out, but can also reduce pollution and environmental degradation, reduce the need to import oil and other fossil fuels from foreign countries, and possibly prevent global warming by stopping the release of greenhouse gasses that are a byproduct of burning fossil fuels.” (Renewable Energy 2015) In comparison to the effects of fossil fuels, wind serves not only as a viable alternative to replace fossil fuels but as a step in the right direction to produce energy that is not hindering the environment.
One of the opposing arguments against wind turbines is that wind turbines only produces enough energy to power local farms and buildings. It is good for small scale use. Opposers believe that the money that is invested to wind turbines, can instead be invested into reducing fossil fuel use. “It is wise to diversify the sources of our energy. But the money and legislative effort invested in large-scale wind generation could be spent much more effectively to achieve the goal of reducing our use of fossil and nuclear fuels…wind farms do not bring about any reduction in the use of conventional power plants. Requiring the upgrading of power plants to be more efficient and cleaner would actually do something rather than simply support the image of “green” power that energy companies profit from while in fact doing nothing to reduce pollution or fuel imports.” (Rosenbloom 2006) .In other words, no matter how many wind turbines are made and used, there will still be a need for fossil fuels and power plants since wind turbines do not have the same capability to provide power. To counter the opposing argument, “Nationwide in January [2014], wind energy produced a record 18 million Megawatt-hours, the highest monthly total in history, enough electricity to power the equivalent of 20 million typical U.S. homes at average usage rates…Thanks to technological advances, today’s wind turbines use sophisticated controls and power electronics to provide many grid reliability services as well as or better than conventional power plants…while the failures of conventional power plants occur instantaneously and without warning, it is far more expensive to back up conventional power plants than wind energy.” (Goggin 2015). This here illustrates that wind turbines can in fact provide just as, if not more reliable service, or energy as power plants. Furthermore, power plant failures can occur randomly and the cost to replace is vastly high whereas wind energy is a renewable energy source, so it can never run out or experience scarcity.
Another concern that that opposers have is the idea that wind turbines will be deadly to birds that may fly near wind farms. Due to this concern “some people oppose the construction of large wind farms because they believe such farms are dangerous to flying birds and mar scenic views. (Renewable Energy 2015) As a result to concern, there has been pause on the construction of many wind turbine farms. The counter argument for this concern is that “According to a Danish study, the number of birds that are killed per gigawatt hour of electricity generation is: 5.18 for fossil power plants and 0.27 for wind turbines.” (Stenzenberger 2014) Although birds can indeed can fly into the blades of turbines and die, the emission caused by fossil fuels has actually proved to be more of a fatal threat to birds than wind turbines, making the argument against wind turbines weak.
Another concern that has hindered construction of wind turbines is the sound of the turbines potentially being too loud and serving as a disturbance to people that live near them in the rural area they are most commonly placed in. “The sounds they produce are typically foreign to the rural settings where wind turbines are most often used.” (Wind Power Is Affordable and Has Low Environmental Impact 2015) The technology of the bladed have been developed in order to limit the sound they make. “The closest that a wind turbine is typically placed to a home is 300 meters or more. At that distance, a turbine will have a sound pressure level of 43 decibels. To put that in context, the average air conditioner can reach 50 decibels of noise, and most refrigerators run at around 40 decibels.”(Kellner 2014) From this excerpt, based on the distance away from homes that turbines turbines are required to be, the sound of the turbine would hardly serve as a disturbance to the closest home to wind turbine farms. The sound of the turbines may simply blend in with the sound of the refrigerator.
To conclude, the bigger picture is that there needs to be some sort of substitute towards fossil fuels and power plants. While it is true that fossil fuels provide quick and high amounts of energy, it is not worth it considering the harm that is caused to the environment through pollution. It affects animals, and human beings greatly and will only continue to deteriorate the planet Earth. That is why an alternative energy source should be pursued. Wind turbines are just one of many different alternatives, they all provide benefits and have their drawbacks as well. However, wind turbines, and others have the capability to provide large amounts of energy without providing the negative outcomes that come with fossil fuels, and that is why wind energy should be pursued.
References
Alternative Energy Sources. (2011). From Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Environmental Encyclopedia, Gale.
Renewable Energy. (2015). From Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale.
Wind Power Is Affordable and Has Low Environmental Impact. (2015). Energy Alternatives, Greenhaven Press. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context
Kellner, T. (2017). How Much Noise Does A Wind Turbine Make? GE Research Reports.
Goggin, Michael. (2015). Wind Energy Is Economical. Wind Farms. Greenhaven Press At Issue. Opposing Viewpoints in Context.
Rainer Stenzenberger. (2014). 5 Myths about Wind Energy. E.ON SE Corporate Procurement.
Rosenbloom, Eric. (2006). The Drawbacks of Wind Power Far Outweigh the Benefits. Energy Alternatives. Opposing Viewpoints.
