Renewable Energy Sources - Part 4 - Wind

by Darren

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Today we’re taking a look at yet another renewable energy source, one that surrounds us constantly. That is wind power. Wind power is on the rise in popularity, as evidenced by an announcement by T. Boone Pickens that he was building a 4,000 megawatt wind farm in the heart of oil country in Texas. T. Boone Pickens is a name that’s synonymous with old school energy like Oil, so when he places a huge bet on old fashioned wind power, people tend to listen.

Wind has a lot of advantages as a renewable energy source

1) Wind costs nothing. It costs some money to harness the wind, but the cost of the actual wind is zero.
2) Wind produces no greenhouse emissions, so it does not contribute to global warming.
3) Wind is very clean energy, producing no waste.
4) Wind can be captured in a variety of ways, and wind farms can be built in many places where there’s a lot of natural wind.
5) Wind is sustainable and will never run out.

It’s not difficult to erect wind turbines in many places, because they don’t generally require much space to operate efficiently. With plans such as the one being offered by T. Boone Pickens, people will also see these wind turbine installations on their property return much cash. Pickens says each person who installs one of his wind turbines will earn $20,000 annually in royalties.

It’s clear to see the advantages to wind power are strong, but let’s take a look at some of the drawbacks.

Disadvantages of wind power

1) Wind is unreliable. Wind doesn’t always blow when your want it too.
2) Wind turbines are generally quite ugly, and can disrupt the view in many areas.
3) Wind turbines are dangerous for some wildlife, such as birds.
4) Wind turbines tend to be very noisy.

Most of the disadvantages can be worked with. A number of companies worldwide are pushing the technology forward, so I expect we’ll see more innovations in the next few years which should make wind power even more accessible to the United States.

Companies like GE have been investing a lot of money into research on improving wind turbines, and they’ve been marketing them harder than ever. With enough interest from the commercial segment, it’s starting to look like wind power is an idea who’s time has arrived.

Continued from Renewable Energy Sources - Part Three - Geothermal

Continued in Renewable Energy Sources - Part 5 - Solar

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