What are the advantages and problems with wind energy?
What are your thoughts about wind energy and its pros and cons?
Detractors are positively vitriolic in their mistrust of alternative energy sources. And very definitely, wind energy is not perfect. So let’s look at it in more detail.
Now, let me state upfront that I live in a country where wind energy is not highly developed. (There’s one large turbine at a new hospital, and that’s about all on my little tropical island).
So, I have to rely on research rather than personal experience to talk about wind energy pros and cons.
Wind Energy Pros and Cons: Noise
Many people say that wind energy is noisy, for example if you live close to a wind turbine.
So I researched various recordings. One of the problems I encountered was that the recordings which said that wind turbines were noisy, had a lot of wind noise, so it was difficult to tell which was wind noise and which was turbine noise.
Listening to lots of recordings, I could hear some of the turbines moving in a wind farm, but overall I didn’t think they made much more noise than the wind. Smaller numbers of wind turbines seemed to me to make very little noise.
(Interestingly, the noise level from a wind turbine is higher when wind speed is low).
Watch this 2-minute video which compares the noise of a wind turbine to other everyday noises – the discussion of wind energy continues below:
Wind Energy Pros and Cons: Visual Pollution and Space Required
Many people find wind turbines ugly. Particularly an entire wind farm. Others don’t find them ugly at all.
Let’s be honest here. Conventional power plants (e.g. coal plants) are not normally aesthetically pleasing either – there’s lots of concrete, there are belching chimneys.
I suppose I might be taken aback if one was erected next door to me, but like anything else I’m sure I’d get used to it. Personally, I’d definitely rather have a wind turbine close to me than a traditional power plant using fossil fuels, or a nuclear power plant.
One of the issues with wind farms is the space they take up – not just the turbines themselves, but also the power transmission lines. Plus each turbine usually has an access road for maintenance. And if there are trees in the vicinity, they may need to be cleared. This is why some wind farms have been set up in desert areas with large open spaces.
Currently, wind energy generation takes up more land space than fossil or nuclear fuel plants per megawatt of electricity produced. This may change as the technology improves over time.
In addition, the difference lessens when you consider other factors about traditional power plants, such as the space needed around them (often mono-crop grass), safety areas around the plants (some fenced, some not), access roads and other non-structural areas, as well as (in the case of nuclear plants) the space taken to dispose of toxic nuclear waste.
Wind Energy Pros and Cons: Efficiency
Of course, the wind has to blow! Wind energy can only be generated in areas where there is lots of the right type of wind. And there is no guarantee that the wind will blow when you need it.
Even in windy areas, there will be times when the wind doesn’t blow. Blowing or not, the energy generated from the wind can be stored in batteries, to be used when needed.
If you use wind energy at home, if your grid electricity is cut off for any reason, you’re OK, so it can be very useful as a back-up power source.
But wind energy is not quite as well suited to generating electricity for industrial uses as fossil fuel- or nuclear-powered electricity, because it is not steady (the wind gusts).
Wind energy is relatively new. So the technology is not as well developed as conventional power. As a result, it is not as efficient. It is easy to forget that the first fossil-fuel power plants were not as efficient as they are now.
Wind Energy Pros and Cons: Subsidies
Yes, renewable energy is subsidized in many countries.
Most governments also subsidise oil / petroleum (there are heavy oil subsidies in the USA, for example).
So I don’t view subsidies as a valid argument against alternative energy, because both conventional and alternative energy are subsidized.
Wind Energy Pros and Cons: Cost
Commercial wind turbines are quite expensive to install – so is a power plant or a nuclear plant.
But conventional power plants need to be fed with fossil fuels to keep them running, so they have a high installation AND running cost. With wind energy, most of the cost is upfront (installation) with relatively low running costs thereafter.
Because the technology is not totally efficient yet, the cost per megawatt of electricity produced is relatively high in terms of producing electricity for the national grid.
(Wind turbines for home use can however, be built DIY extremely cheaply – payback time may be as little as 6 months!).
Wind Energy Pros and Cons: Renewability
Wind is a renewable source of power, unlike coal or oil. We will run out of fossil fuels, but not wind.
Wind energy is also local and doesn’t need to be imported. This is hugely important from a political point of view.
Wind Energy Pros and Cons: Pollution
Wind turbines or windmills do not generate pollution.
No radioactive materials need to be disposed of, and there’s no pollution sent into the air.
Wind Energy Pros and Cons: Safety
Although many nuclear power plants have an excellent safety record, problems tend to be magnified – Chernobyl, Windscale, Three Mile Island and Fukushima spring instantly to mind. (According to Wikipedia, 57 percent of all nuclear-related accidents have occurred in the USA).
Conventional power plants contribute to other safety hazards – for example, coal leaks radiation when burnt, gas plants can explode, many coal miners die from lung disease while extracting the coal needed for power plants, and oil rigs can also be dangerous.
Wind power offers none of these dangers, other than workers needing to be lifted to work on turbines so there is a danger of falling.
Wind turbines are at risk from lighting strikes and extreme weather. A turbine being hit by lightning seems to me to be less dangerous than a nuclear melt down.
Many birds are killed by wind turbines. This can be mitigated by a special type of paint on the turbine blades. Many birds are also killed by pollution from power plants, and from window panes in buildings, and by cars. And by cats. I could not find statistics on the number of birds killed by wind energy versus traditional power plants.
Bearing in mind the lack of pollution emitted from wind energy, and the relatively small amount of potential damage during an accident (particularly when compared to nuclear power), I would suggest that wind energy is much safer.
I’ve read comments about wind energy being harmful to human health. Here is a short video from Australian TV:
What about Your Area?
If you’d like to know if the area where you live is suitable for wind energy, here’s a great site which shows you – check out your region here. (You need Class 3 or greater wind to be suitable).
Summary
We’ve covered a lot of ground in this series on wind power. Here’s a summary:
Looks-wise, some people like the tall elegance of wind turbines, others don’t. I don’t know anyone who likes the look of power stations or nuclear plants, so this one is a slight win for wind energy.
Noise – this one is debatable.
Space – wind energy takes up more ground space per megawatt produced than conventional power plants, so this one is won by conventional energy.
Efficiency – in terms of providing power to the national grid, conventional power wins over the new technology of wind energy, although this will probably change as the technology improves.
Cost – in many countries it is currently cheaper to produce a megawatt of electricity from conventional power sources, thus scoring a win for conventional power. But this does vary between countries. Both oil and alternative energy are subsidized so neither has the advantage in this area. For home use, wind energy can be very well-priced, particularly if you can DIY.
Renewability – this is a win for wind energy. Fossil fuels will run out, as will some of the ingredients needed for nuclear energy. Wind is a renewable resource.
Pollution – fossil-fuel power plants pollute the atmosphere with smog and acid rain, as well as emitting carbon dioxide, contributing to climate change. Oil pipes and drills leak. Various nuclear accidents around the world show that no plant is totally safe, plus there is the problem of disposing of the toxic waste. Wind energy produces no pollution.
Safety – In terms of human health, it seems that wind energy is safe. Accidental damage is considerably less with wind energy.
It seems to me that wind energy has a lot of pros, and that some of the cons could be ironed out as the technology improves. Bearing in mind that fossil fuels will run out, I believe it’s critically important that we continue to invest in renewable energy in order to improve the technology.
I don’t want to be without electricity.
I’m sure you don’t either.
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