wind turbines

Sam Johnston

Wind Turbines
Windmills are an ancient form of power production. They have been used for irrigation in 5th century Persia and for grinding grain in the Medieval Europe. (Chiras) Electricity was first created from wind in 1931 and turbines were popular in rural America before they were replaced by transmission lines of the spreading power grid. (Chiras) Now in this day and age they are making a comeback. With theories of global warming along with predictions of oil shortages countries throughout the world are turning to the wind. Due to increased investments United States has recently become the leader in wind power producing 25,369 megawatts of power. (Seipel) Wind energy has been lauded as our savior from global warming and oil dependency. They have also been criticized for increased federal spending higher electricity bills. Who is right? Is wind energy environmentally friendly and cost effective? And if so how should the government influence the energy market. These questions and through analysis a conclusion can be drawn. Wind turbines are the future of energy and their construction should be maximized.
Global Warming is a sensitive issue and one that has the scientific community along with the general population divided. It is a fact that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas which has the property of trapping heat (Farrar 8). Studies have shown that when carbon dioxide is released into a room it will block the heat of a given object and cause that objects thermal image to fade.(?) Greenhouse gases are not a bad thing in fact without them the average temperature of the world would be only .4 degrees Fahrenheit. (Farrar 9) It is a fact that human carbon dioxide emissions have exponentially increased in the past hundred years; these emissions refer to the increased burning of fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas. It is also a fact that atmospheric carbon levels have increased by about 25% in the past 100 years. (Lankford) It is also a fact that in recent years the earth has been getting warmer; the average temperature of the earth has gone up 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit in the past 150 years. (Farrar 7) The debate is has the increase in greenhouse gases the cause of global warming.
Environmentalists argue that the correlation between carbon dioxide increase and temperature increase is proof that we are causing global warming. They argue that unless immediate emissions reductions take place we could see various catastrophes. Polar melting is one of the biggest concerns because raised sea levels could cause flooding of major coastal population centers. (Farrar 47) Environmentalists also claim that increased heat will lead to increased tropical storms; they point to Hurricane Katrina as an indicator that global warming is getting worse. (Farrar 40) Others argue that global warming is a natural cycle and is unrelated to fossil fuel emissions. (Inhofe) They claim that much of the evidence used by environmentalists has been tampered with. (Inhofe) It is a fact that the media has been extremely slanted in favor of environmentalists and giving no thought to introducing any counter arguments. (Inhofe) This is called feared tactics; the media will make more money if they broadcast stories that will terrify people. (Inhofe) Although both sides have valid claims this issue is not as essential to wind turbine construction as most people think.
Although global warming has been used to argue for increased wind turbine production it is not the only validity. Even if carbon dioxide emissions aren’t causing global warming they still reflect a method of thinking that has failed in the past. We cannot treat the sky as an endless void where we can dump all our waste; it is this same attitude that caused massive pollution of our oceans when garbage barges where used. Fossil fuels may not have caused global warming but they still are not the best source of energy and they are a finite resource.
There are many different kinds of energy. Some have been used for hundreds of years and some are recent additions; however, all of them have advantages and disadvantages. Coal is one of the earliest types of energy and it is widely used in power plants to produce electricity. Oil is a popular energy choice because of it’s availability and it’s cheap cost. However a lesson from the past that we can take is that oil is a weapon that can be used to manipulate nations that are dependent on it. In 1973 OPEC initiated an oil embargo that crippled the US economy. (Fogel 2) This is a manifestation that our dependence on oil is a liability and should not continue. Furthermore, oil is a finite resource and it’s future availability is being predicted by experts. A common methed for predicting oil production is the Hubbert’s bell curve model. (Maugeri 202) This predicts that oil production steadily rises until it reaches a peak; after the peak production steadily declines. (Maugeri 202) This causes a roughly symmetrical bell curve graph. (Maugeri 202) This means that a severe oil crises won’t happen when we run out of oil but when we reach a peak of production, when demand is steady or increasing but supply is shrinking. So when will oil production reach its peak? Although Hubbert accurately predicted the America’s production peak he failed miserably when trying to predict the world production. (Maugeri 205) There are so many factors that influence oil production and this makes it hard to predict. However, the fact that production will decline after the peak means that we need to be ready otherwise we will have an energy crises on our hands.
Coal is a good choice for America because it is local and we control a quarter of total world coal. (fogel 24) The disadvantages to coal include it’s environmental effects. Global warming aside, coal has had negative impacts on the environment. Chemicals realized from burning coal include sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide.(Fogel 27) This pollutants mix with moisture in the sky causing acid rain which is harmful to crops ecosystems and stone building (Fogel 27) Also like oil coal is a finite resource and cannot last us forever. Nuclear power offers cheap electricity that can be produced without any air pollutants. (Fogel 47)However, the buildup of nuclear waste and the possibility of meltdowns are risk factors that have caused experts to question it’s reliability. (Fogel 47) Furthermore, uranium is also a finite resource that will eventually run out. (Fogel 49) Solar energy is promising but it is the first type of electric production method that doesn’t involve a spinning turbine, because of this it is years behind wind power. Although these other sources have potential wind power makes the most sense. It is clean renewable and nearing economic feasibility. (Fogel 70) James H. Mailinowski of Pacific Gas and Electric says that: “Of all the emerging alternate energy technology, wind is the closest to true commercialization”. (Fogel 70)