Development Studies: Socio-economic Development from an Interdisciplinary Perspective Saleha Erdmann |
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In retrospect: Wind power is relevant to the need for environmentally sustainable sources of fuel and the issue of political and economic dependence on fossil fuels. It is a development issue. Wind Power ES 137—Jackson, May 17, 2004 “The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.” --Bob Dylan As the negative political, environmental, and social effects of burning fossil fuels become increasingly visible and serious renewable energy’s role has become increasingly pivotal in our society. One such source of renewable energy is wind power, however wind power is not a new phenomenon. Humans have been harnessing the power of the wind for millennia and by 1890 the Danes had built the first wind turbine (Berger 1997). A wind turbine uses the power of the wind to rotate a generator that creates electricity (Raloff 2001). Wind farms include several wind turbines in a given space that produce a substantial amount of energy, these farms are usually based on land, but a new movement is pushing for offshore wind farms as well (Robb 2002). Currently less than 1% of the electricity used in the United States is generated by wind power (Johnson 2003), but this number is predicted to increase to 6% by the year 2020, generating about 1000 megawatts of power annually (Caldwell 2003, Johnson 2003). Supporters say that wind is a more reliable, less environmentally damaging and cheaper energy source than the burning of fossil fuels that currently dominate the energy sector in the United States. However, despite the growing popularity of wind power, not everyone is applauding its use. Critics argue that wind power is noisy, ugly and threatens wildlife, particularly birds. While these complaints are valid, they are a drop in the bucket compared to the effects of other energy sources, and their significance is waning as technological advances make the wind industry more and more appealing with time. Unlike fossil fuels, there is an endless supply of wind. Wind is caused as the heating (by the sun) and cooling of air in the atmosphere causes it to move, thus creating wind (Gipe 1995). “Because wind is a continuously recurring part of nature,” writes Jennifer Carless (1993), “it represents an endless power source.” The only way the earth’s wind supply would ever disappear would be if the sun went out—if that were to happen, wind would be the least of our worries. Wind power is also free to access and cheap toharness. Production of wind generated electricity costs less than that of fossil fuel, especially if one includes the environmental and social costs of fossil fuel use that the industry has yet to internalize (Berger 1998). The United States has a powerful amount of wind at its disposal. “We are the Saudi Arabia of wind,” writes John Berger (1998), and the state of North Dakota alone provides enough wind to power the entire country (Johnson 2003). The wind industry is gradually becoming a very profitable business, one that creates many jobs. Not only are jobs created directly on wind farms, but linkages to wind power, such as blade manufacturing, have become a powerful new source of employment (Johnson 2003). Wind power creates more jobs than any other energy source (Carless 1993). Wind turbines are well suited to rural, remote areas where the wind is strong and there are little natural or artificial structures to impede it. Wind energy is also beneficial to rural communities that often have lessaccess to other forms of power (Carless 1993). In addition, wind power can be a secondary source of income to farmers who lease their land to have wind turbines built on it (Raloff 2001).
Besides its positive effects on people in rural areas, wind power also benefits the environment in rural areas by preserving the land wind farms are built on from further development (Gipe 1995). Granted, the land occupied by wind farms is not left untouched, but unlike other activities such as agriculture and urban sprawl, wind farms are active mainly off the ground, leaving the land open for naturaluse. Paul Gipe (1998) also points out that there is a big difference between the land occupied by wind power facilities and the land used—land use is considerably less. In areas where land has already been developed, wind power can cohabitate with other activities such as farming or grazing (Carless 1993, Gipe 1995). Perhaps the most important environmental benefit of wind power is that it produces absolutely no air or water pollution (Carless 1993, Gipe 1995, Johnson 2003). Not only that, but it displaces other forms of energy that produce excessive amounts of air and water pollution, such as mining or drilling for fuel and the burning of fuel (Carless 1993). When both these factors are combined wind energy has, in effect, negative net emissions. This is evidence that as the threat of global warming looms, wind power is an appropriate tool for combating green house gas emissions. Energy is no the only thing wind power has been generating in recent years, it has triggered a considerable amount of criticism as well. The lack of control humans have over the wind supply has caused some concern. Critics claim that wind variability makes it unworthy of investment (Caldwell 2003). Wind may always exist somewhere on earth, but it is not required to blow consistently in one area. However, there are areas in the world where it is almost always windy, and that is where the most successful wind farms have been established. New technology allows wind turbines to adapt to different wind speeds and directions and a large wind farm can turn turbines on and off for optimal energy collection (Caldwell 2003). Even when wind energy is generated successfully, one of the major stumbling blocks for the industry is the current lack of transmission infrastructure in rural areas. No matter how much electricity is produced, the power lines between remote and urban areas often cannot handle such large amounts of electricity (Raloff 2001). Two technical problems have also become cause for concern: shadow flicker and electro-magnetic interference (EMI). Shadow flicker is creating by light shining through the rapidly turning blades of the wind turbine, causing the light to “flicker” in between the shadows. In Europe, where shadow flicker has received more attention than in the United States, people worry that shadow flicker near human settlements will cause seizures in epileptics (Gipe 1995). EMI occurs when operating wind turbines interfere with things like televisions, radios and other electronic devices. EMI is thought to be mainly the result of turning steel blades, this can be solved easily by making blades out of other materials (Carless 1993). When it comes to the environment, wind energy does not have an entirely clean record. Environmentalists focus on two main areas: land degradation and negative effects on surrounding species. While supporters of wind power claim that it preserves land, critics argue that wind power swallows up untouched land. The most serious effect is the construction of roads through the land, which can cause erosion, especially on hillyterrain (Gipe 1995). However, the environmental issue that has received the most attention involving wind power are the consequences for wildlife, particularly birds. In the 1980’s, on a wind farm in Altamont pass in California, 182 dead birds were found, two-thirds of them were raptors and several were protected birds like the golden eagle (Gipe 1995, Carless 1993, Johnson 2003, Berger 1997, Manwell et al 2003). It was determined that 70% of these deaths were due to collisions with wind turbines. Several studies of the issue revealed that raptors are more likely to get too close to the turbines than other birds, the reason is still unclear (Gipe 1995). While bird collisions remain a general issue for wind energy, it is a major problem only in certain locations. For example, the Altamont wind farm was built along a migratory route (Berger 1997). Several solutions have been proposed to reduce bird deaths. The most important is to not build wind facilities along avian migratory routes or near large raptor populations (Gipe 1995). New wind turbines have larger blades, which causes fewer revolutions per minute while the tip speed remains the same, the slower turning of the blades decreases the likelihood of collisions (Johnson 2003). Other options include audio and/or visual warnings on the turbines that will keep raptors away (Gipe 1995). While the deaths of birds by wind turbines are certainly unfortunate, Paul Gipe (1995) points out that, “That some wind turbines kill birds some of the time should come as no surprise. Most tall structures kill birds to some degree, as do most sources of energy.” In fact, at least 5 millions birds die annually from collisions with human made structures (Carless 1993). The wind industry has made strong efforts to minimize birds deaths on wind farms, and have succeeded, but just because wind energy is an obvious target doesn’t mean it deserves the most attention from environmentalists. There are other larger threats to bird life in this country, like oil spills, that remain insufficiently addressed. Possibly the largest opposition to wind power is rooted in aesthetics. Paul Gipe writes that,
Many people find wind turbines just plain ugly and intrusive (Gipe 1995, Johnson 2003, Carless 1993). Gipe (1998) cites several surveys that found that people supported wind energy, as long as it remained too far away for them to see it, Gipe argues that this is simply because people are not accustomed to the sight of wind turbines. These same communities do not complain about the visual blight of highways because it is part of the local culture (ibid). Manwell et al (2003) suggest that designers be especially sensitive to the visual aspects of wind turbines from the very beginning of the process. It is unfortunate that wind power is only predicted to increase to 6% of the country’s energy by 2020 (Caldwell 2003, Johnson 2003, Special Report). While 6% is a large number relative to the current situation, it is still only 6%. Given the amount of wind in the United States, if the same amount of effort put into the fossil fuel industry were transferred to wind power, just think of the possibilities. An increased reliance on wind power would have positive effects on the state of our environment, but also on our national security and domestic politics. Green house gas emissions would be dramatically reduced as would our dependency on external sources of fuel. The political elite, with its interests entrenched in the oil industry, would be dissolved, lending our democracy to a less corruption and greater representation of the average citizen. Wind power should be developed mainly on a small scale. Just as large scale agriculture threatens the family farm (forcing the government to respond with subsidies that hurt foreign farmers), large scale wind power would eventually hurt the little guy. If wind power were developed on the small-scale, it would empower rural communities. Although complaints about the noise, aesthetics and threat to birds caused by wind turbines are legitimate, new technology has dealt with these problems sufficiently. The future amount of land use is concerning, though. If wind power were to expand beyond 6% by 2020, it would require the use of much more land. What if wind power was expanded beyond large turbines in rural areas? What if every car, every city roof and every lamp post had small turbines that supplied energy to basic appliances? Combined with other energy sources, like solar energy, appliances would require little—if any, energy from external sources. We must continue to explore alternative forms of energy, and wind power is one of the most promising options. Wind power is poised to become an increasingly important player in the United State’s energy sector, but its contribution is still minimal compared to fossil fuel use. Whether or not wind power should gain more clout is a controversial issue. Because wind power is such a visible source of energy, it is an easy target. Opponents to wind power cite the variability of wind, the intrusiveness of wind farms and the threats it poses to wildlife. However, new technology has already addressed many of these problems. The certain availability of wind, lack of resulting pollution, empowerment of rural communities, job creation and cheap production make wind power a very attractive source of energy that deserves even more investment and development. In the words of Bob Dylan, “The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.”
Works Cited: Berger, John J. 1997. Charging Ahead: the Business of Renewable Energy and What it Means for America. California: University of California Press. Caldwell, Jim. 2003. “Rising Wind—Time to Take a Closer Look.” Power Engineering. 69. Carless, Jennifer. 1993. Renewable Energy: a Concise Guide to Green Alternatives. New York: Walker and Company. Dylan, Bob. 1963. “Blowin’ in the Wind.” The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. Gipe, Paul. 1995. Wind Energy Comes of Age. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Johnson, Jeff. 2003. “Alternative Energy Blowing Green.” CENEAR. 81(8): 27-30. Manwell, J.F.; McGowans, J.G and Rogers, A.L. 2003. Wind Energy Explained: Theory, Design and Application. West Susses, England: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Raloff, Janet. 2001. “Power Harvests (wind power for farms).” Science. 160(3): 45. Robb, Drew. 2002. “Offshore Wind Struggles to Gain Foothold in North America.” Power Engineering. 106(8): 44. Special Report. 2003. “Clean and Green: alternative energy sources on the grow.”Journal of Property Management. 68(4): 38. |
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