The Energy Department released a report yesterday that said that wind power could supply 20% of the nation's energy by 2030. Wind power currently supplies 1% of our energy. To achieve the 20% goal, the amount of electricity produced by wind would have to jump from 16 to 300 gigawatts per year. Such growth is predicted to decrease natural gas consumption by 11% and decrease coal consumption by 18%, removing 825 million metric tons of carbon dioxide a year. "This is the equivalent of taking 140 million cars off the road."
Such growth is not without its challenges. It would require improving turbine technology, constructing power lines from high-wind areas to high-usage areas, and opening new areas to wind development. But we must move away from fossil fuels, and as this report shows, wind energy can play a prominent role in moving toward a sustainable future.
7 comments:
And what about the damage to wildlife populations? Wind turbines are pretty harsh on birds.
Yes, and hydropower harms fish, nuclear power poses a risk of meltdown, and solar power is incredibly inefficient. All energy sources have their drawbacks, but these have significant advantages over fossil fuels: they're renewable sources of energy and cause significantly less pollution, if any at all.
I agree with BV on this one. If you remember when they constructed that hydroelectric plant in Ludington, it was killing all of the fish in the surrounding waters because the ejection water was so hot. Well, they soled that by constructing a cooling reservoir. With the wind generators, they will place items to scare birds and other creatures from he vicinity. And the only reason solar is inefficient right now is because no one is taking the time to invest in it.
i second Mr. Garside. However, in addition to no one investing in solar power, I have a friend who owns a cabin that they converted so it is entirely solar powered. It's cheap, not that hard to do, and waaaay efficient.
And it's not that the wind turbines are harsh on birds per se, they have only been proven to change migration patterns. However, as long as you are careful as to how large of an area you use for wind turbines and then diversify with other sources, then the birdies and everything else will be okay.
Re the cabin J-Mad was talking about, I suppose I should have been more specific. Photovoltaic (PV) cells, which convert solar energy into electricity, are incredibly inefficient; I don't think that even the best PV cell converts 20% of the solar energy into electricity. But yes, a well-designed building (for instance, letting in sunlight during the winter but not the summer) would substantially reduce heating/cooling costs and would be efficient in that regard.
Hehe...Let it be known I was just stirring the pot.
Select your response:
You are a good pot-stirrer.
-OR-
Some stir it; others smoke it.
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