{"id":2563,"date":"2018-04-24T16:24:12","date_gmt":"2018-04-24T20:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musingsbymichael.com\/blog\/?p=2563"},"modified":"2018-04-24T16:27:05","modified_gmt":"2018-04-24T20:27:05","slug":"wind-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.musingsbymichael.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/24\/wind-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Wind Power"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Wind<\/a><\/p>\n

Is wind power one of the answers to a world no longer dependent on fossil fuels?<\/span><\/p>\n

There are always advantages and disadvantages to any technology. Wind power is one of the most used forms of clean energy generation behind solar. Wind power generates<\/a> 539,581 MW annually worldwide and solar generates 165 GW.<\/span><\/p>\n

What are the advantages of using the wind to generate power? Per a paper from Stanford University, Wind Energy: Advantages and Disadvantages by Dallas Lloyd<\/a>, wind power is an \u201cunlimited, free, renewable resource (the wind itself), economic value, maintenance cost, and placement of wind harvesting facilities. First and foremost, wind is an unlimited, free, renewable resource. Wind is a natural occurrence and harvesting the kinetic energy of wind doesn’t affect currents or wind cycles in any way.<\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Now let us look at the disadvantages, \u201cThe two major disadvantages of wind power include initial cost and technology immaturity. Firstly, constructing turbines and wind facilities is extremely expensive. The second disadvantage is technology immaturity. High cost of energy can, in part, be addressed directly with technology innovations that increase reliability and energy output and lower system capital expenses. Offshore wind energy produces more energy than onshore wind energy, but costs much more to establish. The primary costs of wind turbines include construction and maintenance. New technology is needed to lower costs, increase reliability and energy production, solve regional deployment issues, expand the resource area, develop infrastructure and manufacturing facilities, and mitigate known environmental impacts.<\/i>\u201d There are other factors such as the aesthetics of a wind farm, some do not like how it can ruin a view and then there is the threat to wildlife. Wind farms \u201cturbines may be dangerous to flying animals. Many birds and bats have been killed by flying into the rotors.<\/i>\u201d And many of these farms are put in remote locations that then \u201cthe cost of travel and maintenance on the turbines increases and is time consuming. Offshore wind turbines require boats and can be dangerous to manage.<\/i>\u201d Also \u201csome wind turbines tend to generate a lot of noise which can be unpleasant.<\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

So as you have just read wind power is not as cut and dry a power choice as we have been lead to believe. Many people object to it from the aesthetic problems these wind farms create and from the damage to wildlife from birds striking the blades and dying from the impact.<\/span><\/p>\n

While solar also has its advantages and disadvantages too, wind power does have the problems of more maintenance plus the potential detrimental problems of poor aesthetics and the possible damaging\/killing our wildlife.<\/span><\/p>\n

So maybe wind power is not what we should use and solar is better.<\/span><\/p>\n

That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike<\/span><\/p>\n