Let’s Know the Truth About Wind Power
Regarding Rolf Westgard’s Aug. 21 column, “Wind farms provide only 3.5% of U.S. energy,” wind power is more reliable, produces more power, can add hundreds of thousands more jobs, save us more on power bills, and invests billions more dollars in our economy than Mr. Westgard claims.
All energy sources have advantages and disadvantages. Mr. Westgard focuses on wind’s disadvantages, but its advantages are compelling: it uses no fuel, protecting consumers and utilities from fuel price volatility; it emits no pollution, protecting public health; it generates no radioactive or hazardous waste; it uses no water in generating electricity, a critical plus in times of drought; and it gives farmers a reliable income source that helps them and their families stay on the land.
No power plant runs 100 percent of the time. During two major utility supply emergencies in Texas last year (a February freeze and an August heat wave), the state’s utility system was bedeviled by outages of conventional power plants due to extreme weather, but wind power helped to keep the lights on.
Under the Bush Administration, the U.S. Department of Energy found that wind power could provide 20 percent of America’s electricity needs by 2030. American wind power recently surpassed 50 gigawatts of installed generating capacity nationwide, enough to produce as much electricity as 11 nuclear power plants or more than 44 coal-fired power plants. Last year, U.S. wind farms generated enough electricity to power the equivalent of the entire state of Michigan.
Finally, in terms of boosting our economy, the D.O.E. predicts American wind power is capable of supporting 500,000 more manufacturing, construction and other related jobs over the next 20 years. That’s in addition to the 75,000 wind related jobs existing already – and as of 2010, up to 3,000 jobs in Minnesota alone.
Bill Miller
Paynesville
Miller is an owner of a wind farm in Stearns Co.
Comments (6)
Add commentThe wind farm fairy tales
From 2010 to the present, US nuclear plants had a capacity factor(% of uptime) of about 91%. Nearly all the downtime was the scheduled stop every two years for fuel replacement and maintenance.
During the same period US wind farms had a capacity factor of 27%. And there is no way of predicting when that 27% will happen. There is no case on earth where wind power has replaced a fossil fuel baseload power plant, let alone one or eleven nuclear plants.
Take away the Production Tax subsidy, and the wind business goes as quiet as those turbine blades on a muggy summer day when there isn't a 'breath of air."
As to pollution think about the 100 or more tons of cement and steel that goes into each of those short lived big turbines. The turbines don't emit any green house gases, but the extra natural gas plants that back them up do emit, as they run in inefficient start/stop mode.
And don't live within a mile of the turbines, as that low frequency noise will drive you up the walls that those sounds penetrate.
REW
Bill
Just how big of a check do you get a year from taxpayers??
Rolf he forgot to mention the kill ratio of those blades.
Farm boy comments
The PTC for wind is 2.2 cents/kwh. That is about 50% of the going wholesale price for electric power from the power plant. You can understand why the PTC is critical for the wind industry.
Bats and birds of prey are apparently the most harmed by the turbines. Eagles aren't afraid of anything, and they soar right past and through the turbines, to their detriment. In California the Golden Eagle population has taken a beating from the turbine blades.
Contrary to whack job Iowa ( Western ) GOP Rep. Steve King says
When he is not paling around with Mike Huckabee. 20% of his states power come from Don Qs favorite prey.... Maybe Steve should take a look around Sac & Carroll Counties some time...when he is not making 4 hour speechs to a empty house chambers on C Span . Remember Mr Kings actual plan to deal with all those ALIENS in the country is 3 different fence lines along the US border with Mexico. One concrete , another chain link , and the third Razor & Barbed wire.
And people wonder why the GOP do nothing congress cant get anything done except , bills to ban abortion ,and bills to show their distain for healthcare reform.
GOP fear mongering hurts our country....
What are the externalized
What are the externalized costs of nuclear electricity?
What are the externalized costs of coal power plants?
Why are we subsidizing both of those by allowing them to externalize the growing costs of climate change?
What are the costs for our failure to use energy conservatively and efficiently?
It's hard to spin facts those away if you look closely.
Nuclear power is the primary power source in France...
...and I haven't heard a thing about France being a major culprit in causing global warming. Also, given that France has been using nuclear power without incident for about 50 years, one has to admit that that's a pretty good safety record.