The Advantages of Wind Power

For thousands of years, humans have been using the power of wind to generate energy – whether it was to pump water or to turn on the lights. Wind energy is a renewable energy that is incredibly diverse and is making a significant contribution to the fight against climate change.

You’ll see from the following list that there are many advantages to using wind energy over conventional fossil fuels:

• Inexhaustible and renewable: The wind blows in every corner of the earth and can produce power in a variety of ways without generating greenhouse gas emissions and without fear of supplies running low. It is inexhaustible therefore entirely renewable.

• Zero pollution: While in operation, wind turbines generate no pollution at all, which means the local supplies of water, air, and soil are not contaminated with chemicals or other toxins. In contrast, coal fired power plants, nuclear power plants, and incineration power plants all produce some levels of air, soil, and water pollution.

• Economic viability: In general, wind turbine farms can compete with other fossil fuel energies in terms of installed costs. They are also shielded from potential rises in conventional energy (natural gas, coal, and oil) prices that will inevitably make these energies too expensive for the average consumer. In fact, wind energy now costs between 4 and 6 cents per kilowatt-hour, making it one of the most economically viable renewable energy solutions.

• Job creation: If manufactured primarily in the US to meet the goal of supplying 20% of our power through wind, the turbine components industry would add 30,000 jobs to the workforce in direct manufacturing.

• Diverse applications: Wind turbines come in a variety of sizes so that they can provide energy for single-family homes, large commercial facilities, and entire towns and cities.

• National security: Instead of relying on foreign sources of oil, coal, or gas, Americans can produce their own clean energy locally, which increases national security and decreases reliance on other countries for energy.

• Support for farmers: Since wind turbines often do very well over vast plains, they are an ideal addition to many farms. This means farming communities can take advantage of additional income streams by installing wind turbines on their land without disrupting their current operations.

• Remote applications: Wind energy plants can be used to generate electricity for pumping water, powering telecommunications stations, powering remote villages and towns, and so on. This decreases the costs needed to transmit energy over vast distances and creates local jobs and revenues.

• Water conservation: Unlike conventional sources of energy such as natural gas and coal, the cumulative water consumption of wind energy is significantly less.

If we are to make a real move to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions as a country and get off our addiction to oil, wind energy will have to be part of the mix. It is obvious that with the many benefits of wind, it is a highly valuable investment for individuals, communities, and entire countries.