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| The Need For Wind Energy |
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Fossil fuels won't last forever
Fossil fuels (oil, natural gas & coal) can only be used once. Fossil fuels came into existence through the natural decay and burial of biological materials over many millions of years. Fossil fuels are carbon-based, therefore huge amounts of carbon were removed from the Earth's atmosphere and buried through this natural process.
Through burning fossil fuels, human beings are returning millions of years' worth of buried carbon to the atmosphere in a very short time period. It is not reasonable to gamble on the Earth being able to cope with such a rapid change in such a short time period without any consequences, particularly considering the mass of scientific evidence from universities and research departments across the world, which has led to a wide scientific consensus on the issue of manmade climate change.
Fossil fuels will not last forever. Humanity is burning fossil fuels at an ever-faster rate as our economies continue to expand. Sooner or later human beings have to find alternative sources of fuel to maintain their economies. These replacement fuel sources need to be renewable. In other words, we need to find and develop fuel sources which won't run out and do not damage the environment.
Every energy source has an upside and a downside
Every form of power generation has its critics and opposition groups. None offers the perfect solution. There is no means of generating electricity that is acceptable to everyone. The UK government has therefore decided upon an 'energy mix' to reduce carbon emissions and reliance on foreign oil and gas imports, using multiple technologies to provide future energy needs, instead of putting all their eggs into one basket.
About wind power
Harnessing wind energy through wind turbines has a minimal environmental impact. When placed on farm land, the turbines take up less than 1% of the farming land, allowing the farmer to gain a new source of income and continue farming 99% of the land, including right up to the base of each wind turbine.
Early wind turbine designs were noisy, and noise was sometimes a concern for local people, however, the latest designs have reduced noise levels to the point that the sound intensity generated by an average car travelling at 40 mph at a distance of 100 metres is more than ten times the sound intensity of a wind farm at a distance of 350 metres. Modern wind turbines are now so quiet that you can in fact stand directly below a new wind turbine and hold a conversation without needing to raise your voice. Air Farmers Ltd aim to build wind farms at a minimum distance of 500 metres from local residences, meaning that noise will not be a problem for any local residents.
The wind blows approximately 85% of the time, and blows at different times in each region, meaning that the wind is blowing somewhere in the UK almost constantly. It conveniently blows twice as much in winter (when energy is most needed) as it does in summer.
The media sometimes report that most wind turbines operate at only 30% efficiency. This actually refers to maximum capacity. What it means is that if the wind blew at a speed of 15 metres per second for 100% of the time, then a wind turbine would be working at 100% capacity, but the wind doesn't blow constantly at 15 m/s. Most of the time it blows at around 7 m/s, therefore wind turbines work at around 30% capacity, even though they are turning and generating electricity 80 - 90% of the time. Modern wind turbines are highly efficient, but the efficiency of a wind turbine isn't really an issue, because unlike fossil fuels, the wind is free and never runs out.
According to a report by Graham Sinden from the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University, commissioned by the Dept. of Trade and Industry & analysing 34 years of hourly wind data from over 60 sites around the UK, there has never been an occasion where wind turbines would have stopped operating across the whole of the UK due to high wind speeds. The study found that, during the past 35 years, the wind has always blown strongly enough - faster than 4 metres per second - to generate electricity in some parts of Britain. According to the report:
"Met Office records show that, while low wind speed conditions can be extensive, there was not a single hour during the study period where wind speeds at every location across the UK were below 4 metres per second."
The major environmental groups support wind power
The major environmental groups, including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and the RSPB, all support wind power. According to Mark Avery of the RSPB: "Climate change is such a massive problem that the RSPB is convinced that we have to act now as a society and we have to roll out renewable energy and wind energy has to be a very big part of that." The RSPB supports wind energy because dead birds are not found at the base of wind turbines (as anyone can confirm for themselves).
The beauty of wind power
Many people find the latest wind turbines elegant and beautiful and most people do not find them unattractive. In December 2007 the 'Have Your Say' section of the BBC website asked: "Is wind power the way forward? [...] Mr Hutton told the BBC he wants to create up to 7,000 wind turbines to power all UK homes by the year 2020. The plans have been welcomed by environmental campaigners such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. But wind turbines have been controversial. Some people claim that they have a negative visual impact on the countryside [...] Do you think wind turbines are a good source of renewable energy? Are you worried about their visual and environmental impact? Do you live near a wind farm? Send us your views."
The comment most voted for by visitors to the BBC website was: "I guess I'm an oddity - I like wind turbines. They are graceful and soothing to watch. There is a row of them n the hill behind my parents' house and we all enjoy having them there." See: BBC news forums
Wind turbines generally pay back their carbon footprint in both construction and maintenance within the first year of operation. When they reach the end of their useful life in around 25 years, they can be dismantled within just a few days, and the environment returned to its original state.
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