Blowing Away A Few Myths Regarding Wind Energy
Here's the truth behind a few myths about wind energy, both pro and con.
The efficient harnessing of wind energy has, in recent years, offered an exciting new way to help with the energy crunch -- so it's no surprise that myths about wind energy have been popping up as fast as those great big wind turbines that generate it. Well, here are a few truths about those myths that we'd like to air.
Myth 1: Wind Energy is Going to Solve all our Energy Problems
Well, this myth does put a positive spin on things (heh heh), but it's unlikely to work out that way. Our energy demands are so pressing that even if a wind turbine were placed on every hill, wind energy would contribute only a fraction (though admittedly a large fraction) to our national energy budget.
The fact that this is a myth about wind energy becomes especially obvious when you consider automobiles. Yes, it's possible to store wind energy in auto fuel cells, but the current crop isn't that efficient -- not to mention the facts that there aren't many hybrids or electric cars on the road.
But as they say, very little bit helps. Wind energy will certainly go a long way toward easing our current energy demands. Wind energy is also renewable, unlike fossil fuels, and unlike some renewable fuel sources. Like wood and ethanol, it's completely clean and non-polluting.
Myth 2: Wind Turbines Kill a lot of Birds
This myth about wind energy has a basis in fact, but the truth is that wind turbines don't kill nearly as many birds as reported or expected. Automobiles actually result in many more bird fatalities every year. Similarly, more birds die from slamming into buildings than from tangling with turbine blades.
This myth derives mostly from a single large wind farm in Altamont, California, where the 4,800 turbines were built low to the ground and right in the middle of a migratory bird route. As a result, about 1,000 birds die there a year. Newer wind farms are more spread out, with taller turbines, and have far fewer bird deaths.
Myth 3: Wind Energy is Cheap
This is one of those myths about wind energy that's true in one sense, but not so much in another. Sure, the wind is free. However, to effectively tap it, you need to erect a huge, expensive windmill that costs several million dollars per megawatt to build. Add that to that the fact that the wind blows only about 30% of the time.
This makes the start-up costs rather high, and mostly out of the reach of the average home. Even over the course of a 20-year lifetime, wind energy still costs more than coal, at about 4 cents per kilowatt-hour. But wind energy is renewable. The wind's going to be blowing long after all those coal mines are emptied out.
Myth 4: Wind Energy Really Isn't Worth the Effort
If you don't mind pumping more pollutants into the atmosphere, then sure, you're right. If you want your descendants to be able to breathe and you want to climate to ever stabilize, however, you're way off base. The only thing that can make these myths about wind energy true is our selfishness and, sadly, our laziness.
