Wind Energy: Blowing Away the Market for Coal
By Kirsten Nelson-Johnson
While building a green economy is not easy, the production and installation of wind turbines is showing promise. Wind energy accounted for 39 percent of all new electricity generation that came online in 2009. Obama’s tax incentives for renewable energy have much to do with the increase in the number of turbines in the United States. Nevertheless, even absent a national cap on greenhouse gas emissions, the strength of the wind industry indicates that the clean energy sector is taking off, however slowly.
According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) 90 percent of new power generation built over the past five years has come from renewable sources and natural gas. Thus, it is unlikely you will see any new coal-fired power plants built in the coming years. In particular, California has passed regulations banning large investment-owner utilities from signing long-term contracts for electricity generated by coal. Even the largest coal-consuming utility, the LA Department of Water and Power, has pledged to continue cutting back on fossil fuel usage.
What many do not realize is that on top of the fact that wind energy does not release greenhouse gases, it also saves large amounts of water compared to coal-fired and conventional power plants. In fact, the United States Department of Energy estimates that a coal-fired power plant equipped with carbon capture and storage consumes twice as much power as a conventional power plant. Wind turbines require absolutely no water to produce energy and AWEA estimates that in 2009 the move away from fossil fuel power with wind power saved 15 billion gallon of water nationally.
While we currently stand at having 35,000 megawatts of our national power generated by wind turbines, all those turbines only account for 2 percent of the nations power needs. However when broken down by state, some states are utilizing the wind to satisfy a much larger proportion of their power needs. For example, Iowa generates 14.2 percent of its electricity through wind farms, Minnesota generates 9.4 percent through wind power, and North Dakota supplies 8.1 percent of electricity with wind as well.
Wind may be one of the most bi-partisan issues out there at the moment. Turbine makers have tripled in number since 2005 and are scattered across red and blue states alike. The wind industry is poised to be a large employer, currently employing 85,000 working- 10,000 in Texas alone. The challenge lies in the transmission of energy from rural wind farms to population centers, which requires a network of transmission lines and solutions for efficient power transportation. This problem and its solution will most likely mimic the large-scale effort involved in constructing the interstate highway system in the 20th century.
While there are many daunting tasks in the dissemination of wind power, just as with solar power, the benefits are clear and the challenges are manageable.
To learn more about the future of wind farms and wind technology visit the AWEA website.
