Researched Wind

This is my paper about the Nations energy crisis and how we should look to the use of wind energy to help solve it..........


A Need for Wind

Currently in the United States, Americans across the nation are facing pressures involving energy demands. In the past few years, the increased demand for and the reduced supplies of oil have left the nation in what is presently termed an “energy crisis.” In the simplest implication, an energy crisis is defined as a problem of assuring an increasing supply of cheap energy and not one of scarcity (0rr 1030). In the current situation, the present energy crisis involves the early stages of transition from a declining energy base (oil), to another more abundant one such as an inexhaustible alternative energy source (solar power, hydrological power, and wind power). In essence, every American is currently dealing with the situation of ever increasing prices of oil; therefore, to ease the effects of this situation, the most obvious answer is to find an alternative energy source to lessen pressure on the demand and need of oil to fulfill the nation’s energy needs. Of the possible resources available to ease oil pressures, the most applicable in today’s situation is the implementation of the raw, untapped, and constant power of the wind.

Throughout the centuries, the implementation and use of wind to fulfill power and energy demands has been prevalent from the time of the early Egyptians, through European exploration, and even into early American history, but before any of the ancient civilizations were able to use the power of wind to their advantage, they had to first
understand the general characteristics of wind. In essence, according to Robert Righter the author of the book Wind Energy in American History, the fundamental nature of wind represents a primary force, created by the earth’s variations in temperature and air pressure (3). Wind is a form of solar energy, generated when sun-heated air rises and cooler air rushes to fill the vacuum (Righter 3). More generally, wind is the flow of air, of gases which compose an atmosphere and are classified by their spatial scale, their speed, the types of forces that cause them, and the geographic regions in which they occur. With the knowledge of how the wind works, ancient civilization like the Egyptians, the Europeans, and the early Americans, used the raw power of the wind to their advantage; essentially paved the way for the present uses of wind in helping to deliberate today’s energy crisis.

When imagining the main use of the wind in terms of production of energy and power, the first application generally leads one to focus on the most apparent use in both present and historical times. Without question, the main machine that has been able to and continues to harness the raw power of the wind has been the boat. Boats have been harnessing the power of the wind for travel and exploration for centuries. For instance, Egyptians, who later became known as river people, were using wind power to propel small water crafts with sails of linen or papyrus up and down the Nile as early as 3100 B.C. (Righter 6). Likewise, Europeans who are most commonly acknowledged for their use and understanding of the prevailing winds and the specific patterns of circulation associated with the movement of the wind used the sheer power the wind generates to guide exploration of the new world ultimately leading to the discovery of the Americas (Righter 6). In the situations described above wind was used as an energy resource before the general public even truly understood its benefits, therefore, there is no reason why in a society that now comprehends the advantages that wind provides, why it should not be implemented to help resolve the energy crisis.

In congruence, with use in travel and exploration wind was just as important in early American history, to entrepreneur Charles Brush who also discovered the benefits of harnessing the wind, when he turned the vagrant wind of Ohio into useful electricity (Righter 43). In 1888, Brush paved the way for public utility with his Giant Wind Dynamo (resembling the modern windmill) which created enough electricity to power 350 incandescent lights and a number of electric motors which in that time was state of the art, of which nothing comparable had ever been previously attempted before in the United States (Righter 43). In general, the history and use of wind summarizes that wind energy has been around, and in use, since the time of Egyptians. Likewise, wind has been used for travel, exploration, and even public utility on the small scale. With today’s technology, no evidence shows reason why Brush’s design could not be enhanced to be able to provide power for the entire nation, in turn reducing the demand on oil and in quintessence shrinking the energy crisis.

As observed previously, a number of benefits to the implementation and use of wind as an energy source throughout history, but the benefits of travel, exploration and small scale public utility were only the beginning of the payback that could come about from the implementation of wind as an alternative energy source. Among benefits that today’s society can generate from the use of wind energy, the most observable is in the fact that wind energy seemingly causes no negative impacts to the environment. According to Martin Pasqualetti, author of the article Morality, Space, and the Power of Wind-Energy Landscapes, “wind power produces no global warming, wind power floods no canyons, demands no water, contaminates no soil, and leaves no permanent and dangerous waste” (382). More generally what Pasqualetti is attempting to express, is that unlike other energy resources, which can damage the environment with both construction and implementation, wind generated power causes no direct damage to the environment, therefore, leaving the environment in the same condition it was in prior to completing construction.

Another modern benefit of the implementation of wind energy is in the exploitation of private use. Using wind energy supplied by a private wind turbine can not only reduce the demand of public utility, but also ultimately power the same things that the common public utility provides energy to. In support of this, Paul Gipe, author of the book, Wind Power for Home and Business, stated “a private wind machine reduces your consumption of utility-supplied electricity whether it is for lighting, appliances, or electric heat, and just like conventional methods, the wind turbine will power ones clock, stereo, refrigerator and even the lights” (16). In other words, all the electrical needs that one demands from the public utility, or rather an organization supplying the community with electricity, gas, and water, could be met by the landowners themselves if they constructed a wind turbine on their own property and used the power the turbine generated to meet their personal energy demands.
Likewise, individuals or land owners could further benefit from the private implementation of wind energy by selling unused energy, energy that exceeds their demands back to a public utility. For instance, landowners operating a twenty megawatt wind plant at twenty-five percent capacity with an average energy payment of $0.05 would produce gross revenue of over $2,190,000 (Pasqauletti 389). If the landowner interested in private ownership of a wind turbine knew of no other benefits, the revenue they could produce from implementation should be enough to persuade the construction of an individual wind turbine. Therefore, the implementation of wind energy as an alternative energy source can not only help reduce the demand on oil, eliminating the energy crisis, can also be beneficial in terms of environmental impacts, and in the profits the individual can collect.

In comparison with the rest of the world, the United States is behind the times in terms of the implementation of wind energy because it was not until just recently that wind farms began to spring up across the nation, but globally, wind as an alternative energy source is currently in use in many mountainous areas of Europe which rely primarily of wind driven turbines to power their towns and villages (Gipe 23). Likewise, in terms of global implementation Pasqualetti claims, “Globally the generating capacity of commercial wind turbines now exceeds 14,000 megawatts” (382). If that much power is being produced globally, imagine what the United States could produce if wind farms were strategically placed in states like Kansas, Texas, and the Dakotas where there is a constant movement of wind across a flat plain. For instance, North Dakota alone has enough wind energy to supply 36% of the electricity used in the lower forty-eight states (Pasqualetti 388). An area of 50,000 km2 (about the size of New Jersey) could satisfy 20% of the nations demands, and although that is a substantial amount of land, only 5% of it would occupied by turbines, electrical equipment, and access roads with the rest of the land being open for use such as grazing with little interruptions (Pasqualetti 388). Surprisingly enough, if the United States were to implement the use of wind energy on a trial basis, one could assume that the general public would be attracted to the implementation not only by the rising cost of fossil fuels, but by the increased pubic support for renewable energy. With that in mind, and with the notion of implementation already underway globally, the United States could effectively decrease the effects of the energy crisis the nation is currently facing.

Although supporters have found a number of benefits to the implementation of wind energy as an alternative energy source, critics have also found some draw backs to its execution. Of which, the most common argument of implementation arises when the large array of wind turbines degrades the quality of the landscape. More generally, the public opinion is that the cold steel masses which outline the wind turbines take away from the ascetically pleasing nature of the landscape as a whole. Public opinion has even gone as far as to claim that “wind energy is a new way to rape the countryside” (Pasqualetti 389). Undoubtedly, engineers and developers have essentially found no way to hide the large steel frames of the turbines, so if implementation was to occur, the observable presence of the wind turbines would have to be dealt with. This is one such problem that both developers and engineers face regularly in regards to implementation and how execution could potentially aid in developing a resolution to the energy crisis.

Another argument towards the national implementation of wind energy as a renewable energy source is that the construction of the turbines changes the landscape, and that change is threatening to some of the general pubic. Even in the simplest form, change can be a scary occurrence, in congruence changing the landscape that a person has become accustomed to, also seems to be increasingly threatening. Perhaps as Pasqualetti has hypothesized, people expect permanence in their landscape, an idea that has slowly developed over centuries with the notion of natures own slow evolution of change (390). In general, such change can be fundamentally disturbing because we are not biologically evolved enough to cope with the modern speed of change. Therefore, any change to daily routine is found to be threatening. However, if one could suppress their fears and look logically toward the future, they would see that implementation of alternative energy resources like wind energy, is needed to help the nation get out of the energy crisis and move forward with economic growth.
In general, people today have no want or need to see where their energy comes from, an idea which has slowly dissipated through public; consciousness, however with wind energy, hiding the turbines from view is not an option, no matter how hard developers try, the turbines are still going to be visible due to the undeniable fact that in order to harness the power of the wind, the turbines need to stand above the horizon where the wind flows. Therefore, no matter how much developers and engineers do to reduce the impact of the wind turbines on landscape, nothing can render them invisible. Even with the new technologies working to make the turbines more efficient, more powerful, and quieter, it still cannot take away from the fact that the turbines are going to be seen” (Paqualetti 391).Although there are some visual drawbacks to wind energy, with industry working to look more carefully at scale, symmetry of design, careful road preparation, and equipment maintenance, as well as the public accepting and embracing the winds visibility as an asset and not a problem, the drawbacks should not out weigh the benefits of implementation and diminish the need for oil, therefore reducing the energy crisis.

With the energy crisis the United States currently finds itself in, and with a continuous demand for rapidly depleting fossil fuels creating an overwhelming need for implementation and use of alternative energy sources, with the strongest push coming from the implementation of wind as an energy resource. Although not commonly known, wind energy has been used as a direct source of power for centuries, dating as far back as 3100 B.C. where ancient Egyptians used wind power for travel. Likewise a few centuries later, European exploration was ultimately driven by the power of the wind. Therefore, with as rich a history of implementation and use that wind energy has, there should be little question as the aid that implementation into today’s society could provide to help eliminate the current energy crisis.
In general developers in charge of implementing renewable resources have found many benefits to using wind energy above any other energy source, but of all the benefits, the most impressive is the fact that wind energy produces no global warming, wind power floods no canyons, demands no water, contaminates no soil, and leaves no permanent and dangerous waste, like some of the other traditional alternative energy sources do. The current use of wind energy as an alternative form of energy has just recently been observed in the United States, but in places where it has been implanted, the benefits from its use are becoming increasingly popular. If wind farms could be placed in areas like shown through the example with North Dakota, then the nations energy needs could be met without question, reducing the overall need for fossil fuels.

Even with all the benefits of the implantation of wind energy, there cannot be denial that the large wind turbine structures will not visually disrupt the natural beauty of the landscape. If the public was to accept the notion of seeing where their energy supplies come from, then the public opinion for the need of aesthetic quality to the landscape would slowly diminish, taking with it, the overall fear of change. Therefore, with the current energy situation that the United States finds itself in, there is an ever increasing need to find an alternative energy source. Likewise, if the public would like to keep the environment in prestigious condition for enjoyment of future generations, and if the need is there, why not let the use of wind energy fill that need and eliminate some of the demands on fossil fuels, therefore removing the United States from its current energy crisis.



References Cited

Buckley-Golder, D. H., R. G. Derwent, K. F. Langley, J. F. Walker, and A. V. Ward. "Contribution of Renewable Energy Technologies to Future Energy Requirements." The Statistician 1st ser. 33 (1984): 111-132. JSTOR. Institute of Statistician. Eckerd College, St. Petersburg. 23 Oct. 2007. Keyword: Wind Energy.

Gipe, Paul. Wind Power for Home and Business. Post Mills, Vermont: Chelsea Green, 1993. 1-156.

Orr, David W. "U.S. Energy Policy and the Political Economy of Participation." The Journal of Politics 4th ser. 41 (1979): 1027-1056. JSTOR. Southern Political Science Association. Eckerd College, St. Petersburg. 23 Oct. 2007. Keyword: Wind Energy.

Pasqualetti, Martin J. "Morality, Space, and the Power of Wind-Energy Landscapes." Geographical Review 3rd ser. 90 (2001): 381-394. JSTOR. American Geographical Society. Eckerd College, St. Petersburg. 23 Oct. 2007. Keyword: Wind Energy.

Righter, Robert W. Wind Energy in America: a History. London: University of Oakland P, 1996. 1-101.

"Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program." Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. 31 May 2007. U.S. Department of Energy. 23 Oct. 2007 .