Amid energy concerns all over the world and specially in major industrialized countries, search for and adaptation to alternate energy resources is an important subject to deal with. Relevance of Economy and environment to acceptability of an energy resources is direct. Therefore economic and environmental benefits of Wind Power are described below. It is pertinent however to know that what damage, energy resources, in vogue are doing to ascertain why we need to change them.
Electricity generation is the largest source of industrial air pollution in the United States, China and some other countries. Fossil fuel-fired power plants in U.S. produce more than 40 percent of the total emissions of carbon dioxide, the heat-trapping gas primarily responsible for global warming. They also generate one-fourth of total U.S. emissions of nitrogen oxides (which cause smog and an aggravate asthma) and two-thirds of total sulfur dioxide emissions (which cause acid rain).
About half of all U.S. electricity is generated from coal, and coal power plants emit tons of mercury and dioxin into the air over their operating lives. Mercury builds up in fish, which can cause birth defects when eaten, and dioxin can cause cancer. Wind Power is the perfect solution to all above environmental problems.
Environmental Benefits:
Reduced carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions:
Some scientists believe that global warming is caused by the "greenhouse effect." Greenhouse gases, like CO2, are produced naturally in our environment through volcanic activity and organic matter decomposition. CO2 is also produced when fossil fuels like coal and natural gas are burned to generate electricity. Using wind to generate electricity reduces CO2 emissions. In a study it is noted that Development of only 10% of the wind potential in the 10 windiest U.S. states would provide more than enough energy to displace emissions from the nation's coal-fired power plants and eliminate the nation's major source of acid rain; reduce total U.S. emissions of CO2 by almost a third and world emissions of CO2 by 4%.
Reduced sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions:
SO2 is a byproduct of burning fossil fuels. In the atmosphere it can react with other chemicals to form acidic compounds. Scientists believe that "acid rain" threatens our lakes and forests by raising the level of acidity. Using wind-generated electricity reduces SO2 emissions.
Reduced use of nonrenewable energy:
Wind energy does not deplete natural resources. Wind is renewed every day as the earth heats and cools. We save about one pound of coal for every kilowatt-hour generated by wind.
The energy needed to build wind turbines is quickly recovered:
The energy generated by wind turbines balances with the energy used to make them in a matter of months. Much of the energy used to manufacture turbines is contained in the rotor and nacelle. One-third of the total energy is consumed in making the concrete foundation and tower.
Wind power uses less land:
About 5% of a wind farm site contains the turbines, equipment and access roads. Existing land uses, such as farming and grazing, can continue unaffected. Conventional electricity generation requires larger "footprints" to obtain the fuel (mining, pipelines, transportation) and to generate electricity (power plants).
Wind power environmental benefits compared to automobile use:
Walking, biking, car pooling or using mass transit rather than driving saves 20 pounds of CO2 for every gallon of gasoline saved. One block of wind power, about 25% of an average customers use can:
cut CO2 emissions by 249 pounds each month.
offset the CO2 output from burning 12 gallons of gasoline.
annually offset the CO2 produced by driving your car 2,930 miles.
Wind power environmental benefits compared to recycling:
One block of wind power cuts CO2 emissions by 2,988 pounds each year. Recycling all of an average household's newsprint, cardboard, glass and metal for a year cuts CO2 emissions by 850 pounds each year. One block of wind power achieves 3.5 times the reduction achieved by recycling. Purchasing one block of wind energy for a year avoids the same amount of CO2 emissions each of the following:
Recycling 4,500 glass jars
Recycling 6,900 aluminum cans
Recycling 1,150 pounds of steel
Economic benefits:
Tax Effects:
Taxes are a redistribution of benefits from wind power production to the federal, state, and local government jurisdictions in which the wind power production and sales occur. Local town governments receive tax revenues or annual payments in lieu of tax from project owners; as operating a wind farm does not require town services such as water or sewage, these payments can be used for other town needs or services. Wind turbines can provide electricity at a fixed cost to municipal utilities that own them, or to towns or groups of customers that sign long-term contracts for their electricity. This benefit enables a town to project its energy costs in budget planning and to be less affected by sudden changes in fossil fuel prices.
Job Creation:
Wind power projects create high-quality jobs which increase business and household income, which in turn creates more jobs which further increase business and household income, and so on. Typically It creates about one to two jobs per turbine during construction, and about 6 to 20 permanent jobs for operating and maintaining every 100 megawatts (MW) of installed generating capacity. Tourism and retail economies benefit from wind power as well, both from construction workers (who spend their dollars on housing, restaurants, and local goods) and from out-of-town visitors to wind facilities.
Property Revenues:
Wind power developments can be a source of supplemental revenue for landowners in rural areas. Each megawatt (MW) of turbine capacity generally requires 25 to 50 acres, and the landowner usually loses the use of about two to four percent of these acres, including access roads. Payments to landowners are often a percentage of the gross revenues of the wind project, usually between one and three percent. A typical annual royalty payment to landowners ranges from $1,500 to $2,000 per turbine (approximately $40 to $50 per acre), with the landowner still able to farm or allow grazing on all areas surrounding the turbines. In addition, there is sometimes an upfront payment of $1,000 to $3,000 from the developer to the landowner for the assessment of the property for wind resource potential (Brown and Woelfel 2000). In the U.S. national study to date, sales data from 25,000 properties within five miles of wind turbines, compared with similar properties without views of wind turbines, showed no evidence of wind power reducing property values.
There are also some economic and environmental negative impacts which are out of scope of this topic, but they can be easily adjusted and remedies can be made.
References:
1. http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/renewable_energy_ basics/WPNE-Overview.html
2. http://www.mge.com/images/PDF/Brochures/WindPower/Be nefitsOfWind.pdf
3. http://www.catenergy.com/faq.html
4. Assessing the Economic Development Impacts of Wind Power, Northwest Economic Associates, 12009 N.E. 99th Street, Suite 1410, Vancouver, WA 98682-2497