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The switch over from non-renewable fossil fuels to alternative, renewable sources of energy, such as wind power, is arguably the defining project of our generation. It is more important that ending terrorism, poverty, or disease, because the entire planet is at stake if we fail in this endeavour. But can wind power play a significant part in this switch over? What exactly are the economic and environmental benefits of wind power?

In fact, wind power is the fastest growing form of renewable energy. It is derived from wind turbines, which appear as thin-bladed windmills, that are to be seen dotted around the landscape or out at sea, sometimes singly, but often in farms. These turbines typically output around 1.5-3 megawatts of power each. The faster the wind, the more power is output by the turbines, with the power varying with the cube of the wind speed. This makes them ideal for locations that have strong, constant winds such as at high altitude and offshore. Of course, on the downside they are unsuitable for places where there is little wind or where the wind that there is blows only intermittently.

Economically, wind power has the potential to be of great benefit indeed and this will only become more apparent as the technology and the economies of scale improve things over the years. It is estimated that in the long-term wind power could potentially provide over 5 times the current global energy consumption or over 40 times the present day electricity demand. Although wind power currently accounts for less than 1% of the world's energy needs, the market for wind power grew by 41% in 2005 and will continue growing in influence for the foreseeable future.

Environmentally, wind power has the benefits of being a clean, renewable source of energy. Unlike fossil fuels wind power does not produce carbon dioxide or methane emissions, which contribute significantly to climate change. It has also been shown that bird mortality rates due to wind turbines are much lower than predicted. There is even the possibility of new ecosystems developing around wind farms.

Another possible criticism concerns the effect on the landscape of dotting wind turbines all over it. Whilst it is important to save our areas of outstanding natural beauty for future generations it may be that we will have no choice other than to spoil the view in less aesthetically important areas. If we don't switch to renewables such as wind power as quickly as we possibly can then there may turn out to be no future generations of human beings around to enjoy the view anyway.

Learn more about this author, Darian Peters.
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