Wind Power

Did you know that running one single 1-MW wind turbine can prevent us from emitting 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide? This is equivalent to planting one square mile of trees. The fossil fuel emissions in Vermont are some of the lowest in the United States, but almost a third of our energy comes from nuclear power, which can be just as detrimental as fossil fuels. Nuclear energy is very dangerous and produces a radioactive waist unlike wind power. I am a strong supporter of wind power. Wind power would be a good way for our state of Vermont to get energy. There has been so much controversy about overusing fossil fuels, and causing global warming that changing the way we get power would be a good way to change this. Wind power would be good for the state of Vermont because it does not impact the environment greatly and it is inexpensive if used wisely.

Wind power would be the best way for the state of Vermont to find energy because it has very little impact on the environment. Except for bird migration, not many animals or plants are affected by wind turbines. Putting up a wind turbine and using it does not pollute the air, and does not produce carbon dioxide. Wind power would not contribute to global warming because of this. This also means less smog, acid rain, and fewer green house gasses. Not only does wind power not pollute the air, but wind turbines will not affect ecosystems unlike energy sources like hydro power. Wind turbines are only required to use about 2% of the farm land they are put on. The rest of the land will be available for other uses. Unlike hydro power plants that can cause major devastation to the plants and animals that live in the areas that the energy is produced. Each megawatt-hour of electricity that is generated by wind energy helps to reduce .8 to .9 tons of greenhouse gas emissions that are produced by coal or diesel each year. The annual emissions of carbon dioxide from using coal in 1999 were 1,799,762 thousand metric tons in the US. This number is only getting larger. By using wind power we can reduce this number. The average wind power customer, compared to someone using fossil fuels, cuts there carbon emissions by 249 pounds each month. Wind power can also reduce, sulfur dioxide. One wind farm cuts sulfur dioxide emissions 119 tons each year. The environmental benefits of wind power are obvious. Purchasing one block of wind energy for a year can be equivalent to recycling 4,500 glass jars, recycling 6,900 aluminum cans, or recycling 1,150 pounds of steel.

Wind power is not nearly as expensive as you would think it would be. Determining the cost of a wind farm involves the initial cost of the wind turbine installation, the interest rate on the money invested, and the amount of energy produced. Modern wind turbines cost between $1500 to $2000 per kilowatt for wind farms that use multiple- unit arrays of large machines. Smaller individual units can cost up to $3000 per kilowatt. Today’s wind farms can generate electricity for less than 5 cents per kilowatt hour in many parts of the U.S, and the price is expected to decline as modern technology improves. This compared to nuclear power, which costs 14 to 15 cents per kilowatt hour, is not expensive. Unlike nuclear energy wind turbines take very little time to put up and run; there for, they will cost less to set up and will be cheaper to run. Gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, No. 2 fuel oil, natural gas and many other energy sources are more expensive per kilowatt hour than wind power. If you use one of these different energy sources you could benefit from using wind power. The cost of electricity generated by modern wind farms has declined 80% since 1980, this is about 38 cents per kilowatt hours to about 4 cents. Wind farms may have a relatively high cost when you are buying the turbines and installing them, but as time goes on the price will get lower and lower, because wind is a renewable resource. After the wind turbines are running you will not have to do much more. Energy sources like oil are nonrenewable and will always run out and get more and more expensive to come by.

It is understandable that there may be reasons that people may not want Vermont to use wind power. For example, many people do not like the look of a wind turbine. It may be true that wind turbines are not very attractive to some, but in order to change what our society is doing to our world we must be willing to make sacrifices. Vermont is already a very beautiful state. We have laws and regulations to keep it that way. We are also fortunate enough to live in a state that we have the chance to use alternative energy like wind. It is much better for the environment compared to what we are now using and it will also cost less, so people should be willing to except that we may be seeing some wind turbines that they don’t want to see. Also, in the long run, if we continue using fossil fuels Vermont will not be as beautiful as it is now. Another problem is that you need a huge amount of wind power to replace our current energy sources. In fact we could not replace our current energy sources we could only replace certain amounts. This may also be part of not liking how the wind turbines look because we will need a lot of them to get the energy we need, but finding energy sources that do not emit carbon dioxide into the air is so important that we should all be willing to look at a large amount of wind turbines. Also, because the cost of wind power is low compared to most sources of energy Vermonters should be okay with needing as many wind turbines as we will need. There are places in Vermont that are perfect for wind power to be used and produced. We should take advantage of that.

In conclusion, wind power would be the best way for the state of Vermont to get energy. Wind power does not effect the environment to a great extent and it is not expensive. We are all concerned about global warming, using wind power is one was to help stop it. It is understandable that there are other renewable sources of energy that could also be good for Vermont, and I would be happy to use any energy source that will help the environment, but wind would be our best choice.

Introduction

Did you know that runing one single 1-MW wind turbine can dislodge 2,000 tons of carbon dioxside? This is ecwivilent to planting one square mile of trees. I am a strong suporter of wind power. I think that wind power would be a good way for our town of Williston to get power. There has been so much conterversy about overusing oil and fosel fuils causing global warming, changeing teh way we get power would be a good way to change this. Wind power would be good for the town of Williston because it does not inpact the environment and it is inexpenve if used wisely.