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Free
Energy from the Wind
by
Chuck Hall
 Wind
generators are a viable alternative to generating power by burning
fossil fuels. Wind generators produce clean electricity by using
only the wind as a power source. There are only two potential
problems associated with wind generators. One is the claim that they
kill birds. The other is the claim that they damage the looks of the
landscape.
Let’s
start with the myth that wind generators kill birds. This probably
got started in the days of the Altamont Pass, California windmills.
These wind generators use shorter blades and must therefore rotate
at a much faster rate to generate electricity. Today’s generators
use much longer blades with a much greater surface area. Because of
this, they rotate at a much slower speed. This slower speed makes it
much easier for birds to avoid them. These new blades are a recent
development. Therefore any bird mortality study done prior to 2000
would not have incorporated data from the new blade design and is
therefore useless in predicting bird mortality with current wind
generator designs. Unfortunately this old data is what gets quoted
the most often in the media, so people automatically think ‘bird
mortality’ when they think of wind generators. In actuality, far
more birds are killed by automobiles than wind generators, so the
next time someone tells you that “wind generators kill birds,”
ask them if they’ve sold their cars.
 The
most recent study concerning deaths caused by wind generators is the 2001 National Wind Coordinating Committee study, “Avian Collisions
with Wind Turbines: A Summary of Existing Studies and Comparisons to
Other Sources of Avian Collision Mortality in the United
States." According to this study, wind generators cause 2.19
bird deaths per turbine per year.
In
contrast, an estimated 10 to 12 million birds are killed each year
by automobiles, and up to 1 billion birds are killed each year by
colliding with windows. Obviously the new turbine designs are far
safer than other avian hazards in the environment.
Now
to address the question of whether wind turbines harm the ‘look’
of the landscape; as the adage goes, “beauty is in the eye of the
beholder.” I’ve seen wind farms. I’ve also seen coal-burning
power plants and oil refineries spewing out smoke and pollution. If
those are the two choices I have for my landscape, I’d far prefer
the former to the latter.
There
may come a time when wind turbines are commonplace. There may even
come a time when they are viewed as an aesthetic component of the
landscape. I wonder…when they started building windmills in
Holland centuries ago, did the people complain about them “ruining
the landscape?” Yet now those old windmills are looked upon with
nostalgia and are seen as works of art. Maybe there will be a time
when wind turbines achieve the same status.
Chuck
Hall is a Sustainability Consultant and author. His latest book, Green
Circles: A Sustainable Journey from the Cradle to the Grave, is
now available at Booklocker.com.
You may contact Chuck by email at: chuck@cultureartist.org or visit
the Culture Artist Web site at www.cultureartist.org.
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