The Pros And Cons Of Wind Power

In today’s world, energy demands are constantly expanding. The use of fossil fuels as the main energy source in the United States has lead to environmental pollution and there are also concerns for the supply of fossil fuels. In response to the growing global concern for alternative sources of energy that are environmentally friendly, there has been significant development over the years for wind energy production and other energy sources. However, as development of wind energy production has increased, there have been claims made against the strategies used to produce power from wind that dub them as being unclean, and in fact not environmentally friendly. As such, the controversy lies in whether large-scale wind power is in fact environmentally

NAPAW “supports renewable energy schemes when they are effective and socially, economically and environmentally friendly” (Call for Wind Energy ‘Reality Check’, n.d.), which is similar to the views of AWEA in terms of being engaged stakeholders for the development of effective, alternative energy solutions. It can also be noted by their logo, that the AWAE also believes in “[p]owering a cleaner, stronger America” (American Wind Energy Association, 2013). However, both parties disagree when it comes to the environmental effects of Windpower production. The NAPAW argues, that “[w]ind power’s contribution to reducing CO2 emissions or fossil fuel use is limited because other power plants must be kept on line” (Call for Wind Energy ‘Reality Check’, n.d.) because of the nature of wind production, which leads to irregular intermittency, meaning that there are periods on certain days where the weather conditions do not allow power generation. Since there is not always a constant flow of wind, the electricity generated by the wind turbines is not a constant, and therefore to prevent a loss in power, the use of other power plants is used as a back up. Windfarms also have a negative “altering the natural and cultural heritage of rural and wild areas that are otherwise protected from such levels of development”, by interfering with surrounding ecosystems, especially those of birds and bats, in areas such as California and Pennsylvania (Call for Wind Energy ‘Reality Check’). On the other side of things, the AWEA argues for that the benefits of wind energy production are clean, and that there is minimal damage done to the environment. The AWEA argues that wind production in fact significantly reduces carbon emission