So, I’m sitting in my reading chair listening to and watching the wind howl outside while I contemplate what to write about this week. I start thinking about the wind and that there must be something good about it so I turn to Mr. Google to find out what that might be. Once I got past a lot of weather jargon describing what wind actually is I fell down the rabbit hole of “wind energy.” This fast growing energy source is probably something I need to know more about so I thought I’d share a little bit about what I learned.
I will start with the most important fact which is that wind power is a clean, free, readily available, sustainable, renewable energy source with a smaller environmental footprint than fossil fuels. It does not directly emit CO2 or greenhouse gases helping countries meet emission reduction target thus combating climate change. As such, it is one of the fastest growing energy sources in the work. Its critics are concerned about reliability, visual pollution, noise, threats to wildlife, safety and its effect on the environment. The remote locations of many wind farms make transporting the energy a challenge as well.
Wind power, also known as wind energy, uses wind turbines to harness the kinetic energy of wind to produce energy through use of generators producing electricity used for multiple purposes. There are approximately 57,000 wind turbines in the US both on land and off shore and individual turbines can reach speeds of 200 mph. The three blade wind turbines we see covering the landscape are called “wind farms” which are located on hill/mountain tops or in positions to take advantage of natural wind patterns. There are different sized wind turbines with the smallest able to produce enough power for a home. Once collected the wind energy can be immediately used, connected to a grid or stored for future use.
Here in the upper Midwest, wind farms are predominantly clustered in SW Minnesota and Iowa although they are becoming more common around our rural landscape as well. For many reasons, wind energy production and use varies greatly across the US with Iowa use the second largest at 34%; South Dakota is at 24%. In 2019, there were 1.17 million jobs in wind energy related jobs worldwide and over 100,000 in the US.
The Walney Extension, located in the Irish Sea, is the largest offshore wind farm in the world and generates enough supply to provide electricity to 600,000 homes in the UK. It has 89 turbines that are 640 feet tall covering 56 square miles which is bigger than the city of San Francisco or the island of Manhattan in New York.
Individuals, cities, states and countries all need to independently decide if wind power is in their future but as the industry continues to grow and economies of scale realized, I think it’s here to stay, especially here in our windy wide open spaces. I need to remember all this the next time I cuss the wind blowing to high heaven. I never did find any other benefits of wind but it does clear the air which is always a good thing.