Wind Power - Cheap Abundant Power

by: JerryC.Dyess,Jr.

We are beginning to recognize that our dependence on fossil fuels is hazardous to our environment and getting more and more expensive every day. Everywhere alternative energy sources are being considered and even put into production. Take wind for example. It is always blowing and always free. We have begun to put it to use to generate power. It is not clear yet how much wind power will be a part of our future energy use and production.

Studies are being conducted by the US Department of Energy as they attempt to evaluate the situation. They report that in twenty years as much as 20% of our energy needs could be supplied by wind power. In fact, it has the potential to produce one fifth our electricity by the year 2030.

The Department of Energy has been looking into different possibilities of future energy production and their impact. One such possibility is wind energy having a huge impact by 2030 and another that there is no growth in wind energy. The studies show that wind energy has the ability to produce more than 20 percent of our energy needs by that time.

There would need to be the construction of a lot of new wind generation stations, however. The installations would need to progress much faster than at their current rate. Given nine years to ramp up production, by 2018, the country would need to see 16,000 MW per year increases in wind power generation potential and continue to grow at that rate or higher through 2030 to reach the twenty percent goal.

Not only would the new wind generators create low cost electricity, but their creation will create a lot of jobs in a whole new industry. And this would be a new growing industry with almost guaranteed growth potential. The production levels mentioned would equate to 150,000 jobs in the wind power industry and over half a million new jobs total counting all of the support industries like lawyers, accountants, steel workers and electricians.

We all know that wind power is a great improvement over fossil fuels when it comes to our environment. Wind power will also make our country more energy self-sufficient. The more energy we can produce at home the less we need from foreign suppliers.

Wind generation equipment does not have a negative impact on the environment. They will take up some space somewhere but wherever they are placed can be used for additional purposes, such as farming or livestock. It does not have the negative impact on the environment that drilling for oil and coal mining does.

A huge advantage of wind power is that it produces energy without using any water. Our water supply is shrinking. It is believed that by the year 2030, many of us will be facing water shortages on a regular basis that may reach crisis proportion. Wind power is an excellent option for all of these reasons.

About the Author

About the author: J. Dyess has been in the Texas Electricity business for many years. He has published many articles on Texas Electric prices.