These and other concerns associated with wind energy development are discussed below, and are addressed in the Wind Energy Development Programmatic EIS. To get more information about these concerns and access current research, please visit the suggested web sites listed on the Wind Energy Links page (Talley 2).
Economic factors that make necessitate a switch from fossil fuel power production to wind power production.
The initial cost of installing a wind power plant is lower than that of fossil fuel power plant. After installation, a wind power plant require very little maintenance but cost of running a fossil fuel plants is very high; ranging from raw material to the operation of the plant, wages and salaries paid to the employees working in the plant and transportation of raw materials and the waste material from the plant.
Wind power is promising to be the most cost effective power production in the country. Wind power production is in fact increasing very fast and will overtake the fossil fuels power production in the near future. Fossil fuel is losing group both economically and politically and other energy sources are threatening to replace it. The process of achieving power from fossil fuels is far much as compared to wind power production. Fossil fuel will require mining, transportation refining purifying and ultimately combusting, and this is no the final process as water has to be superheated to drive the turbines (Talley 2). This process is long and costly and still very poor in terms of environmental conservation.
With the current development of technology, efficiency is emerging to be a very instrumental tool in all fields, power production included. The efficiency of fossil fuel plants are very low partly because the process of producing power is long and every process has its own power losses making the final efficiency to be very low. The efficiency of a wind power plant on the other hand is expected to be higher as the process is shorter thus the losses can be minimized (Ball 2).
Political viability of wind power production
The increasing global temperatures and the consequences that it has brought are raising concerns from all corners of the world. World leaders are deliberating on ways of decreasing the global annual temperature increase to the minimum possible...
One of the ways of decreasing
global warming is to reduce the emission of
carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Nations that depends on fossil fuel power production have been challenged to develop other forms of power production. America has great wind power production potential and now with the renew challenges to reduce global carbon dioxide emission to the
atmosphere there is need to cut down the level of power produced from fossil power plants and take this opportunity to develop the wind resource (Simon 182).
Conclusion
From the essay it can be concluded that wind power plants are by fair better than the fossil fuel power plants. With the increasing demand for power the
government should focus more o developing wind power plants instead of developing new fossil fuel plants. Winds can be predicted and back up measures should put in
place to carter for the deficiencies during the low wind sessions. United States has great wind energy potential and should respond to the political calls and
environmental concerns by investing in wind power plants and reduces global warming problem and other forms of
environmental pollution associated with fossil fuel.
Work Cited
Ball, J. "Clean-Energy Sector Looks for Private, Public Help."
Wall Street Journal. 9 March
2009. Pg. A.2
Emerson, Montgomery. "Top 5 Advantages of Wind Power Over Fossil Fuels." Top 5
Advantages of Wind Power Over Fossil Fuels. 6 Jun. 2009. 13 Apr. 2010 < http://www.everythingryan.com/article/top-5-advantages-of-wind-power-over-fossil-fuels >.
"Energy resources: wind Power." 13 Feb. 2008. 13 April, 2010.
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Hazel, Mark E. Alternative energy: an introduction to alternative & renewable energy sources.
New York: Prompt Publications, 1996,
Shwartz, Mark. Study advocates large scale U.S. wind power program. 23 Aug. 2001. 12 April.
2010 < http://news.stanford.edu/news/2001/september5/windpower-95.html>.
Simon, Christopher A. Alternative energy: political, economic, and social feasibility.
Massachusetts: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007.
Talley, Ian. "U.S. News: EPA Set to Move Toward Carbon-Dioxide Regulation." Wall Street
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