The Cost of Wind Power
Published in Spinsheet - November 2016
Sustainability is a frustrating subject. It’s relevant to time, place, emotions, more. Easily it balloons into metaphysical or political debates about an unknown future that often detracts from the core of a topic. Wind for instance. Currently if you check The Wind Power site we have four offshore wind projects in the works off of Virginia and Maryland. All proposals seemingly in different stages of approvals and support, both sides shoring up against a bitter fight. But, what is this debate really over?
I remember standing on an Indiana farm bordering the edge of a wetland. The farm sat well above the watershed. Traditional agricultural practices were at play and in turn were causing some fallout downhill. I rested a moment with a PhD type who unpacked the unpleasant environmental situations at hand. The he turned and said simply ‘you can’t tell these people their wrong, it’s not our place to suggest that their parents were wrong and that the legacy of that family is at fault. You can’t simply take security away from them, of an income and more so a way of life. It’s their children too feeling the impact of change.” We quickly realize shifts in environmental ideology are more complex than how we take them at the surface.
The wind debate isn’t about renewable vs. fossil fuels. It’s about people, jobs, visual pollution, advancing technology and optimal timing where we can get these all to meet. We use the ‘facts’ to argue each side. However quite simply, the sun is the only renewable energy resource, wind is a product of the sun and thus the two become the only energy of the future. Cole, the vast majority of Maryland’s power supply, is limited. It too has environmental impacts, both in the harvest of and the carbon emissions byproduct from producing electricity. Natural gas or any petroleum products also are all limited in what the earth can supply. And, we know we are reaching that limit along with the limit that we put on our environment by the production of carbon.
Wind power has many benefits that can overcome these issues. It is green. It will produce jobs in new areas, and it is a domestice, renewable product. However, it will take jobs from other regions, and it will cuase pressure on some species.At the moment, we are uncertain of its cost. It may not blow during our highest power consumption times, and it will invade the majestic vistas that we consider home: the Bay and ocean.
Those are the facts. We use them to argue our ideology, our political opinions or to protect our homes. We have strong attachments to such things; thus the frustration and friction. Something inevitable, somewhat undesirable, and capable of shifting our lives in unpleasant ways is on the horizon. I’ve watched the debate regarding wind farms on the eastern shore of Maryland, specifically Summerset and Kent Counties. Opinions on both side are valid. But, Maryland has approved a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2020. That’s 55 million metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent annually. Much of that plan was based on the development of renewable energy sources.
Additionally, the EPA has a Clean Power Plan that will add to the pressure on Power Plants to reduce their emissions 32% from 2005 levels by 2030. Currently about 40% of the United Sates emissions is from power plants. The concern here is largely focused on coal and will not be easing off in the near future. We have already seen a drop in coal jobs due to increased natural gas usage which too has a shelf life. Where does wind fit?
The US is ranked about 16th in nations using their wind potential. The vast majority of our power demands lace our coasts (New York, Las Angeles, DC). If you take a map of power usage and lay over it a map showing our greatest wind potential, they are almost a perfect match. The US is ripe for such power opportunities, which is why we are feeling the pressure from developers for farms in our region.
I recently took a ride with that PhD type and initiated this topic. We reached this result: wind power is inevitable. The technology may need testing, proving, and perfecting. The infrastructure needs to be developed and storage demands researched. As with other fiery topics, it needs open discussion, and punting the problem to the next generation would be irresponsible.
How do we come together as a region to discuss options? Some people won’t get the best side of these decisions, so how do we justify that? We have a government setting out the demands, but it is the people who will feel the impact. How do we interject ourselves, our jobs, and our homes into the solution; not to stop or ignore it but to help the next generation? Let’s not stick our heads in the sand but rather keep the dialogue going.
http://www.abell.org/sites/default/files/publications/env_Offshore.full_.report-2-18-10.pdf
http://www.thewindpower.net/index.php
http://wind.jmu.edu/offshore/vowda/
http://climatechange.maryland.gov/plan/
https://www.epa.gov/cleanpowerplan/clean-power-plan-existing-power-plants
Projects:
