Will Wind Energy Be Blown Away?
Wind energy is form of renewable energy. This ‘new’ source of energy is getting more popular and not without reason. In various parts in the world big wind turbine parks are placed by corporate businesses yielding big quantities of energy that can be sold as environmental friendly or ‘green’ energy. Wind energy is big business. Big companies profit from renewable energy but also invest substantially in this new energy source.
As mentioned before wind energy is very environmental friendly. In the search for alternatives for fossil fuels this energy source turned out to be very lucrative. This energy source makes us less dependent on traditional fossil fuels. It is important to lessen the dependence on traditional fuels. There are many reasons why here we will inform you with the most important once. The traditional fuels are predominantly in the hands of countries in troublesome areas. Therefore you are not sure if the amount of crude oil you request will be delivered due to instability in the region. Also the price for these old fuels is increasing and the current reserves are diminishing. But most of all these old energy sources pollute our planet. But as always the beautiful story of wind energy has not only positive sides. Let’s look at some of negative points as well.
In the Netherlands a windmill park is located in the north of the country. Although the local people here were in favour of the windmills they changed their minds when the mills were actually placed. The residents were complaining about a constant noise during the night that could be compared to a 747 taking of. These complaints were not taking serious by the corporate business owners. Therefore the residents decided to research their complaints by the local university. The outcome of the research was that the residents were right and their complaints should be taken seriously. It turned out that the windmills produced more noise in the evening and night than during daytime due to a higher turbulence at night caused by very specific changes in the upper air layers. During the day there is less turbulence and the sounds that are produced by the windmills are diminished by the noise of local traffic and wind blowing through the trees. All specifics can be read in this paper: The Sound of High Winds: The Effect of Atmospheric Stability on Wind Turbine Sound and Microphone Noise by Frits van den Berg.
In Germany wind mills where placed in the North Sea. Although the location for this purpose is very good, the park doesn’t seem to produce the calculated amount of energy. The windmills often don’t work properly due to malfunction. Whilst the location is good and wind is blowing almost constantly the windmills often just don’t work. The mills were not moving at all and therefore not producing electricity. This project turned out to be very disappointing, but the project is still running and it is believed that it will function according to plan in the future.
In the United States in Vermont the local residents were opposed by the planning of a new wind turbine park. The locals felt that the wind towers would ruin their beautiful landscape. It is a landscape that many generations have fought to preserve and the current residents our proud of. It is hard to convince people to share their landscape with large wind towers that disturb these beautiful views. The plans for building the windmills in Vermont are of the table.
Although is it a good and economical of energy, wind energy is taking some real blows. The advantages are clear and the disadvantages are becoming clear as well. When placed in a surrounding where the landscape is cherished by the people who live there, one could argue not to place them because it might ruining the beautiful landscape and spoil the beautiful views. Locals and tourist would find these turbines just plain ugly. Also it should be kept in mind that wind turbines with these sizes can produce a lot of noise during the evening and night. Beside these considerations it has shown that wind energy is not always a big success and there is more progress to be made. Technically there are some steps to be made, but a lot of people are working hard in this. Let’s hope that wind energy is here to stay and we will find proper ways to utilise this form a way that we all can benefit from it.