Wind power, the electrical energy provided by wind turbines, has been blowing hot and cold for years. Recently it has again come to wide public attention due to two events: President Trump’s Executive Order this month temporarily "pausing" wind projects on federal waters and lands; and the new TV series, “Landman,” now streaming on Paramount+.
In the series' third episode, actor Billy Bob Thornton plays the manager of an oil-drilling company who details the environmental downside of large wind turbines on a wind farm in West Texas. He points out all the energy – provided by fossil fuels – required to produce the concrete and steel used in the massive structure: the diesel fuel required to transport it to the site and power the 450-foot crane needed to set it in place, plus the amount of oil required to lubricate it over its lifetime.
Although his conclusions regarding the carbon offset over the turbine’s 20-year lifespan are dubious, he still makes some valid points. Critics of wind farms frequently point to the economic and environmental penalty associated with the disposal of the turbines at the end of their useful life. They also cite the cost and environmental burdens, of which there are many, of transmitting the power from remote locations to the population centers where it is most needed.
If the new Administration’s intent is to develop policies that emphasize solar photovoltaic (PV) over wind, as the preferred source of non-nuclear renewable energy in the U.S., then the ban may have some valid justification. Otherwise, the intent would appear to be purely political. In general, I do believe that PV has some significant advantages over wind.
They’re both clean and renewable, of course, although both have embedded energy penalties during manufacture, and disposal of PV panels also presents some environmental hazards. PV is quieter and less visually obtrusive, and does not kill or injure birds, bats, marine mammals, and fish on the magnitude of wind turbines. While both technologies, at utility scale, require a lot of real estate and are expensive to install – although PV is generally not located as far from the users as wind turbines – the solar PV is much less expensive to maintain.
Efficiency is also a consideration. Solar PV is a passive process of converting sunlight directly into electricity. PV panels typically have efficiencies of around 24%, so their efficiency is a function of wind speed and direction, Typical efficiencies for commercial scale wind turbines are 25-30%.
One would hope that the financial savings from pausing wind farm development would be applied to solar PV, and other alternative renewable energy projects, and that the new Administration will not abandon the funding of renewable energy.
After all, even if America is now going to “drill, baby, drill,” like many proclaim, it must still continue to innovate, innovate, innovate!
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A contributor to HPAC Engineering since 2013 and a member of its editorial advisory board, the author is a principal at Sustainable Performance Solutions LLC, a south Florida-based engineering firm focusing on energy and sustainability. He can be reached at [email protected].