Beyond Economics

By Siwen Chen

Introduction

Electricity generated from coal, nuclear energy, and petroleum produces greenhouse gas emissions like carbon dioxide in the atmosphere leading to global warming. The effects of global warming have been felt through natural disasters like tsunamis, hurricanes, and earth quakes. This is just the beginning of a very serious problem if America keeps going in the same direction that it is going now, in regards to using unclean energy sources like electricity generated from fossil fuels and gasoline.

In order to prevent future destruction via global warming, some scientists and concerned Americans have dedicated themselves to cleaning up the air. One of the green trends that is being used now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere is wind power. I will be focusing on wind power on Cape Cod. Wind power is important because, according to Jim Motavalli’s article “Catching the Wind” the, “cape wind can replace 113 millions of oil per year, reduce regional greenhouse gas emissions by one million tons per year and reduce New England’s wholesale electric prices by $25 million per year” (2005, p.7). Switching to wind power will reduce America’s great dependence on foreign oil and also replace electricity with zero-emissions energy with reduced cost.

In this report I will provide the background information regarding wind power in general, and its increase in popularity over the last few years, how it works and who uses it, its benefits to the people and the planet, and arguments against the trend. In my conclusion I will talk about the future of the wind power trend and my recommendation for its increase in usage in more places in the United States. My main focus will be on wind power on Cape Cod.

 Background

Wind technology has been around since 500 to 900 A.D when the first wind mills for pumping water and grinding grain were developed in ancient Persia (Matovalli, 2005). In Motavalli’s article “Catching the Wind” he says, “more than six million small windmills were installed in the U.S. between 1850 and 1970. They produced an equivalent of one horsepower or less and their primary duties were supplying water for animals and human needs” (2005, p.2).The Danes developed the first wind turbines to produce a commercial supply of electricity in 1890 (Vogel, 2005). According to Jennifer Vogel’s article “Wind: A Hard Blowing History, “the 1980s subsequently saw a boom in wind energy, with most of the market being developed in California. New experimental technology was developed; some models looked liked egg beaters, some had two blades, and others had three” (2005, p. 2). The wind energy boom started to calm down because of falling oil prices in the 1990s and reduced commitment by the government and others who had shown interest in it.

We have seen an increase in the popularity of wind power due to factors like increase in gas prices, poor economy and atmospheric pollution by greenhouse gas emissions from electricity from fossil fuels, cars, and many others. Americans are looking to reverse the effects of global warming any way they can while also saving money through the process. Right now the U.S is said to get less than one percent of its energy from wind but is looking to change that (Motavalli, 2005). One way that this is being done is building 130 wind turbines in federal water about five miles from the Cape Cod (Stromberg, 2009). In Rebecca Webster’s article “Offshore Wind Arrives” she says “U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced in late April the approval of the $1 billion Cape Wind project, the nation’s first offshore wind farm, in Nantucket Sound off the coast of Cape Cod” (2010).

 Analysis

The way wind power works is that as wind moves over the blades, they rotate at about 10 to 30 revolutions per minute causing the shaft to rotate. A gearbox amplifies the rotating speed of the shaft 50 to 100 times. The shaft spins a coil of copper wire inside a magnet in the generator, inducing an electrical current. The electricity from the generator is transferred to a transformer that boosts the voltage before transmitting the electricity to a substation on land. The voltage is further raised at the substation in order to make it suitable for commercial distribution. The electricity is then sent to the grid of the local electrical company (“Off Shore Wind Farms”, 2004). The customers receive wind power electricity the same way they have been receiving the regular electricity. The Nation’s first off shore wind farm in Nantucket sound will be off the coast of Cape Cod. It will power 75 percent of the electricity needed for Nantucket Island, Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod, create hundreds of construction jobs and it promises to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 700,000 tons annually according to the U.S. Department of the interior (Webster, 2010). This trend will clean up Cape Cod’s bad air which is said to be 50 percent worse than Boston’s and save the residents money on electricity because wind energy will be cheaper than electricity is right now due to the decline in cost of wind power production from “12 cents per kilowatt-hour to less than five cents” (Motavalli, 2005).

Great supporters of wind energy have emerged as satisfied consumers of wind energy from having adopted wind energy prior to the proposal of Cape wind farms. Bill Eddy, a local Episcopal priest is a great supporter of the Cape wind farms. He built his own first wind generator in 1976, so he knows firsthand the benefits of building a wind farm on Nantucket Sound. According to Motavalli, “Eddy feels betrayed by America’s national leaders, who talk about the need for energy independence , but then refuse to take a stand in supporting key points” (“Catching the Wind”, 2005). Eddy says “sometimes I think they would rather see Arlington National Cemetery expanded with a thousand new markers for young men who died fighting to protect our oil supply than to have to endure the sight of wind turbines producing clean energy off Cape Cod (Motavalli, 2005).

 Arguments Against

There have been lots of arguments against the building of wind farms in Nantucket Sound but one of the biggest has been the destruction of the natural beauty of the region. Robert Kennedy Jr. is cited to be part of the opposition of the wind farms. He said “I’m a strong advocate of wind farms on the oceans and high seas, but there are appropriate places for everything. We wouldn’t put one of these in Yosemite, and I think the environmentalist are falling in a trap if they think the only wilderness areas worth preserving are in the Rocky Mountains or American West. The most important are the ones close to the cities, where the public has access to them. And Nantucket Sound is a wilderness, which people need to experience. In this case, the benefits of the power extracted from Nantucket Sound are far outweighed by the other values that our communities derive from it” (Motavalli, 2005). This shows the fear of change and need to preserve Nantucket as is by the residents of Nantucket Sound. It however refuses to take into account the benefits of wind power like creating of new jobs, cutting down on pollution and being part of the start of a historic energy revolution that is going to change America forever. The opposition is also the fear of possible privatization of natural resources because Cape Wind Associates, a private company brought the proposal.

The second big argument against the building of wind farms in Nantucket Sound is by commercial fishermen who fear damage to a prime fishing area. According to Ron Borjeson, vice president of Massachusetts commercial fishermen’s association, “we are 100 percent for the energy concept, but the location is all wrong. This plan would destroy our livelihood” (Gallagher, 2002). It has not been proven that wind turbines are an eminent danger to the fish population. The turbines could be an obstacle for the fishermen but they can still fish as well as they did before. The population of fish has been decreasing for years due to over fishing and industrial pollution hence the wind farms might be cited as part of the problem, but it is not where the problem begins.

The electricity from wind energy is also said to be to more expensive than electricity from fossil fuel because on average it is twice as expensive as the most economical fossil fuel alternative according to the libertarian Cato Institute (Motavalli, 2005). It is expensive to switch to wind energy therefore consumers are intimidated by the cost they might incur if they switch. However, according to AWEA, “wind energy is dropping faster than the cost of conventional generation, about 15 percent with each doubling of installed capacity worldwide” (Motavalli, 2005). It is also cheaper in the long run, if everything is taken into account like health effects caused by global warming and polluted air.

Conclusion

The benefits promised by wind power far outweigh people’s need to have a beautiful view from their house. Putting wind farms in Nantucket Sound could be what saves the islands instead of what destroys them like a lot of the residents are thinking. Denmark has successfully used its wind farms as a tourist attraction and Nantucket sound could do the same. This would increase the revenue that they get from tourism. We are likely to see a lot more wind farms in the future because they embrace the major factor of what America is about right now and that is clean energy.

People need to be educated about the benefits of wind farms like its ability to clean the air due to the fact that it has zero emissions and its ability to save them money on electricity and help them move past the need to have beautiful views from their houses. The government needs to be more supportive of wind farms and also provide incentives to people in order to increase the number of people who use wind energy like giving a tax deduction on electricity expenses for those who use wind power.

References

Gallaher, D. (2002, March/April).  Cape Cod’s Big Wind. E – The Environmental Magazine. p. 22. Issue 2 Vol. 13. Retrieved December 02, 2010, from EBSCOhost database.

Motavalli, J. (2005, January/ February). Catching the Wind. E – The Environmental Magazine. p. 26-39. Issue 1 Vol. 16. Retrieved November 29, 2010, from EBSCOhost database.

Stromberg, M. (2009, March). Cape Cod Wind Farm One Step Closer. Planning. p. 5-5. Issue 3 Vol.75. Retrieved November 29, 2010, from EBSCOhost database.

Unknown Author. (2004, November).Offshore Wind Farms. Technology Review. p. 82-83. Issue 9 Vol. 107. Retrieved December 02, 2010, from EBSCOhost database.

Vogel, J. (2005, January/February). Wind: A Hard Blowing History. E – The Environmental Magazine. p. 30-30. Issue 1 Vol.16. Retrieved November 29, 2010, from EBSCOhost database.

Webster, R. (2010, July/August). Offshore Wind Arrives. E – The Environmental Magazine. p. 10-10. Issue 4 Vol. 21. Retrieved December 02, 2010, from EBSCOhost database.