October 19, 2020 • 0

The Controversial Beauty of Wind Energy

*Wind turbines in Italy. Image by David Mark from Pixabay.*

Most people favor the ideal of wind energy. It offers cheap, renewable power with no greenhouse gas emissions or other deadly wastes. Compared over the course of a year to a power plant fired by fossil fuels, a one-megawatt wind turbine keeps 1,500 tons of carbon dioxide, 6.5 tons of sulfur dioxide, and 60 pounds of mercury out of the environment. They’re more efficient, too, especially compared to coal plants: Wind farms produce up to 39 times more power than they consume against 11 times for coal.

But while the concept of wind power entices, the reality turns some people off. The spinning blades kill birds. When they’re operating, wind turbines are loud from even hundreds of feet away. And wind can be finicky, sometimes leaving expensive wind turbines silent and useless.

The arguments go the other way, too. Wind turbines kill birds, yes; but a recent study suggests that while turbines kill tens of thousands of birds yearly, nuclear plants account for hundreds of thousands of bird deaths and those plants fired by fossil fuels kill millions. According to other estimates, cats kill 100 times more birds annually than do wind turbines (2.4 billion vs. 234,000). Regarding noise, supporters point out that wind farms typically inhabit secluded areas away from settlements, like mountain tops, prairies, deserts, and offshore.

A big negative in the eye of some beholders is the visual impact of the huge machines against the skyline, or the constant rotation of the blades and their flicker of shadow across the landscape. No doubt people who live within sight of wind farms share strong opinions one way or the other on the issue of aesthetics. In vast, open spaces like the American West, with clearer air and larger turbines, “within sight” can stretch to 25 miles. Interestingly, research shows that people who link wind farms to cleaner, safer air find them more appealing visually.

As for my opinion on the aesthetics of wind power, I unashamedly find the machines beautiful, like sleek, vintage aircraft. Even the old Dutch windmills seem to me as majestic sailing ships standing in port. How about you? I’ve included some of my favorite public domain images to help you decide.