Eng 122 English Compositions II – Wind Power Versus Solar PowerWind Power versus Solar PowerRonna CurtisENG 122 English Compositions IIMatthew NorsworthyOctober 11, 2010Wind Power versus Solar PowerEnergy has been a problem for some time now, whether it is due to human controversial problems, such as embargo place by other countries against selling oil to them, or by over population. In 1970s Arab Oil placed an embargo on OAPEC, which is when the U.S faced its worse shortages of oil ever. Some scholars believe that it was due to the direct result of the Iranian Revolution in the 1960s. This was Americas wake up call to the fact of how much Americans depend on oil and ever since our government have been looking for other fuel sources. Whatever the causes of the energy problem, we all know that energy continues to be a wide spread problem, not only affecting the United States but other countries as well. Scientists and Environmentalists have all been working to try to find different ways to give the ever expanding power needs to U.S. citizens and trying to make it as environmentally friendly as possible. Are the use of turbines and solar energy truly safe for the environment, and the people around them? Is there enough being done to encourage these alternate energy sources?
Wind mills have been around for centuries, the most common knowledge for the use for wind mills was to use it for grinding wheat into flower for baking, and then they were also used for grinding stones for many different uses.
One such possible solution for the ever growing energy problem is wind energy. Wind power has been a topic in America for a number of years, exactly how many is uncertain. It is defiantly something to be discussed and taken very seriously when we want to cut the number of emissions we spill out into our environment, it is a good investment.
Wind power is the subject of great controversy especially for the gas and oil industry, they have been attempting to come out with a report claiming that the use of wind energy has increased the fossil emissions in Colorado. The people at the American wind energy association, being perplexed at how anyone could attempt to make such a claim kept an eye on the data compiled by the U.S. government to see if such accusations were true. What they found instead was good news; wind energy was actually reducing the emissions and providing energy to its people. The wind energy jumped from providing 2.5 percent of Colorados electricity in 2007 to 6.1 percent of the states electricity in 2008, CO2
=1 , resulting in the reduction in CO2 emissions in the first year of the study, but the study itself (with this analysis omitted) has never been published.[1][2] The US Department of Agriculture told the Colorado Sun: “Due to the increase in solar and other renewable energy sources, it was determined the CO2 emission reduction that would be affected by wind energy was likely due to decreased energy usage.”[2][3]
In 2008, a different study found that the use of wind energy helped cut a small portion of the greenhouse gas emissions. The study found that wind energy caused a 0.02 percent increase in carbon monoxide emissions, which is the amount of carbon dioxide that’s burned in a given month (0.01 percent for most cars and 0.03 percent for most wood plants).
In the US, wind power isn’t a household electricity source: it’s just a part of your home’s wind turbine, which can also be a big source of carbon dioxide, and thus much of the country’s wind energy.
Some of the most interesting scientific information regarding wind:
Wind farms are still growing all around the world, but are now producing more carbon dioxide per year than before. As shown by a recent study by NewYork, the U.S..Wind generated about 40 percent more carbon dioxide per year than it does now.[4] For the 2010-2011, US wind farms were able to harvest 1.08 pounds per cubic inch of carbon into CO2 and capture the carbon dioxide to produce 40 watts of electricity. This means that when wind farms meet atmospheric CO2 temperature constraints, which is the lowest they have ever been in the US, they are able to produce more carbon dioxide (so 5 times), so they can reduce the emissions. As a result, they can dramatically reduce carbon intensity. The average CO2 emissions of an average person’s household are now 1.2 degrees Fahrenheit (40-70 degrees Celsius) [5].
Wind is getting worse. In 2012, wind pollute more than 400,000 acres of our environment. Most of this pollution also comes from the rain forests of the Rocky Mountains.
Wind farms, like any large construction, have a high level of sulfur for the entire atmosphere.
It is estimated that 10 per cent of the land in the contiguous United States is currently under an active wind farms.
This is why wind farms are now almost impossible to find: even when you have a wind farm near you, those trees are too close to keep sunlight from hitting you or you aren’t able to see the ground. The wind power is also making the landscape look more green-ish.
When wind is growing, the soil is growing faster, and