Go Green Today

Today’s society has grown to be a civilization that is wholly calloused against the threat of environmental pollutants, the depletion of natural resources, and even worse, the overall growing destruction of the planet.  The use of nonrenewable resources such as coal and oil is effective in producing mass amounts of energy; however it is an undeniably dirty method and greatly adds to the air pollution and the detrimental emission of greenhouse gases.  As we have no doubt continued evolving in technology, innovation, and science, we have also reached a new stage in the development of eco-friendly means of energy.  Unfortunately, we seem to have the answers at our fingertips, and because there is too much money to be made in the oil industry, the answers are placed on a back burner.  Wind power, from a wind-electric turbine generator, most often referred to as Wind Turbines, have been around for decades; yet it is just scraping the surface of our overall production of energy.  Still, as we are ever changing and climbing the bountiful walks of evolution, there is still hope to further implement the clean, environmentally safe method of wind-generating power.

Wind power is no secret; in fact, people have been using the power of wind generated energy for thousands of years.  Consider the sail to a ship used to transport the water vessels or a windmill used to grind grains.  Nowadays, windmills have largely been transformed into sky scraping turbines with rotors (the propeller) that span up to hundreds of feet in diameter.  Of course the ingenious works of simplistic resourcefulness must have wind in order to properly function (ideally at least 10mph), but it has been acknowledged that 46 of the 50 United States have areas with enough wind resources to warrant development.  In conjunction with the actual development of the implementation of such elemental generators, there must also be an expansion of transmission line capacities.  This is the utility line that acts as a pipeline and brings the wind-generated energy from less populated, windier areas such as the Great Plains to larger energy-consuming cities.  Currently there are not enough of these transmission lines to fully capitalize on the abundance of wind generated energy available. 

Utility companies mostly burn coal and oil to produce the serious demand of electricity needed to power every day life.  They are in essence an energy pool, collecting energies generated from numerous resources, all mixed into the main source for thousands of recipients.  Wind generated energy is thrown into this mix and absorbed in the same fashion as all the other forms of energy.  Currently though, our wind generated energy is a single digit percentage, with scientific projections that there is a feasibility in reaching 10% by the year 2017.  Even still, this small percentage has graduated into a positive environmental relief amidst an atmosphere full of pollution and a tapped surface of a stressed earth. 

Wind generated energy is an optimum alternative to producing our world’s much needed electricity while providing an array of important eco-friendly aspects.  Contrary to the mess we’ve made with the dirty method of burning; wind power leaves no trace of environmental detrimentals.  It maintains clean air and does not at all contribute to global warming or the emission of atmospheric pollutants such as toxic metals and greenhouse gases.  A much needed added benefit incorporates the potential economic stimulus that is directly infiltrated to the growth of this eco-friendly energy generator.  Farmers are able to lease or sell the energy accumulated from their personal wind turbines, while still allowing their livestock to graze around the towers, considering there is no associated harm.  In fact there are many farmers who are eagerly turning from depleted oil wells to the new, completely renewable, clean source of wind to generate income.  As well, wind generated energy costs much less than the higher priced energy from the power plant pools.  The growth of these wind turbines will necessitate the employment of many, adding jobs and income to much needing rural areas.

Wind generated energy should raise the kite of floating hope.  Studies have shown that reaching the 10% level of clean power in the ten windiest cities would provide enough clean energy to offset the emissions of the coal/oil burning and also eliminate the nation’s major source of acid rain, all the while reducing greenhouse gases; affecting the world’s emission of CO2 by 4%.  This would greatly reduce respiratory diseases, including asthma.  Even more overwhelming, if wind generated energy were increased to provide 20% of the nation’s electricity, it would be enough to replace one-third of the emissions produced from coal burning power plants or eliminate nearly all of the water pollution and radioactive waste from nuclear power plants.  That is huge!  Home owners and small business may also contribute directly to this movement.  They are able to build their own (smaller scale) wind turbines to generate the majority of the electricity they would otherwise pay for from the power plants, and lease the leftover energy.  This is an essentially “free” resource, economically as well as environmentally.  It is an amazing alternative that meets our needs while giving us the gift of going green.  So my friends, go with the wind.