Wind turbines are the future. They will be able to produce a significant amount of renewable energy, so we no longer have to worry about coal and other traditional ways to produce electricity.
While coal isn’t exactly the best thing for our environment, it isn’t as damaging as many Democrats would have us believe.
And it’s not as if wind turbines are carefree. They, too, have plenty of problems.
Let’s start with the production of wind turbines. They are made of steel, fiberglass, resin, iron, and a few other materials. They can require a significant amount of materials due to their sheer size. They’re expensive to make and only have a lifespan of 20 years – assuming they actually make it that long.
Wind turbines are subjected to erosion – rain, sand, and hail. Over time, this damage can lead to a reduction in the aerodynamics of the blades, which means that they don’t produce as much energy. Essentially, the turbines don’t produce as much energy in year 20 as they did in year one.
Even if you can get past the cost and the relatively short lifespan of the wind turbines, they are also harming the environment because of their negative impact on wildlife.
The USGS themselves have said that the turbines can affect animals directly via collisions – some animals may fly directly into the path of the turbine blades. And guess what happens if a bird strikes a turbine? The turbine may stop moving, which means that it also isn’t producing energy.
It’s hard to say that turbines are effective if they are killing birds AND not producing energy.
In other ways, they’re affected indirectly – habitat loss, noise pollution, reduced survival rates, and even reproduction problems.
Birds and bats are among the most negatively affected by the wind turbines. And that’s quite a problem because they eat insects that are extremely destructive within the agricultural industry. The birds and bats are responsible for providing billions of dollars of economic benefits. If they die, there’s no telling how it could negatively impact the agricultural industry. The crops we need to survive could be eaten by the insects since the birds and bats have been killed by the wind turbines.
The average wind turbine costs approximately $2 million to produce. However, it is capable of producing a MW in power, so it pays for itself in about six months. Only, that’s assuming that the wind turbine lasts that long and that it doesn’t cause too much destruction to the environment.
When you consider all that the wind turbines do to the environment, we have to continue exploring other options. Turbines cannot be our only solution because of how damaging they can be.
