I must respectfully disagree with Chris Matalas of Apple Valley about the Apple Valley Town Council’s rejection of wind turbines. While I agree that renewable energy will be a part of our future, especially in the light of the current political (not scientific) imperatives, I am among many who consider wind farms a “blight” on the landscape.  

In addition to being a blight, wind generation is probably among the most inefficient of the current generation of renewable energies, commonly only returning about 20 percent or less of installation capacity.

I have no objection to the installation of a wind mill on private property (depending on the acceptance of the neighbors of course), but in the absence of adequate technology to store excess energy when generated, for those times where there is no wind, there is not much hope that wind generators alone would provide enough energy to get you off the grid.

Solar cells have a better chance because solar cells can be installed on rooftops and therefore can also generate deliver energy directly to the consumer with little or no additional visual impacts. However, there are issues with storage when the sun is not shining.

None of the renewable energy proposals provide 24/7 access to energy and none are economic without taxpayer subsidies.

Matalas and I can agree about planning for the future. Global energy demand is projected to escalate to 45 percent above current levels. The current recession has temporarily reduced energy demand, but does anyone really doubt that the economy will come back? Even if it doesn’t, energy is necessary for our society to function at even a basic level.

Regional energy generation with fuels that can provide reliable energy (at a reasonable cost) will continue to be necessary for all aspects of our lives. Sure, local solutions using some types of renewable energy will continue to be promising and research must continue to make them economic.

But the bigger picture requires society to plan for affordable and reliable generation of energy and that includes new and upgraded coal, nuclear, and natural gas plants as well as other economic renewable methods to generate our future energy requirements.