Opinions
Wind is not the answer to energy dilemma
Is wind energy development simply one more example of our government promoting a good cause in the wrong way?
May 28, 2006
by Linda A. Long, Beaver Dams
in Star Gazette
I don't want 400-foot industrial wind turbines on the hillside 1,200 feet above my home. But I wonder if I am being selfish. After all, doesn't our country need alternative energy sources? To answer the question, I've done some research.
What I've learned is that the wind energy industry is heavily subsidized with our hard-earned taxes. In his article, "Wind Energy: Power and Policy," Steven J. Herzog describes a scenario in California when "tax farms" were developed because of the subsidies available and then sold for the tax shelter they offered. But when the tax incentives were no longer available, wing energy companies declared bankruptcy.
Is wind energy development simply one more example of our government promoting a good cause in the wrong way?
Glenn Schleede, retired government energy and market analyst, explains the poor economics of wind energy development in the Northeast, where the wind is sporadic in the summer months, when electricity is most in demand. So why are the wind companies here? According to wind maps from the U.S. Department of Energy, we have minimal amounts of wind -- estimates are that wind turbines will be able to produce electricity only 30 percent of the time.
What do we have that wind companies want? State and federal dollars, rural communities with little or no zoning and an easily accessible electric grid to which they can connect.
Our country may need renewable energy resources, but I don't think wind energy is the answer, at least not the way it is now being approached.
What I've learned is that the wind energy industry is heavily subsidized with our hard-earned taxes. In his article, "Wind Energy: Power and Policy," Steven J. Herzog describes a scenario in California when "tax farms" were developed because of the subsidies available and then sold for the tax shelter they offered. But when the tax incentives were no longer available, wing energy companies declared bankruptcy.
Is wind energy development simply one more example of our government promoting a good cause in the wrong way?
Glenn Schleede, retired government energy and market analyst, explains the poor economics of wind energy development in the Northeast, where the wind is sporadic in the summer months, when electricity is most in demand. So why are the wind companies here? According to wind maps from the U.S. Department of Energy, we have minimal amounts of wind -- estimates are that wind turbines will be able to produce electricity only 30 percent of the time.
What do we have that wind companies want? State and federal dollars, rural communities with little or no zoning and an easily accessible electric grid to which they can connect.
Our country may need renewable energy resources, but I don't think wind energy is the answer, at least not the way it is now being approached.
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