Advantages and Challenges of Wind Energy

Wind energy offers many advantages, including providing renewable energy. Researchers are working to address some of the challenges associated with wind energy.

Advantages of Wind Power

• Wind power creates good-paying jobs. There are over 100,000 people working in the U.S. wind industry across all 50 states. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, wind turbine service technicians are one of the fastest growing U.S. jobs of the decade. Other career opportunities range from blade fabricator to asset manager.
• Wind power is a domestic resource that enables U.S. economic growth. Wind turbines operate in all 50 states and generate more than 10% of the net total of the country’s energy. 
• Wind is a renewable source of energy. Wind turbines harness energy from the wind using mechanical power to spin a generator and create electricity. Not only is wind an abundant and inexhaustible resource, but it also provides electricity without burning any fuel. 
• Wind power benefits local communities. Wind projects deliver state and local tax payments and land-lease payments each year. Communities that develop wind energy can use the extra revenue to put towards school budgets, reduce the tax burden on homeowners, and address local infrastructure projects.
• Wind power is cost-effective. Land-based, utility-scale wind turbines provide low-cost energy today. Furthermore, wind energy’s cost competitiveness continues to improve with advances in the science and technology of wind energy.
• Wind turbines work in different settings. Wind energy generation can fit in agricultural and multi-use working landscapes. Wind energy can be integrated in rural or remote areas, such as farms and ranches or coastal and island communities, where high-quality wind resources are often found.

Challenges of Wind Power

• Wind power must compete with other low-cost energy sources. Wind projects may not be cost-competitive in some locations that are not windy enough.
• Ideal wind sites are often in remote locations. Installation challenges must be overcome to bring electricity from wind farms to urban areas, where it is needed to meet demand. Upgrading the nation’s transmission network to connect areas with abundant wind resources to population centers could reduce the costs of expanding land-based wind energy.
• Turbines produce noise and alter visual aesthetics. Wind farms have different impacts on the environment compared to conventional power plants, but similar concerns exist over both the noise produced by the turbine blades and the visual impacts on the landscape.
• Wind plants can impact local wildlife. Although wind projects rank lower than other energy developments in terms of wildlife impacts, research is still needed to minimize wind-wildlife interactions. Advancements in technologies, properly siting wind plants, and ongoing environmental research are working to reduce the impact of wind turbines on wildlife.