It’s obvious that we cannot power our world indefinitely with oil, coal and natural gas. These resources are running out or are costing more money to unearth. One obvious alternative that is growing in popularity is energy derived from wind. It’s abundant, clean and free.
Well, sort of.
The costs verses benefit of wind energy is changing as technology improves. Below is breakdown of wind energy pros and cons.
The Pros of Wind Energy:
It’s abundant. If you live in an area with an adequate amount of wind, then it’s likely to not run out. To be exact, average winds speeds of 12 miles per hour are recommended.
Wind is clean. There are no components of wind turbines that will contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.
It’s a great return on investment. For those who invest in wind energy, the savings in electricity over the long term will more than pay for the cost to install a wind turbine.
The Cons of Wind Energy:
It takes space. And lots of it. You need to devote quite a bit of open land for wind turbines.
Thought costs have come down, it still will take some capital to harness enough energy to sustain a household.
It’s not always windy. Guess what? Sometimes the wind dies down. That means you need to utilize other sources of energy or store that energy in costly batteries that will need to be replaced.
Wind turbines can be damaged in severe storms or break down over time. There will be repairs and sometimes you might have to make significant replacements.
