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Veronica Martinez

Professor Winchester

English 121- AL3

7 November, 2014

How Renewable Energy would affect the everyday Lives of Americans

In the actuality, the world has big environmental issues that are originated by human

beings. For this reason, environmentalists have been worrying about the contamination of the

world and have been put into the task of discovering new alternative energy sources that are not

harmful for the humanity (Burnett). Looking for new options to create energy, renewable energy

has been one of the better sustainable methods; in the United States, renewable energy has

played a role as the future of the environment (Aslani, Wong). This alternative would help the

planet to maintain it clean, but what could happen if sources like wind power would be the only

source to generate electricity in the United States? Most of Americans would be affect with this

alternative source of energy. The production of wind power would generate negative impacts in

the environmental context.

Wind power is based on the potential energy possessed by wind currents. This potential

energy is captured by the blades of the wind turbines, and is transformed into electrical energy in

the alternator present inside of generators (“Wind Energy Overview: Wind Power Generation,

Resources, and Environmental and Cost Issues”) . Wind does not produce toxic emissions, which

affects the world, and does not contaminable source as fossil fuels. Moreover, wind power is one

of the renewable energy sources that is used in some states of the United States (Hitaj). For
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instance, 10 % of the power of states such as California, Iowa, and North Dakota is originated by

wind (Aslani, Wong).

As a renewable energy, wind power seems as one of the cleanest and cheapest sources

that Americans could use as the only alternative of energy in a future. Usually wind farms are

located in rural or remote areas previously undeveloped such as farms and parks (Burnett). As a

result of that, wind power has created environmental factors that have unique implications for

land use, visual impact, noise, and biological issues (Bradley). In fact, wind power brings

problems such as visual factors, landscapers, and electronic noise (“Wind Energy Overview:

Wind Power Generation, Resources, and Environmental and Cost Issues”). Considering this

issue, Robert L. Bradley Jr, president of the Institute for Energy Research in Houston, TX says

that wind power would affect health of Americans because of the turbines (2): the rotor blades

with air produces a constant noise and big vibrations and the sound increases slightly with the

speed of the wind (Bradley 2). Building close to people has aesthetic impacts that could raise

local opposition between the owners of houses. Wind farms are built in parks that are designed

for these big turbines; they do not look good for people who live in the area (Burnett), although

these turbines are not located in residential areas, they would affect people who live near by this

alternative source.

Weather would be another factor that might affect the lives of Americans. The turbines

are impulse by wind and that is what produces energy. Nevertheless, the United States has states

that are not located in coastal areas and they are no able to have wind power. Wind is better in

some places than in others (qtd. in Bodin 40) and this alternative source depends of the weather

(Aslani, Wong) and the wind can never be predicted. This would be a problem for Americans

that do not live near by a coastal area (“Wind Energy: Federal Support for Wind Power
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Investment”). According to Brunet, a senior fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis

(NCPA), to generate power, wind has to have a certain range of speed to make the blows work,

but sometimes when the wind blows too hard, the wind turbine could shut down (1) . How they

are going to get the power if that it is the only source available?

Guillermo Rein, from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College

London, says that fires are the biggest problem for the industry, impacting on the energy

production (Smith). High winds can quickly create a fire inside a turbine and researchers have

found the main causes of fire in wind turbines were lightning strikes, electrical malfunction,

mechanical failure, and errors with maintenance ("Fire Is Second Biggest Risk To Turbines”)

and wind turbines have to endure massive amounts of stress especially during storms. It would

be dangerous for the population that lives near to those turbines and that is the reason of

organization that were made against wind turbines.

Indeed, Americans would have to live with those issues if they have to use wind power as

an alternative source of energy. In 21 Century, people are depended with the currently source of

energy, and if it changed, it will be difficult to get used to alternatives sources. Although some

people think that alternative energy sources are essential to survive today and certainly in the

near future, there are more things that researchers and engineers have to work on that to make

them better.
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Works Cited

Aslani, Alireza, and Kau-Fui V. Wong. "Analysis Of Renewable Energy Development To Power

Generation In The United States." Renewable Energy: An International Journal 63.

(2014): 153-161. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Nov 2104

Bodin, Madeline. "Renewable Energy Gets Real." Planning 79.6. (2013): 40-43. Academic

Search Premier. Print

Bradley Jr., Robert L. "Dirty Secrets Of Renewable Energy." USA Today Magazine 126.2636

(1998): 34. Academic Search Premier. Print.

Burnett, H. Sterling. "Wind Power Puffery." The Washington Times 4 Feb. 2004. Web. 3 Nov

2104

Smith, Colin. "Fires Are a Major Cause of Wind Farm Failure, According to New Research."

Imperial College London (2014). Web. 3 Nov. 2014.

"Wind Energy. Federal Support For Wind Power Investment." Congressional Digest 92.2 (2013):

1. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Nov. 2014.

"Fire Is Second Biggest Risk To Turbines." Environmental Engineering 27.4 (2014): 11.

Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Nov 2104

"Wind Energy Overview. Wind Power Generation, Resources, And Environmental And Cost

Issues." Congressional Digest 92.2 (2013): 2-32. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Nov.

2014.