Wind power is an affordable, efficient and inexhaustible source of electricity. It’s pollution-free, and, thanks to technological breakthroughs, it's cost-competitive with new coal- and gas-fired power plants. Wind power works well on farms because wind turbines need only a small parcel of land, can function alongside everyday farming operations and can bring in lucrative royalties or rent payments. Still, wind turbines and the transmission systems needed to move wind power to cities and towns must be sited carefully to minimize their impacts on wildlife and the landscape.

How It Works

The wind's kinetic energy can be harnessed by a wind turbine, a device that looks like an extremely tall, skinny fan. When wind moves the blades of the fan, they spin a central hub that moves a series of gears connected to a generator. The generator converts this mechanical energy into electrical energy for distribution.

Where It's Used

In the United States, many of the windiest areas are in the West, but wind power is expanding nationwide. At wind farms across the country, groups of wind turbines work together to provide centralized electric power for whole communities. In areas with strong winds, homes, farms, schools and businesses already connected to the power grid can also use on-site wind turbines as a supplementary source of energy. For instance, a turbine recently erected as a school project in Forest City, Iowa, is expected to save the school $1.6 million in electricity costs over its lifetime.

U.S. Wind Power Capacity in MegaWatts, Annual & Cumulative

How Much It Costs

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the cost of wind energy has come down 85 percent in the last 20 years. As of 2008, top performing wind farms in areas with excellent wind resources had costs averaging only 5.9 cents per kilowatt-hour, a price competitive with those at new coal- or gas-fired power plants.

Wind Technology Characteristics (Onshore)
Performance
Typical Duty Cycle	As available
Net Plant Capacity (MW)	100
Capacity Factor (%)	25 to 40
Economics ($2008)
Total Project Cost ($/kW)	$1,900 to $2,400
Fixed O&M ($/kW-year)	$50
Variable O&M ($/MWh)	Included in Fixed O&M
Levelized Cost of Energy (¢/kWh)	5.9-12.8 cents
Applicable Incentives	$20/MWh PTC, 5-year MACRS*
Technology Status
Commercial Status	Commercial
Installed U.S. Capacity (MW)*	16,800
*The Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS) is the current method of accelerated asset depreciation required by the U.S. income tax code. Source: Black and Veatch, Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative, Phase 1A, table 5-9

Advantages

• In the right setting, wind power is one of the most environmentally benign sources of energy. It produces no polluting emissions of any kind, including those that cause global warming.
• Wind is free, inexhaustible and immune from fuel cost inflation.
• With careful siting and outreach to the local community, wind farms can be built in a fraction of the time it takes to construct coal or natural-gas power plants. A 50-megawatt wind farm can be completed in 18 to 24 months.
• In the right location, it takes only three to eight months for a wind energy farm to recoup the energy consumed by its building and installation -- one of the fastest "energy payback times" of any energy technology on the market.
• Although bird and bat safety are ongoing concerns, wind power does not contribute to the plethora of other environmental and public health costs caused by conventional fossil power production: acid rain in lakes, mercury in fish, particulate-matter respiratory illnesses, coal mine slag, nuclear waste fuel storage, and so on. These economic "externalities" from conventional fossil power production play out in other economic arenas, such as the $35 billion the government has paid over the last 30 years to cover the medical expenses of coal miners with black lung disease.
• Land leases for wind turbine systems help support farmers and ranchers. On a 250-acre farm, wind leases can generate about $14,000 of annual income with only about three acres taken out of production.
• The growing use of wind energy creates manufacturing and technical jobs -- more jobs per dollar invested than any other energy technology, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

What's Around the Corner

• New technologies are being developed for use in low-wind areas and offshore. Engineers are creating super-aerodynamic blades, more efficient turbines and ocean mooring systems to produce economical energy in regions like the American heartland, stretching from central Texas to the Canadian border, and coastal areas from the Pacific Northwest to the Gulf of Mexico to Cape Cod.
• Costs will fall to compete with the cheapest traditional energy sources, such as natural gas, even in low-wind areas. Researchers aim to bring the cost of wind energy down to 3 cents per kilowatt-hour by 2012.
• Wind power will expand to meet a much larger portion of U.S. energy demand. Experts at Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratory, a federal research lab, estimate that wind energy could ultimately supply 20 percent of the nation's electricity.
• A national renewable energy standard could fast-forward the development of affordable wind capacity by requiring utilities to include a certain percentage of clean energy resources in their electricity mix. According to the Department of Energy, a renewable standard of 20 percent -- combined with efficiency programs -- could save consumers billions of dollars.
• Bird and bat safety must be fully addressed. The wind industry has made great strides in locating wind farms to prevent harming birds in flight; now attention is turning toward bats. Project developers must work with local bird and bat experts to avoid migration routes, and use new technologies to help flying creatures steer clear of turbines. Future innovations should make this even easier.
• Limitations to the capacity of the current power transmission system will be addressed in two ways: by making our electricity use more efficient, and by expanding the system. Both need to be done carefully to minimize impacts to natural values and landscapes as well as to avoid creating incentives for new coal-burning plants.

Renewable Energy Meets Wildland and Wildlife Conservation

Certain sensitive lands -- such as parks, monuments and wildlife conservation areas -- and ecologically sensitive marine areas are not appropriate for energy development. In some of these places, energy development is prohibited or limited by law or policy, and in others it would be highly controversial. NRDC does not endorse locating energy facilities or transmission lines in such areas. Siting decisions must always be made extremely carefully, with impacts mitigated and operations conducted in an environmentally responsible manner.

For more information on the intersection between clean energy development and wildland and wildlife conservation in the American West, including locations of parks, wildlife refuges and other conservation areas, see this Google Earth-based feature.