Windmill Research Paper

Windmills:

Renewable Energy Source or Eyesore?

Ryan T. Thomas

Old Dominion University

Abstract

Windmills can be a viable, renewable energy resource available to any country willing to invest the money and effort in having them constructed.  There are many who argue against building the windmills due to environmental, economic, and wildlife concerns, but these concerns are largely unfounded.  Some raise the objection that the offshore windmills will ruin the view and not be aesthetically pleasing, but there are definite examples where the mills are indeed pleasing to see and contribute to the sight line and even become a tourist attraction.  There are also the benefit of possibly becoming an undersea reef bringing new fish and marine life to areas.  With a significant investment now, the benefits of wind energy far surpass any objections that may be levied by environmental groups.  The chance for the United States to be energy independent, to reduce pollution, and provide sustainable work opportunities outweigh any of these concerns and will enable us to leave our planet better for future generations.

    Keywords: environmental, energy independent, pollution, wind

Windmills:  Renewable Energy Source or Eyesore?

With fossil fuels being depleted, new forms of energy need to be found in order to keep society on a steady path forward. We already have new forms of renewable energy sources but the simplest is wind power. Since early 5000 B.C humanity has harnessed the wind’s unlimited force for our own purposes. For example, the Egyptians used wind propelled boats to travel along the Nile River; China had simple windmills that could pump water out of the ground; and lastly the Middle East had vertical-axis windmills that were used for grinding grain. Once again our modern age has a need for the windmill to create forms of renewable energy. The modern windmill can take the pushing force of wind and turn it into electricity with most modern windmills in windy places like mountain sides and coastal plains. There is one more place where the wind blows the hardest and the most consistent, the open ocean. Where on land wind can weaken and completely die out, the ocean wind has no obstacles to block its path of travel. One question can arise from putting windmills out into the ocean, why not just make them taller? There are two simple answers to that question, one if we kept making them taller eventually it would get too tall and collapse on itself. And secondly the higher we go the higher the chance birds flight patterns could be affected.

There are some problems with getting a windmill, a land-based structure, built or assembled at sea. One is the problem of keeping it high enough above the water. There are foundations that can keep a windmill out of the water like monopiles, gravity based structures, and floating structures. Another problem is erecting a windmill out at sea without building a massive platform. Lastly is the cost of maintaining enough windmills to power a country’s power grid. Even though the upfront costs make it seem like a waste of time and money, in ten years’ time a country with enough windmills could have more power than they know what to do with. Windmills have the possibility of helping the world solve the problem of dwindling fossil fuels and greenhouse emissions.