MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR MEDIA COVERING DROUGHT, SMOG OR HEAT WAVE
HARVESTING THE WIND FOR ENERGY CAN
REDUCE AIR POLLUTION,
PROVIDE INCOME FOR DROUGHT-STRICKEN FARMERS.
 Coal plants provide
more than half of America's electricity. At the same time, they are the nation's largest
stationary source of air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which cause
smog and acid rain. Power plants release one third of the nation's carbon dioxide
emissions, whose build-up worldwide, scientists believe, is causing global warming, hotter
summers and more violent weather patterns. To meet peak demand during heat waves, our
utilities fire up older, dirtier coal plants that add even more to air pollution. By
developing a fraction of its wind energy potential, the U.S. could reverse this trend
toward greater pollution and help clean up the electric generation industry (Attachments A and B)
In the United States,
from June 1998 to July 1999, the wind industry installed a total of 1,073 MW in new wind
turbines and generating equipment. That new American wind power will prevent 2.2 million
tons of carbon dioxide, 11,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, and 7,000 tons of nitrogen oxide
from being released annually into the air. These amounts would have been emitted if
instead the average U.S. utility fuel mix had been used to produce an equivalent amount of
electricity. These pollutants and gases are major factors in the formation of acid rain,
smog, and global warming. (Attachments A and B)
Wind power is
affordable, and growing fast. The cost of electricity from new wind farms is now
competitive with fossil fuels in many regions of the U.S. And because wind power is
pollution-free, it makes it less costly for the entire nation to meet clean air standards
and maintain a healthy environment.
Wind power is the
fastest growing energy technology in the world, expanding at an average rate of 22.6% per
year since the beginning of the decade and 27.4% in 1998. This decline in costs and surge
in growth means that it is realistic and affordable for the U.S. and the world economy to
supply a more significant share of electricity from wind power plants. (Attachment C)
Development of wind
power in windy states -- many of them in the agricultural Great Plains -- boosts farmers'
income and provides a buffer against the impacts of drought. Farmers in Iowa and
Minnesota, where more than half of the new wind projects have been built over the
past year, supplement their income by leasing land for the installation of wind turbines
while continuing to farm around the towers. There's also more income for the local
communities in
the form of an expanded tax base. "The Midwest could be the Saudi Arabia of wind
energy" says one wind project manager in Ventura, Iowa. (Attachment
D)
For more information, contact Christine Real de Azua at (202) 383-2508 or Tom
Gray at (802) 649-2112.
Attachment A --
America's wind energy potential
America's wind energy potential is enormous. Wind from the Dakotas could provide 255,000
MW of capacity and 2.2 trillion kWh of electricity (equal to approximately two-thirds of
current total U.S. electricity consumption). Texas has the potential to power one third of
the nation. California, with the largest wind generating capacity installed to date, ranks
only 17th among the nation's top twenty states for wind energy potential. Many states have
excellent wind resources that can begin to be tapped today.
Wind energy cannot be used to fully power an electric system as winds are variable and the
electricity they produce is intermittent. However, experience shows that wind can reliably
power up to 20% of a regional electric system and perhaps more, if the wind resource is
well tapped across a variety of sites. Local winds currently provide more than 20% of the
electricity in the industrial state of Navarra in northern Spain. Denmark is the country
with the highest penetration of wind power in its energy mix at the national level,
currently at 8%.
The U.S. Department of Energy has recently announced a goal of producing 5% of America's
electricity from wind by 2020. That goal can be achieved and exceeded if the industry's
current rapid growth rate is maintained and if measures to encourage the production and
purchase of wind power are implemented.
Attachment B --
U.S. power plants and air pollution
Power plants remain the largest stationary source of air pollution in the U.S.
They account for the following proportion of our emissions:
- 70% of sulfur dioxide
- 34% of carbon dioxide
- 33% of nitrogen oxides
- 28% of particulate matter, and
- 23% of toxic heavy metals.
In total amounts, in 1997, American power plants emitted 12.2 million tons of
sulfur dioxide, 7.4 million tons of nitrous oxides, and 250,000 tons of particulate
matter. They consumed nearly 900 million tons of coal and more than 125 million barrels of
oil. (Union of Concerned Scientists, PepCo).
Older, dirtier power plants are often exempted from meeting air pollution standards set
under the Clean Air Act, as it was expected that they would be soon put out of service and
replaced with cleaner, more efficient plants. Instead, however, their lives are being
extented, often without any
significant clean-up of emissions.
Sulfur dioxide is a
major factor in the formation of acid rain, which damages forests, lakes, and wildlife
habitat. Some lakes in the northeastern United States are now biologically dead--even
though the water may be clear--because of acid rain caused from the emissions of power
plants upwind, to the West. Acid rain also corrodes infrastructure and buildings.
Nitrogen oxide is a
major factor in the formation of smog as well as acid rain.
Carbon dioxide is one of
several gases forming a "greenhouse" around the earth that retains the sun's
rays and warmth and makes life possible. Build-up of these gases, however, is now believed
by the world's scientists to be a key factor in the recorded rise in average temperature
around the globe. While summer heat waves result from a combination of factors, global
warming increases the likelihood of their occurrence and intensity. High levels of smog
are formed when heat reacts with air pollutants such as nitrogen oxide to generate high
levels of ground-level ozone.
The U.S., with 5% of the world's population, is responsible for 23% of world CO2
emissions. In 1998, U.S. CO2 emissions were 10.3 percent above 1990 levels while European
Union emissions were less than 1 percent above 1990 levels--due in part to declining coal
use in Germany and the United Kingdom. (WorldWatch)
Particulate matter is
easily airborne far downwind from the source of emission. It is an important factor
aggravating respiratory diseases such as asthma.
Attachment C -- Wind energy
statistics:
Costs for utility-scale wind energy systems have dropped dramatically. Worldwide, the cost
of generating electricity from wind has fallen by more than 80% since the early 1980s, and
analysts forecast that costs will continue to drop an additional 20-40% by 2010. Turbines
are now much more efficient, reliable and powerful. Compared to wind turbines built in
1981, modern turbines generate 56 times the power at only 9 times the cost. The current
cost of wind generation is 4-6 cents/kWh, without the federal production tax credit (PTC)
which expired June 30, 1999.
In the twelve months from July 1, 1998 to June 30, 1999, the U.S. wind industry
installed more than $1 billion worth of new wind power generating equipment. The new
capacity totals 1,073 megawatts (MW), including 892 megawatts (MW) of new projects and 181
MW of repowering projects, in which new turbines replace older, less efficient ones.
Wind farms require less capital and less construction lead time than traditional power
plants. They can therefore produce low-cost clean energy quickly and conveniently. A 50 MW
wind power plant can be brought on-line in about 18 months.
The output of a wind turbine depends on the turbine's size and the wind speed. A small
10kW wind turbine can generate 16,000 kWh annually (the average U.S. household consumes
9,400 kWh). Utility scale turbines now reach 1.5 MW in capacity with a rotor diameter of
70 m. These machines can generate an annual yield of 3.6 million kWh of usable energy with
wind speeds of 6.5 m/sec (14.3 mph).
Attachment
D -- Wind farms revitalize the economy of rural communities
Wind farms can provide additional, steady income to rural communities through lease or
royalty payments to landowners, principally farmers. Although leasing arrangements can
vary widely, a reasonable estimate for income to the landowner from a single utility-scale
turbine is about $1,500 a year. For a 250-acre farm, with income from wind at about $40 an
acre, the annual income from a wind lease would be $10,000, with 10-15 acres at most
removed from production from the overall land, mainly for access. Farmers can grow crops
or raise cattle next to the towers. Generally, wind farms may extend over a large
geographical area, but their actual "footprint" covers only a very small portion
of the land, making wind development an ideal way for farmers to earn additional income.
Farmers are not the only ones in rural communities to find that wind power can bring in
income. In Spirit Lake, Iowa, the local school is earning savings and income from the
electricity generated by a turbine. In the district of Forest City, Iowa, a turbine
recently erected as a school project is expected to bring in $1.6 million over the life of
the turbine.
Additional income is generated from one-time payments to construction contractors
during installation, and from payments to turbine maintenance personnel on a long-term
basis. In total, the 1,073 MW of wind power installed in the United States over the past
year represent 64,000
person-years in new employment. Wind farms also expand the local tax base, and keep energy
dollars in the local community instead of spending them to pay for coal or gas produced
elsewhere.
|
WIND POWERS AMERICA