Assignment:
Paper Topic: Wind Energy
We will be discussing wind energy, its sustainability as a major source of energy, and how it relates to other sources of alternative energy in the fight for a cleaner environment.
Abstract:
We will discuss different types of clean, renewable energy that are either in use or being developed today, and the effect that they can have on the economy and oil prices. We will focus on the effects of wind power and the feasibility of reducing or even eliminating the world's reliance on fossil fuels. We hope to find that with the new technology being developed, one day the world can cease all burning of fossil fuels. However, we will not overlook the materials and labor needed to produce and create alternative energy sources, which often has extreme negative externalities for the region producing the product. For example, solar panels require several scarce resources to produce; the high starting costs with solar energy deter many people from investing in it.
We will examine whether wind power is the most sustainable renewable energy source, and if it can be produced and implemented in high enough quantities to offset the current reliance on energy that produces greenhouse gases. In order to prove this, our team will determine the amount of fossil fuel energy needed to support the U.S. and compare it with the production possibilities frontier of alternative energy sources like wind energy, while also accounting for any possible externalities along the way.
Outline:
1.Introduction: Definition of sustainability and how it relates to alternative energy.
• As environmental issues continue to grow in today's society, it is becoming more and more important to implement sustainable alternative energy sources in place of standard, older sources like oil. Renewable energy sources like wind, solar, and hydro power are vitally important in shifting the public's reliance from the burning of fossil fuels to cleaner, safer forms of energy for the future. Wind energy, specifically, offers significant advantages over oil and other older forms of energy in terms of sustainability and environmental effects.
2.Fossil Fuels: Why reliance on oil and other fossil fuels is bad for the environment & human health.
• Environmental effects of fossil fuels
• Human health effects of fossil fuels
3.Types of Alternative Energy: Solar, wind, and hydro power.
• Solar energy and how it differs from fossil fuels
• Wind energy and how it differs from fossil fuels
• Hydro energy and how it differs from fossil fuels
4.Production processes: Production of fossil fuels vs. production of alternative energies (location, materials used, machinery required).
• Production of fossil fuels (benefits and drawbacks)
• Production of wind energy (benefits and drawbacks)
• Production of other alternative energies (solar/hydro)
5.Wind Energy: Analysis of the benefits and drawbacks of using wind energy.
• Benefits of wind energy over fossil fuels
• Practicality of widespread implementation
• Benefits of wind energy over solar & hydro power
• Drawbacks of wind energy & why we can overcome them
• Fiscal costs
• Environmental externalities
6.Conclusion: Why wind power is the ideal source of sustainable, renewable energy.
• Environmental benefits over fossil fuels
• Economic benefits over solar and hydro power
References:
Appleyard, D. (2010, April 06). Is Current Wind Growth Sustainable? Retrieved April 04, 2016, from
https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/print/volume-13/issue-2/wind- power/the-big-question1.html
Krohn, S., Morthorst, P., & Awerbuch, S. (2009, March). The Economics of Wind Energy. Retrieved April 04, 2016, from https://www.ewea.org/fileadmin/ewea_documents/
documents/00_POLICY_document/Economics_of_Wind_Energy__March_2009_.pdf
Kukreja, R. (2009). How Sustainable is Renewable Energy? - Conserve Energy Future. Retrieved April 04, 2016, from https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/
IsRenewableEnergySustainable.php
Manwell, J. F., McGowan, J. G., & Rogers, A. L. (2009). Wind energy explained: Theory, Design and Application (2nd ed.). Chichester: Wiley.
Pruett, C. L., Patten, M. A., & Wolfe, D. H. (2009). It's Not Easy Being Green: Wind Energy and a Declining Grassland Bird. Bioscience, 59(3), 257-262. doi:10.1525/bio.2009.59.3.10. Retrieved April 04, 2016.
Shierman, E. (2012, March 15). How Sustainable is Wind Power? Retrieved April 04, 2016, from https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/03/15/how-sustainable-is-wind-power/