Wind Works Too:

Next up, let's report some good news about wind power.

http://windwire.blogspot.com/2009/04/cost-of-producing-wind-energy.html

Just like solar power, wind power has reached competitive prices with coal, nuclear, etc. At 10 cents a kilowatt/hour, it's time to start strapping up wind turbines as well as solar panels. Lucky for us, the wind tends to blow where the sun doesn't shine, and vice versa. Using both wind and solar power together is more effective than using either individually. In addition, we will need to build high capacity power lines that connect large unified regions like Europe, China, and America so that energy generated somewhere can instantly be used wherever it's needed. The wind is always blowing somewhere -- an interconnected power grid designed to carry solar and wind energy will overcome most of the problems caused by intermittency.

To be safe, wind power should be installed only in the best areas for wind power. For instance, where the wind is known to blown very quickly and often. Once we have competitive wind energy produced from those regions, we can use what we learned from our engineering and production to build better wind turbines in the next location, each time matching the 10 cents per kw/hour requirement. Again, we already have regions in the country that can produce energy cheaper than burning coal, the cheapest of all fossil fuels. There is no reason not to build wind turbines anymore. We don't have to wait for a university to come up with some efficiency increase or other. We don't have to talk about stuff 'on the horizon' or 'ten years from now.' Sustainable energy is better and cheaper than fossil fuels or nuclear power. The 21st century should be dominated by renewable energy production. Fossil fuel prices will continue to rise, and will be priced out of anything but niche uses. Electric cars will free us from any need for oil as well.

Obviously, wind power is already being built all around the world, but scoffers have called these projects government subsidized giveaways and continue to insist that only coal and oil can deliver energy to the world for the next century. Whether wind power after the 20% mark, or in weak wind areas, can really replace fossil fuels is not an important debate right now. Since wind power is only generating around 1% of our energy, and our best windy areas haven't even been used yet, we can always reach said 20% point and then worry about what to do next. Again, a far-sighted government would do well to invest in the new energy transmission lines needed, just like they did for coal and nuclear plants in the past. It could also give out loans to pay the capital-intensive upfront costs and recoup the investment over just a few years, since companies right now don't have much cash flow to invest in giant new projects like the government does. Right now wind power companies simply can't produce fast enough to meet demand, and costs are actually rising due to the discrepancy of supply and demand. However, when enough factories have opened, the price should go back down again, and wind as a serious portion of our energy generation should also be possible. If, for some reason, wind doesn't really cost 10 cents per kw/h and should really be priced at 15 cents -- boohoo. Fossil fuels will soon cost that much anyway, and the difference is so negligible as to be invisible to the economy. Meanwhile tens of thousands of people die from inhaling coal fumes and millions are sick or retarded in China due to air pollution. At some point the difference between clean, renewable energy and dirty, finite energy also has to be taken into consideration. With prices so competitive with coal, there's no point waiting any longer.