Environment essay help online: Greener technologies – Power sector

Greener technologies are talk of the time where climate change is a hot debatable topic around the globe. Various climate initiatives have been taken by the countries at various levels. The basic guideline of all these actions is the Kyoto protocol which has set the targets of carbon reduction for the countries. The endeavour is to switch to the technologies which are eco-friendly and commercially sustainable (Paul, 2012).

The power sector is one of the major contributors to the environmental pollution. Hence, the priorities have been set by all nations to develop alternate energy sources. Of various non-conventional energy alternatives, wind power generation has been one of the most sustainable and scalable technology. It is no doubt cleaner in operation; however there are questions raised on it being a perfect green technology owing to various reasons (Smith & Thambimuthu, 2000). The current essay represents both sides of the coin and critically examines the claim of wind energy being the greener alternative relative to conventional energy sources.

Wind energy- A green alternative

The worldwide wind power installation reached 197 GW (World Wind Energy Association, 2012). The wind energy is being harnessed across the globe to reduce the carbon footprint of various industries. Over the years, the technology has matured and reached at scalable level where the cost of power produced by wind resources can be competitive with other conventional sources such as coal and gas. The operation of wind power generation is clean and free from any fossil fuel affluent. Once constructed, there is minimal running cost for a wind turbine and dependency on fuel is nil (Fotiades & Zabettitz, 1987). Since there is global wind potential, this has been a breakthrough technology. Wind farms can be set-up in regions where there are barren lands and the terrain is complex. Setting up wind-farms in such locations can make the good use of otherwise waste lands. Even the land requirements are lower than conventional power plants.

Once turbine and transmission systems are set up, wind needs no other natural resource that can be depleted. Hence, commercially the technology is scalable and can generate profits for its developers (Schaefer, 2003).

So, in all it takes care of environment, ecology as well as is economical and hence a pure sustainable technology. However, there is a flip side to it and several environmentalists have raised questions on above claims.

How green is wind power?

Although the energy generation process is environment friendly, it must be appreciated that the equipment including the turbine, nacelle, transformers etc. utilize lot of resources and hence the energy is not totally green as it looks to be. For instance, the efficient turbine technology uses high quality magnets which are made from a precious element neodymium. The fact is that this metal is rare and non-renewable (Jolivetten & Sylvia, 2011). If we dig deeper into the manufacturing processes of turbines, lot of carbon intensive and polluting activities will be exposed.

The windings in the transformer also require high metallurgical processes that are not at all environment friendly. The discharge from the manufacturing plants contains the waste that can disturb the flora and fauna of the region if not dumped properly (Tiwari & Goyal, 1998). In fact, the operating turbines have killed birds and thereby disturbing ecological balance.

In terms of maintaining the ecological balance, the wind farms utilize the barren landscapes. At the first site it appears that they utilize these barren lands but they hamper the ecological balance of the surrounding regions. The regions around the wind farms are also exploited to construct various infrastructure facilities like access roads which use the materials like concrete and the construction processes are also carbon intensive. The human resources engaged at the manufacturing sites also live under the adverse conditions. They are exposed to various chemical agents and hence live in unhealthy conditions throughout.

It has been observed that once the wind-farm is fully constructed and is operational, the local people accept it as clean energy source (American Wind Energy Association, 2012). So, it is quite evident that there needs to be something done at pre-construction stages to make the wind power greener and cleaner.

All these points pose a big question on the sustainability of wind power generation. Although, it is quite evident that it is one of the cleanest source of power when compared to coal based and thermal based power generation. Still, a lot of technology improvement and operational efficiencies are required to make wind power generation a purely green technology.

Critical analysis

Both schools of thought have substantial points to support their view. However a critical examination maintains the claim that wind is still greener than its counterparts such as coal and natural gas. The technological advancements have been the key factor in making wind power generation capacity and efficiency comparable to coal and gas based projects. And if we compare the operations, wind is much better in terms of carbon footprint reduction. Over a longer period, the technology will mature and hence be far better than conventional sources. As far as questioning the manufacturing process, it is very valid that current manufacturing systems do harm the environment and are not very healthy for the human capital associated with them. However, the same applies to other conventional technologies for thermal power projects. In fact, a comparison would show a better picture in favour of wind owing to simplicity of equipment.  So, the hypothesis that wind energy is greener is close to true given the current state of conditions.

Conclusion

The essay has touched upon multiple aspects and has critically reviewed wind power relative to its counterparts. It is appreciated that the wind power is not one hundred per cent green, but it is by far the most sustainable among renewable energy sources. Given the high wind potential in the world, efforts must be made to address is non-sustainable aspects through research and development in the wind technology and come up with more efficient and cleaner manufacturing process.

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