Your Questions About Wind Turbines Oklahoma

admin answers:

The biggest problems are that the most well suited places to put them are not usually where the need for the power is greatest.

I live out in West Texas just below the pan-handle. There are “wind farms” all over here, because the wind blows all the time. Other than a small city (Midland/Odessa) there is very little industry nearby. It’s 250 miles to Dallas/Fort Worth or El Paso and farther still to Oklahoma City, Houston or Austin. , Transmission of the power over distances is an engineering problem that still doesn’t have a good solution.

Similarly, we have some sunshine almost every day of the year. Solar works here, but where do we send it? Areas like Chicago and Boston need the power, but don’t have the sunshine as reliably.

Still, on a local level, we get a lot of our power from alternative sources. I feel good about that.

Edit specifically for Johnnie B – There is blessed little that stops the wind in west Texas. It slows some at sundown, but rarely stops. Maybe in East Texas, but that’s 400 miles from here.

Edit for asker – I’m not sure if my original answer was what you meant by “negative effects,” though. There are reports of large numbers of birds being killed by collision with the blades of a wind turbine, but that hasn’t proven to be true here. Some find the towers unsightly. I think they are rather elegant. As far as the “not in my back yard” argument – well, I’ve heard that the power company pays rent on the land for each tower of about $10,000 per year. I could get to like the guaranteed income. 5 towers, and I’d make more than my full-time teaching job paid. There are few other “negative” effects. Solar and wind power generation do not cause noise or air pollution, no mystery radiation source, no ground water contamination. They are two of the “cleanest” sources of power available.

admin answers:

I know a big issue is related to the Ogallala Aquifer in western Kansas is being drained by the central states faster than can be replenished and is an issue that will be critical in the future. If there is not enough water supported there, farm lands can not be water, homes will be without water and the balance of the earth can be lost. Water issues are critical to Kansas and when I took an enviornmental science course, my professor was also involved with the State Department of Agriculture, and said how Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska like to fight amongst themselves about water rights, pollution of water and so on.

I think also energy issues will be a major thing. With the increase in costs of energy, there might be a big push for wind turbines on the Plains. It will be a major issue in the future, even in the near future since wind can be good clean energy. Right now coal is being used in Kansas and people are getting upset at the pollution from it and so on.

Plus, Kansas being so close to agriculture, the problem of fertile soil will be a big issue. If they continue to overfarm, there could come a time when the ground doesn’t support agriculture, like with the Aquifer.