by Ken Whiton, President of REP's New Mexico Chapter published November 24, 2003 in the Albuquerque Journal
Re: "Wind Power Is Only a Small Part of the Solution" by Gavin Longmuir, a petroleum engineer from Stanley, NM, Op-Ed Thursday, November 20, 2003.
With all due respect to Mr. Longmuir, I would not expect a petroleum engineer to have in-depth knowledge of wind power. Nor would I be surprised to see a bias against wind power and for the very aptly named fossil fuels.
In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit my biases. I have no financial investment in either fossil fuels or wind energy. I was employed for 15 months by an electric co-op generating electricity from coal. I want to spend as little as possible on electricity. I prefer clean air and water and enjoy the natural beauty of New Mexico. If some label me an environmentalist, so be it.
Mr. Longmuir wants to "examine a few facts" but then fills his op-ed with distortions, fantasy and horror stories about problems that are either non-existent or have already been solved.
Contrary to Mr. Longmuir’s statements:
Wind power IS "alternative energy." It is a viable energy source that doesn’t rely on extracting fossil fuels, which is always a messy business and always causes permanent damage to our landscape. Wind farms provide electricity without air or water pollution and don’t require vast amounts of water. Wind towers on private land provide needed income to rural families who still have full use of their farms and ranches. Wind power is definitely an alternative to air and water pollution, water depletion and permanent environmental destruction.
Electricity from wind doesn’t have to be stored; the answer is "System Integration." The wind is always blowing somewhere and a well-managed distribution system can accommodate that just as it currently manages conventional power plant shutdowns due to maintenance, supply, outages and transmission problems.
Wind farms depend on wind, which, in case Mr. Longmuir hasn’t noticed, is free. Therefore, the cost of the power source is constant. The answer to demand exceeding supply and causing price spikes as well as preventing future "Californias" is simple: build more wind power.
Mr. Longmuir laments environmental regulations that make it difficult to build new fossil fuel generating plants. The answer again: build more wind power.
The petroleum engineer says wind towers are "noisy" and "unfriendly to birds." I’m glad that a petroleum engineer shares my concerns about noise and wildlife. At the base of a wind tower in full operation, one can have a conversation in a normal voice over the gentle "whoop-whoop" of the fan blades. Try doing the same near a fossil fuel plant. Modern wind farm sites are chosen with guidance from professional ornithologists who study bird flight patterns. The blades now turn slowly enough to be seen and avoided by birds. If the petroleum engineer is concerned about bird welfare, he should pay attention to the dead birds in waste pits and around other facilities that accompany his fossil fuel plants.
Of course, no one wants a wind farm on Cape Cod. I don’t live there, but I agree. Does Mr. Longmuir think Cape Cod residents would prefer living by a coal fired generating station, instead?
I’m also glad that Mr. Longmuir is concerned about Global Warming. I hope he shares his deep concerns with all his friends whose generation plants burn fossil fuels. Longmuir thinks wind farms may cause climate change. In the interest of pure science, this may be something to consider over the long run. He quotes a preliminary and controversial study that the journal, Science has so far refused to publish. A question worth asking is, "How many wind turbines would it take to equal the amount of climate change caused by one coal fired generating station?" (I’m not a petroleum engineer, so I may be missing something, but I thought the wind made the blades turn, not vice versa.)
Mr. Longmuir is concerned about "sky-high energy prices, power outages, job losses and a significant drop in the quality of life." So am I. In contrast to Mr. Longmuir, I believe the solution is to phase out the dinosaurs of the past and embrace the technologies and solutions of the 21st century.
Wind power may provide "only a small part of the solution" for Mr. Longmuir, but it’s a very large part of "the solution" for many European countries. I suggest our Op-Ed writer visit Germany, Spain and also Denmark, which generates 20% of its electricity from wind. He would gain an education in clean, reliable, non-polluting, inexpensive, environment-friendly wind-generated electricity.
Mr. Longmuir could look at Texas, now our nation’s leader in wind power. Texas’ development was spurred by legislation signed by a former governor who has since moved to Washington, DC. I believe that what Texas can do, New Mexico can do better.
