Wind power, a renewable source of energy is slowly gaining acceptance especially in most parts of Europe and America. It is regarded as an inexhaustible energy form to replace fossil fuels which are fast depleting. Certain quarters believe that the use of wind power must be encouraged as it is non-polluting resource, cheap and regarded one of the answers to solving many of world's energy problems. However, in response to this proposition, the use of this form of energy should not be encouraged because it is inefficient, not environment friendly, not safe, expensive, and takes up a lot of space.
First of all, the efficiency of wind power is questionable. Wind power cannot be produced consistently on a daily basis like other forms of energy such as coal and oil. However, Mc Bain (2005) claims that one wind turbine can produce 1.3 megawatts of electricity a year which is sufficient to supply enough power to 1000 homes.
English: The , also known as the Green Mountain En...
Windmills south of Dumas, TX
English: Modern wind energy plant in rural scenery...This argument fails to consider the fact that wind plants produce energy only when there is wind blowing at around 20km/hour. This shows that it is only practical to be used in regions which have high energy generating capacity such as North America and Europe (www.grida.no). Besides this, wind is unpredictable and wind plants can only generate power 35% of the time (Environmental Action. Org., 2005). Opponents also seem to forget that wind energy cannot be stored like coal and oil. This clearly reinforces the fact that wind energy is not efficient as there are many setbacks that are yet to be addressed.
It is also undeniable that wind energy is not an environmentally friendly source of energy. Although wind power brings huge industrialization to rural areas, the construction work needed to set up the turbines along with the manufacturing industries that it...
The Use of Wind Power Should Not be Encouraged (with counter arguments)
The writing in this essay is adequate, but the reasoning is facile. The writer appears to accept every worst-case scenario that the opponents have suggested for wind power, and taken it as virtual gospel. For example: "there is a very high probability that it poses a great danger especially to nearby residents or passers-by." This suggests that "wind-farms" as they are called, would be set up in residential or other high use areas. In fact, most wind farms are like are other generating plant, set up away from populated areas. The nearby residents are generally miles away.
Unfortunately, this sort of critical reasoning problem is common throughout the essay. The writer accepts arguments, but fails to analyze them or take their validity seriously to question. Does this mean wind power is a panacea? No. It means that this essay is not a solidly reasoned response.
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