PROS

-No Pollution, No waste

         -Wind Power does not emit any harmful products, that can hurt the environment or humans.

            -Wind does not produce greenhouse gasses like fossil fuels do when they are burned.

         -There is no nuclear waste that is produced like when nuclear power is genereated.

-Renewable Source of Energy

          -Wind is considered a renewable source of energy, which means it will never run out.

          -Using wind power means we are not taking anything from the environment that can't be replenished.

-Cost

          -Since wind is a renewable source, it is free.

              -Although turbines may cost alot to initially install, it only costs 5 cents to produce one kilowatt hour of energy.

-Economy

      -Switching to wind power would create jobs: turbine instalers, meterologists, etc.

       -People can sell their land to have a turbine built and can still use this land for farming or other uses.

-Domestic Source of Energy

        -Wind is a domestic source of energy, which means the US would no longer have to rely on other countries for energy.

-Area

          -Wind turbines to power home residentially, so homes that are not on power grids can have electricity

           -Wind power can bring electricity to third world countries.

                             -A wind turbine used to generate a home in  the Dominican Republic that previously was not on the power grid

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONS

-Aesthetics

        -Wind turbines are generally considered unattractive, so many people don't want to have them built by their homes.

-Reliability

         -Wind does not always blow at a constant speed, so different amounts of energy may only be able to be produced during certain weather patterns. If there is no wind there is no power

-Wind Distribution

         -Wind does not blow evenly throughout the world meaning that some regions would not be able to rely as heavily on windpower as other regions. If there is no wind there is no power

 

 

 

-A distrubtion map of wind in the US

 

 

-Can not turn turbines on and off

          -Since the strength of the wind cannot be controlled, generators cannot be turned on and off as needed. While we now have the choice to decide when we want to burn oil, we do not have the luxury of being able to turn a wind turbine as on and off as we please.

-Lack of Versatility

           -Wind power only generates electricity, which means that for now wind power can only really power our homes, not our cars.

-Initial Cost of Installation

            -Installing a wind turbine takes a lot of work and costs money.

                 - A small residential wind turbine can cost from $6,000-$22,0000