Wind Power for Us All

We are at a crossroads for energy policy in Saskatchewan.

We have a fleet of coal power plants and infrastructure which is nearing the end of service. Now is the time to make the decision to invest in wind power generation and other renewable energy in a very big way.

If we make the wrong decisions now, we will be saddled with old technology and infrastructure while the rest of the world takes the lead in the booming renewable energy field.

Our energy policy must be, at the same time, climate change policy as we near the tipping point for runaway climate change.

The current scale and pace of climate change is turning out to be worse than scientists‘ worst case scenario predictions. So, as we shut down our coal plants we must replace them with renewable power generation.

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Why wind? Here are some facts gleaned from a recent presentation in Regina (March 29, 2011) given by Tim Weis of the Pembina Institute.

We have the best wind resource in all of Canada. And we’re not value-adding enough!
(The state of Texas has more wind power generation than all of Canada.)

Wind Turbines have among the lowest carbon footprints of all electricity sources. It is estimated to take 3 months of operation of a wind turbine to compensate for the CO2 produced in making the turbine.

New power from any source is going to be expensive but, compared with a modern coal plant which will be required to use clean coal technologies, wind turbines are very cost competitive.

Wind power generation can be put online relatively quickly. Between 1996 and 2006, Denmark increased its wind production ten-fold (from 2% of power generation to 20%).

Though wind turbines can break, the damage done is quickly and easily repairable. (Note that the wind farm is still operating off Fukushima.) Other technologies like coal and nuclear have much more damaging consequences. In fact, coal is a technology that is known to cause human deaths when it is operating as it was designed to operate!

In Ontario, the plan is to phase out their original coal fleet in the next four years. They estimate that this phase-out will save the province $3 billion per year in healthcare costs.

We also need to honestly assess the tradeoffs which inevitably come with every energy decision we make.

The risk to humans posed by wind turbines is almost negligible compared to conventional energy sources but they do pose some risk to birds.

Cats, however, pose 1060 times the risk to birds compared to wind turbines, and building windows are 5280 times more lethal. Even though the risk is small, turbines need to be sited carefully to avoid flyways and we need to find ways to reduce this impact.

If turbines are sited too close to human habitation, studies show that there may be stress effects on human health in some cases. We have the space in Saskatchewan to site wind turbines well away from people’s homes.

Wind turbines can be farmer or co-op owned and dispersed across the province. (The wind is always blowing somewhere, so this helps to smooth out the level of production.)

In Germany, 45% of turbines are farmer or co-op owned while in Denmark it is 83%. In Saskatchewan we have a history of co-operatives to build upon and many farmers who would welcome energy production as another source of potential revenue.

Wind power shouldn’t be considered a little “add-on” to traditional power production. We need serious targets for renewable energy production such as those found in Germany, where the goal is 80% renewables by 2050, with wind playing a significant role.

What are we waiting for?