What Are The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Using Wind Power In Place Of Fossil Fuels?

Wind power is a rapidly growing form of renewable energy that harnesses wind with wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind power has important benefits for climate change mitigation, as it has low greenhouse gas emissions when compared to fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas. However, wind power still only provides a small fraction of energy generated worldwide.

Fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas are energy sources formed from decayed ancient organic material. They have provided the majority of energy generation since the industrial revolution. However, burning fossil fuels contributes significant greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. There is a strong push to shift away from fossil fuels to sustainable energy sources like wind power.

This article will analyze the advantages and disadvantages of using wind power in place of fossil fuels for energy generation. It will provide background on each energy source, compare costs and grid reliability, examine policy incentives, and consider public opinion.

Wind Power Advantages

One of the biggest benefits of wind power is that it relies on a renewable resource. Unlike fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas that must be extracted from the ground, wind energy does not require any fuel. The wind itself is harnessed by wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind is a naturally occurring and endless resource that will not run out or be depleted over time. This makes wind power a sustainable solution for generating power over the long-term (Xue, Wang & Zhang, 2021).

Because wind power does not require excavating or mining fuel, it also avoids many of the environmental impacts associated with extracting and transporting fossil fuels. Wind turbines do not produce any emissions or toxic pollution while operating either. This gives wind energy major advantages over fossil fuels when it comes to environmental sustainability and public health impacts (Interesting Facts About Wind Energy Farms).

Wind Power Disadvantages

One of the main disadvantages of wind power is its intermittent generation. Wind speeds fluctuate naturally and are variable, meaning wind turbines do not generate electricity at a constant rate. According to a study by Papathanassiou, wind power output can vary significantly within short time frames like hours or even minutes due to changing wind speeds (Papathanassiou, 2006). This variability and unpredictability makes it challenging to integrate large amounts of wind power into the electrical grid. Grid operators have to balance electricity supply and demand at all times, so relying on inconsistent wind power output can strain the system. There are solutions like forecasting wind availability or using energy storage to smooth out fluctuations, but intermittency remains an inherent challenge of wind power.

Fossil Fuel Advantages

Fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas have provided reliable baseload power generation for over a century. Large, centralized fossil fuel plants efficiently convert fuel into electricity through combustion and steam turbines with average capacity factors over 50%. This has given fossil fuels an advantage in reliability over intermittent renewables like wind and solar (SunpowerbytheSolarQuote.com, 2018).

Coal and natural gas plants can also adjust output to meet fluctuations in demand, balancing the grid over the course of a day. By rapidly ramping up and down, natural gas plants complement solar generation during the day and wind generation at night. Baseload coal plants provide constant power output and minimum grid disruption. Fossil fuels have proven adept at matching supply with demand (ShrinkThatFootprint.com, n.d.).

Fossil Fuel Disadvantages

A major disadvantage of fossil fuels is that they are a major source of harmful emissions and pollution. The burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas releases large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the burning of fossil fuels accounted for around 76% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2017 (1).

Other harmful air pollutants are also emitted from fossil fuel combustion, including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and mercury. These emissions contribute to environmental issues like acid rain, smog, respiratory illnesses, and climate change (2). A study published in 1990 in Renewable Energy found that fossil fuel use causes extensive environmental damage, with most impacts occurring during combustion for energy and heating (3).

The extraction, production, and transportation of fossil fuels can also lead to pollution, including oil spills and fracking wastewater. Some extraction techniques like mountaintop removal coal mining can lead to habitat destruction. Overall, the use of fossil fuels comes with considerable environmental and public health risks due to emissions and pollution.

Sources:

(1) https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data

(2) https://prezi.com/c8pjtapv1eqd/fossil-fuel-environmental-impact-and-politics/

(3) Barbir, F. (1990). Environmental damage due to fossil fuels use. Renewable Energy, 1(2), 105-110.

Cost Comparison

One major consideration when comparing wind power to fossil fuels is cost. To analyze cost, experts often look at the levelized cost of energy (LCOE). LCOE represents the average total cost of building and operating a power plant over its lifetime divided by the total energy output over that lifetime. It allows comparison of different technologies with different lifespans, construction costs, and capacity factors.

According to Lazard’s 2021 LCOE analysis, the unsubsidized LCOE for onshore wind ranges from $26-$50 per megawatt-hour (MWh). The LCOE for utility-scale solar photovoltaics ranges from $26-$44/MWh. In comparison, natural gas combined cycle plants range from $44-$68/MWh and coal plants range from $60-$142/MWh. This suggests wind and solar can produce cheaper electricity than fossil fuels.

However, LCOE has limitations. It does not account for grid integration challenges like intermittency and transmission costs that may raise effective costs of renewables. LCOE also ignores externalities like environmental and health damages from fossil fuels, which are not reflected in their market prices. All factors considered, most experts agree properly sited wind and solar are becoming cost-competitive with fossil fuels. But market structure, policy incentives, and integration challenges remain important variables.

Grid Integration

Integrating variable renewable energy sources like wind and solar into the electric grid can be challenging. Wind and solar output fluctuates based on weather conditions and time of day. This requires grid operators to balance electricity supply and demand in real time. There are several solutions for integrating wind power onto the grid:

Advanced forecasting models can predict wind and solar output more accurately, allowing grid operators to plan ahead. New flexible resources like battery storage and demand response can help balance supply and demand. Upgrading transmission lines enables moving power from areas with excess renewable generation to areas needing more power. Using a diverse mix of power sources makes the system more resilient overall. Grid operators in some areas have demonstrated success integrating high levels of renewables through careful planning and new technologies and practices. For example, Eirgrid in Ireland is modeling how to integrate significant amounts of wind power onto their grid.

Despite these advances, integrating extremely high levels of variable renewables remains challenging. Curtailing or wasting some renewable generation may be necessary at times. This could require building excess generation and transmission capacity to avoid blackouts when renewable output is low. Developing larger interconnected grids and more energy storage can help manage fluctuations. Overall the integration challenges are surmountable through proper planning, grid upgrades and flexibility from other resources.

Policy Incentives

Government subsidies and tax credits have played a major role in supporting the growth of wind power. These financial incentives help make wind energy cost-competitive with fossil fuels.

In the United States, the production tax credit (PTC) has provided a tax credit per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated by wind turbines. The PTC has been critical for the expansion of wind power, but it has also experienced several expirations and renewals creating an unstable policy environment (source). The investment tax credit (ITC) is another important federal incentive that allows project developers to deduct a percentage of installation costs from their taxes.

European countries like Germany, Spain and Denmark pioneered feed-in tariffs which guarantee wind electricity generators a set rate per kilowatt-hour over a fixed period of time. This enabled the rapid growth of wind power in Europe (source). However, feed-in tariffs have become less generous as costs have declined.

Continued policy support through subsidies, tax credits, and other incentives can help drive further cost reductions and allow wind power to become fully cost-competitive.

Public Opinion

Public support for wind power remains strong in most countries, though some opposition groups have arisen. Surveys show high approval for expanding wind power capacity, due in part to the perception of wind as a clean and renewable energy source (1). In the United States, a 2018 Pew Research Center survey found 73% of Americans favored more wind turbine farms, while 85% favored more solar panel farms (2). However, building new wind projects sometimes face local opposition and “not in my backyard” responses, especially related to aesthetics, noise, and effects on wildlife (3). How wind projects are sited, planned, and communicated to the public plays an important role in gaining community acceptance (1). Public participation in the planning process can lead to more positive perceptions (2). Outreach and education are key factors for developers seeking public approval (3).

(1) https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1142/S1464333209003221

(2) https://bpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/sites.udel.edu/dist/5/8632/files/2020/08/FireKempKrueger-AcceptedWind-PROOF08.pdf

(3) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46510246_Public_attitudes_and_participation_in_wind_turbine_development

Conclusion

In summary, wind power and fossil fuels each have their own unique advantages and disadvantages. Wind power produces no emissions, is renewable and abundant, and costs are decreasing over time. However, wind is intermittent, requires large areas of land, and can impact wildlife. Fossil fuels provide cheap, reliable, and energy-dense power, but contribute heavily to climate change and air pollution. While wind currently provides a small fraction of global energy, growth is accelerating as costs fall and policies support adoption. The future energy mix will require tradeoffs across cost, reliability, environmental impact and more. Wind appears poised for major growth, though fossil fuels will likely dominate for years to come.

Going forward, the optimal solution is increased use of wind power along with other renewables like solar, paired with techniques to overcome intermittency issues and provide grid reliability. With the right policies, technology improvements and public engagement, a cleaner energy mix can support economic growth while tackling climate change. Each nation will need to find its own path based on resources, public support and political will. The energy transition will not be easy, but remains critical for the future of our planet.