How wind turbines will affect the issue of sustainable technology and if turbines can be used on a larger scale

What I hope to achieve in this project
This project is about the issue of Sustainable Technology and how it can be used as alternatives to current ways of generating electricity. The issue of sustainable technology is finding ways of generating electricity using renewable sources. In previous sections of this project I wrote about the feasibility of generating enough electricity from wind turbines alone and I also stated the issue of generating electricity from wind turbines on a large scale in a presentation. This report is about how wind turbines will affect the issue of sustainable technology and whether or not turbines can be used on a larger scale. The turbines I have looked at in particular are some of the largest and most efficient in the world. The Vestas V90 3MW turbine. Sustainable ways of generating electricity are necessary because of the decrease of available fossil fuels used for generating power. The burning of the fossil fuels is also having a negative effect on the environment. In order to help improve the conditions of the environment, use of these sources of energy will have to be decreased or better still, not used at all.

Other Alternative sources of Sustainable Technology
Wind turbines are not the only form of sustainable technology; there are many other different types such as, solar panel based power generation or solar water heating. Solar panels are used in farms or also more commonly as individual fixed panels on the roof of a building. The most popular type of panels used in the UK is solar water heating. This system is so popular because it can provide up to half of a household's water heating requirements every year. Solar panels require very little maintenance but they are very expensive to produce and only work effectively when there is enough sunlight. Hydroelectric power produces a lot of clean electricity by using water as the fuel to drive the turbines. This means the fuel is free and doesn't produce any greenhouse emissions. Hydroelectric dams are very expensive to build and maintain and relies on a constant water supply to keep the turbines running. All the water that builds up behind the dam will cause damage to the environment by flooding areas and also require the local populations to be moved to a different location. Geothermal power plants are built in locations where the earth's crust is thinner and the heat of the earth is used to drive steam turbines. Although this would generate lots of power with no greenhouse gases emitted, the power plants would require a suitable place where the earth's crust is thinner in order to extract the heat. This type of power plant can run continuously until the crust at the location eventually cools down. Bio fuels are considered sustainable because they are made using mostly plants. Bio fuels have benefits like decreased greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil fuels and reduction of fossil fuel use. Bio fuels rely on crops to be planted and harvested for fuel; this creates a sustainable fuel supply for the future. Rising demand for more renewable fuel supplies has lead to increase in demand for bio fuels, this means more bio fuel crops are being grown and fewer crops are grown for food, this can lead to higher food prices that could adversely affect poorer countries. This relates to the main issue of this report because it demonstrates alternative ways of sustainable technology and how they can be used alongside wind power which is mostly suited to the energy needs of homes and businesses. Bio fuels and hydrogen powered vehicles are being developed alongside electric cars to help reduce the need for fossil fuels to power vehicles. Electric powered cars can of course be powered indirectly by wind turbines and are a completely clean mode of transport. Solar panels and hydrogen fuel cells could also be used in vehicles, potentially for extended periods of time.

How Wind Turbines affect the Sustainable technology issue
Wind turbines are usually used in large farms either on land or offshore, they are also found individually in certain circumstances. Wind power has been around for quite a long time, it is only now when the technology is available that it can be used to generate electricity effectively and on a larger scale than was possible before. Theoretically there is more than enough wind in the entire world to produce the electricity the world needs using wind power. In order to harvest more of the available wind, thousands more wind farms will have to be built; but it would not be possible to harvest all of the available wind because of limitations of the placement of turbines. These limitations would include, space and proximity to local populations, although moving the turbines offshore can solve these problems. The output of wind turbines could possibly be a problem as the wind does not always move at a constant rate; this can lead to considerably lower power output if turbines are placed incorrectly. The costs of turbines are very high, but the cost of building and installing each turbine is reclaimed by the electricity output of the turbines. As there will be demand for greener energy sources, the need for turbines will increase which could possibly cause the cost to decrease. With the higher demand in turbines, comes more companies that want to start producing there own turbines, this would cause competition between the companies and could possibly help reduce the price of turbines even more. The main setbacks that the development of wind turbine sites will suffer from are the acceptability of the local population. There are groups of people that are set against the building of turbines in certain areas. ThWART - The Wight Against Rural Turbines is a group of people that are against the idea of a site of wind turbines on the Isle of Wight and believe the landscape should be preserved. There are issues with wind turbines and the environment such as possible interference with local wild life and in the case of the Isle of Wight, it has been said that tourism could be affected in a good or a bad way. The Isle of Wight would be a good place to put wind turbines, as there is a lot of unused land that could be used to build on. There is also a Vestas Wind Turbine Blade factory in Newport which my Dad works for. If the proposal for Wind Turbines is set to go ahead, it will mean the blade factory on the island will likely construct the blades. This may increase the need to take on more workers, which will improve employment on the island. Large scale wind turbine projects are entirely feasible, but on the scale of generating enough electricity for the whole world, it would not be feasible as described above. In order to generate enough electricity for the whole world, other renewable energy sources must be used to fill the gap that Wind Turbines cannot. Wind Turbines can be used on a large scale, but not on the scale of producing power for the entire world. Geothermal, Solar and Hydroelectric power, as well as other sustainable sources can help to generate enough power that wind turbines alone can not achieve.

The political effects of Wind Power in the world
Wind turbines may be a good step towards a sustainable future, but the higher cost of wind power means various governments will have to spend more money to build more turbines. This could have a negative effect on the people of that country, possibly in the form of increased taxes and less money spent on healthcare. This could potentially be highly damaging to the economy of a developing country. The countries that rely on the oil trade will have less of an income because less oil will be needed to fuel power stations and vehicles. Wind Turbines and other sustainable energy sources could cause the price of electricity to decrease because the cost of fuels of sustainable sources is close nothing. The only cost that would apply is the cost of setting up the turbines or other sustainable source and the cost of the maintenance, to keep the system in working condition. This would apply to the overall question of this report, in the way that wind turbines dramatically effect the situation of sustainable technology by the wind being their source of power.

Potential effects that this project may have for sustainable development from a national or global perspective.
If backed up by various other sustainable sources, the whole world can generate power using the free energy that is available all of the time. Switching from fossil fuels and unsustainable methods of generating power to a completely sustainable system will not be possible in a short amount of time as it will take a very large amount of time to prepare and construct the various sustainable methods. This would require the co-operation of all the countries of the world combined with vast amounts of money in order to reach the goal of a completely sustainable and clean system of generating power that will do little to impact the environment.

Conclusions
Wind turbines can have a large impact on the environment, in both a positive and a negative way and are a viable source of power as an alternative to a rapidly depleting reserve of fossil fuels combined with the will to improve the conditions of the planet. Wind turbines are very likely to be a successful means of generating power, but would also need other sources of sustainable energy to provide power where Wind turbines are not a valid option.

References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofuel - Biofuel on Wikipedia
http://www.technologystudent.com/energy1/wind8.htm - ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF WIND POWER
http://www.hydrographicsociety.org/Articles/journal/2002/105-1.htm - Introducing the Hydrographer to Offshore Wind Farms
http://www.bwea.com/ - The British Wind Energy Association
http://www.fuelfromthewind.com/wind_turbines.htm - Fuel from the Wind
http://www.nef.org.uk/actonCO2/renewableenergy.htm - National Energy Foundation UK
http://www.thwart.info/ - The Wight Against Rural Turbines