Change on the Horizon

November 11, 2011 by Taylor Studios in Professional & Industry Tips

Here, in mostly flat central Illinois, we have seen a most unusual crop appear. Wind turbines have risen in many fields to harvest our abundance of wind and produce electricity for…someone. Based upon my power bills from Ameren, precious little of the electricity my home consumes comes from wind power, but someone has to be buying what the turbines are producing.

When they first appeared in the early 2000s, I was struck by the impressive grace of the huge blades sweeping through the sky. They symbolized human engineering at its most benevolent. They were making electricity from the wind! The components would pass by on semis or trains; huge abstract shapes, giants’ building blocks lost on our roads. My earlier spiel about applies here, though. Yes, wind turbines are great when the wind is blowing, but they’re just sculpture when the wind dies.

Now, maybe this next part doesn’t belong in a “Green” blog, but I think how you feel about a technology is important. My initial awe towards wind farms has soured. It’s based on scale. Here are structures that completely ignore human scale. You look at them and have no idea how big they are until you are right underneath them. And they are huge. They dominate the landscape for miles, especially in the flat lands. And wind turbines move. Objects don’t fade into the background when they’re moving. To my fearful lizard brain, turbines aren’t turning the wind into power, they are turning the wind into blades that are longer than a semi, spinning at 200mph at the tips. Which is why I will never stand beneath a turning turbine. So, as far as turbines, I am firmly NIMBY (not in my backyard). In the ocean, beyond the horizon? Sure. Along every hill top? No thank you.

But wind turbines are a first generation approach to wind power; brute force on a massive scale. In the next fifty years, I think there will be vastly different ideas about how to harvest wind power, technology that doesn’t harm wildlife, spoil the view, or vanish into the grid. Personal wind power that is affordable, easy to use, and low-maintenance. Maybe small, enclosed turbines I can clip onto my clothesline during the windy winter months. Short, vertical axis turbines that can be built into the peak of my home’s roof. And maybe I’ll live to see the wind farms disassembled and recycled into something that doesn’t give me the heebie jeebies.

Since many of our clients are nature centers, I’m wondering how many have been affected by wind farms. What is your opinion on the subject?