As the planet warms and the impacts of climate change manifest in different ways across diverse regions, investing in renewable energy has drawn increased attention. Balancing opportunities requires knowing all the relevant costs and benefits as well as infrastructure contingencies. As part of Aii’s Energy Month, this post introduces wind energy and its status quo in the U.S.
The U.S. Department of Energy identifies wind energy as one of the fastest-growing and lowest-cost energy sources. Overall in the U.S., wind energy constitutes 9.8 percent of total electricity (and just over one percent of the total energy mix), making it the largest single source of renewable power, but still a relatively small player in the grand energy landscape.
Wind energy is estimated to support over 120,000 jobs in the US. From 2022 to 2023, wind turbine technician positions grew by 45 percent, far outpacing the average three percent growth for other occupations. Besides economic impacts, wind energy avoided 348 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in 2023. As one of the lowest-cost energy sources that carries a low environmental footprint (outside of land use), wind energy is trending toward being a larger part of U.S. electricity generation in the coming years.
There are three general types of wind turbines, which differ in size and location: utility-scale turbines, offshore wind turbines, and distributed wind turbines. Utility-scale turbines, standing usually 300 feet or higher and built on land, account for most of the U.S. wind turbine stock. Offshore wind turbines are utility-style turbines in large bodies of water, built from the ground up or floating in the water and anchored down. Due to their location, they can capture greater wind speeds and thus have great potential for increased electricity generation. Distributed wind turbines generate below one hundred kilowatts of electricity and are smaller than typical utility-scale turbines. They often directly power homes, farms, or small businesses and may feature atypical designs from the standard three-blade towers. Overall, wind turbines possess great potential for a variety of energy uses while also featuring constraints.
Despite wind energy’s potential, challenges must be addressed before it occupies a larger percentage of U.S. electricity mix. Increasing prices, maintenance issues, land use, wildlife harm, asset retirement, and others all necessitate future innovation and improvements. Due to rising cost of materials, partly due to the pandemic and resulting supply chain issues as well as public policy impacts on inflation, the cost of production for wind turbines has increased. This particularly affects the price of steel, which is a necessary and substantial component in wind turbine production.
Additionally, rising interest rates and inflation have contributed to this – ironically influenced by some of the very policies aimed at improving renewable adoption. To combat this, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provided incentives for businesses to invest in offshore wind energy. This includes expanding a 6-30 percent investment tax credit for a decade and offering bonus credits for projects in fossil fuel-powered areas. The IRA also provides a 10 percent content bonus for offshore wind products using 100 percent domestically manufactured iron and steel. By being able to deduct a part of the cost of renewable energy from federal taxes, wind energy is becoming marginally more economically viable.
Wind turbines necessitate a large amount of maintenance in order to keep generating energy efficiently. Therefore, innovations that facilitate maintenance of turbines are essential. Digitization has posed a potential solution to this. Autonomous drone inspections can regulate the state of turbines and whether or not they need repairs. Drones are used to inspect blades to prevent degradation and provide data analytics, which lead to AI algorithms that create visual representations for efficient monitoring. By relying on drones, maintenance can become more efficient without the risk of human error, nor the risk to humans themselves put in dangerous situations.
Harm to wildlife is a disadvantage to wind energy that is often raised among those that are against investing in wind turbines, including certain environmentalists. Large birds and bats are killed by turbine blades, while offshore wind energy can harm marine life and habitats. To mitigate these challenges, various innovations have been implemented, while more may be needed.
As one innovative example, ultrasonic bat deterrent technology has reduced bat fatalities resulting from turbines. Developed by Deaton Engineering, these devices are installed at different locations around the turbine, which have speakers that deter bats from coming too close to the turbine. Additionally, the Bats and Wind Energy Cooperative found that operating at higher wind speeds reduces the risk of bat fatality, as bats are at greater risk during low winds. It is worth noting that Renewable Energy Wildlife estimates that 0.01 percent of bird mortality caused by human activity results from wind turbines – however as a contrary point, the types of birds killed by human activity range significantly from small birds killed in domestic settings to large, slow-to-reproduce birds killed by wind turbines.
Humans are constantly coming up with innovations and creative solutions to challenges. The risks from wind turbines cannot be overlooked, but wind energy’s positive and potential impacts on the U.S. electrical grid necessitates further research and innovation. Wind turbines present a beneficial option to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and aid in creating the planet’s sustainable future.
Written by Nora Priede von Herber, Public Policy Intern
The Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure (Aii) is an independent, national research and educational organization. An innovative think tank, Aii explores the intersection of economics, law, and public policy in the areas of climate, damage prevention, energy, infrastructure, innovation, technology, and transportation.