The Power of Wind

We were at our summer home on Lake Wallenpaupack in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania (we have since sold the lakehouse). The weather was nice, so we headed out for a random motorcycle ride on the backroads of northeastern Pennsylvania. We rode through Greentown, Hamlin, Jessup, Archbald (not a typo), Jermyn, Carbondale, Waymart, Honesdale, Hawley, Paupack, and back to Greentown, where we lived. During the second half of our 75-mile ride, we ended up on Route 6. U.S. Route 6 is a transcontinental United States Numbered Highway, stretching from Bishop, California, in the west to Provincetown, Massachusetts, in the east.

 It was a beautiful ride. As we approached Waymart, about 15 miles west of Honesdale, we suddenly saw giant wind turbines emerge in front of us seemingly out of nowhere. The wind turbines appeared huge, and the closer we got the more amazing the size appeared. For most turbines, the blades are 120 feet long, so the total height from the ground to the tip of the blades is more than 380 feet. The turbines were approximately the height of 32-story buildings.

Depending on wind conditions, the blades turn between 10 and 20 revolutions per minute, making loud swoosh sounds as they turn. I have heard of cows falling over from the noise, and farmers who sold or leased their land to turbine operators getting headaches when trying to sleep. I don’t know if these are just rumors or not, but I think there is room for some criticisms about wind energy.

On average, a single wind turbine produces more than 2 million kWh in a year, enough to supply the average electrical needs of 1,500 households. I had never thought of Pennsylvania as a significant source of wind power, but as of Fall 2023, Pennsylvania had 27 wind farms producing more than 1,300 megawatts. With a conservative average of 2 megawatts per turbine, the estimated number of wind turbines would be 650. The most productive wind energy regions generally fall in mountain or coastal terrains. The northern portion of the Appalachian chain, including most of Southwestern Pennsylvania, is one of the areas with the highest potential for wind energy in the Eastern United States.

The mountain ridges of central and northeastern Pennsylvania, including the Pocono mountains in the eastern part of the state where we were riding, offer some of the best wind resources in the region. Currently, wind power at the time of our motorcycle ride was less than 2% of the state’s needs, but if all the wind energy potential in Pennsylvania was developed, it could produce approximately 6.5% of the state’s electricity consumption.

I was curious about which Pennsylvania power company owned the wind turbines and was surprised to learn the owner is NextEra Energy Resources (NEER), a wholesale electricity supplier in Juno Beach, Florida. The parent company, NextEra Energy, is a Fortune 500 company with a market capitalization in the billions of dollars and tens of thousands of employees across various roles, including generation, transmission, distribution, and corporate functions. NEER employs a substantial number of these employees, particularly in project development, construction, and operations.

Determining the exact number of windmills in the United States is challenging as the number is constantly changing due to new installations and retirements. However, an estimate can be made based on the total installed capacity. As of 2022, the United States had over 141 gigawatts (GW) of installed wind power capacity. The average capacity of a wind turbine has been increasing over the years, but let’s assume a conservative average of 2 megawatts per turbine for estimation purposes. The estimated number of windmills would be 70,500.

In 2022, wind power generated approximately 434 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity in the United States. Wind energy accounted for about 10.3% of total U.S. utility-scale electricity generation. Looking at the United States electricity generation breakdown as of 2023, there has been a significant shift in the mix in recent years, with a growing emphasis on renewable energy sources.

   Shifting away from Pennsylvania, I was curious to take a broader view. The latest data I could find is from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Looking at the breakdown of where our power comes from by fuel source, the data shows:

• Natural Gas: Approximately 43%
• Coal: Approximately 16%
• Renewable Energy: Approximately 21% (includes wind, solar, hydro, biomass, geothermal)
• Nuclear: Approximately 19%
• Petroleum: Approximately 0.4%  

Looking more closely at the renewable energy breakdown, the EIA shows:

• Wind: Approximately 48% of renewable energy
• Hydropower: Approximately 27% of renewable energy
• Solar: Growing rapidly and now 30-40% of renewables and 4% of all U.S. power

The key trends show natural gas has become the dominant fuel source for electricity generation in the U.S. Coal has seen a significant decline in recent years. Renewable energy, particularly wind and solar, is expanding rapidly. The punch line is although renewable energy is growing rapidly, it is not growing fast enough to meet the needs. The needs are growing very fast from AI and other datacenters, Bitcoin mining, and growth in U.S. manufacturing. The subject of a future blog post, but the solution is nuclear.

Read more about energy in Reflection Attitude – Current, Past, and Future.

Note: I use Gemini AI and other AI chatbots as my research assistants. AI can boost productivity for anyone who creates content. Sometimes I get incorrect data from AI, and when something looks suspicious, I dig deeper. Sometimes the data varies by sources where AI finds it. I take responsibility for my posts and if anyone spots an error, I will appreciate knowing it, and will correct it.