http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/
prog/energy/wind_energy.html

Wind Power

The distribution of the wind power across the United States. As you can see, Alaska is prime location for a few coastal wind farms. The following chart is the installed wind capacity broken down by state. It is useful to compare these charts to see who is taking advantage of the resources they have available.

http://www.azsolarcenter.com/images/uswindmap.gif

http://www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/windpoweringamerica/wind_installed_capacity.asp

The overall trend of wind use in the United States is on the rise. This is largely due to a feeling of need for a clean, renewable form of energy and the decrease cost of wind production. Wind energy is projected to pass coal as being the more economically efficient fuel very soon with both being cheaper than oil. Its increasing growth and decreasing cost per kWh are promising for the future of this environmentally friendly renewable energy source. Wind power generating capacity increased by 27% in 2006 and is expected to increase an additional 26% in 2007, proving wind is now a mainstream option for new power generation, according to a market forecast released by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).

http://www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/windpoweringamerica/wind_installed_capacity.asp

Chart from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

Although, even with all of the positive aspects, there are several constraints on the use of wind power for energy that limit its about to roughly 20% of the total grid capacity:

• Winds vary during the day and season to season
• There is no sufficiently inexpensive way to store energy for future use.
• The location of the best wind fields may not be in close proximity to large cities which draws the need for expensive high-voltage transmission systems with create large amounts of line loss.

Unfortunately there are some negative environmental impacts from wind power as well:

• Aesthetic impact. Wind farms have a tendency to be primarily located in places that were either known for wilderness or drastic changes in topography. For this reason, many people see wind farms as a visual blemish.
• Noise. Low-frequency blade noise generated by the wind farms is a strong drawback. Buffer zones of up to half of a kilometer appears to suffice in giving the sound room to dissipate.
• Raptor kill. In California, many large predatory birds have been slain by the large blades.
• Interference with electromagnetic waves falling in the tv, radio, and radar wavelengths. Fiberglass blades instead of metal seem to reduce this problem.
• Land use. The amount of land needed for multiple turbine wind farms to run efficiently is quite large. The land can be maximized by use with other things such as farming or solar power.
• Maintenance worker hazard. The hazards are close to those found in high rise construction workers. These workers have to pay extremely high insurance rates due to the dangerous workplace.

As you can see, wind power has several drawbacks. This leads to a debate from both sides of the issue.