Wind farms seem like a great source of clean green energy and indeed they are. They of course require enough wind and the transmission lines to carry the power. However, wind farms are popular until it is announced they are going to be installed in a certain area. Then we hear “not in my back yard” (NIMBY).

The biggest concerns heard about wind farms are that they can be noisy, unsightly and can kill birds including protected species. And because the energy has to be carried through unsightly power transmission lines it is extremely hard to get the permitting required to actually harness the power. Even Senator Ted Kennedy and others have fought off wind farms coming to the waters off Cape Cod for several years due to their unsightliness and harm to birds.

Solar Farms

Solar farms are a great source of clean green energy right? Though most of us would answer yes, the answer is not so simple. As with wind farms part of the problem is the power transmission lines that must carry the energy from the solar farm to the neighborhoods far and wide. As stated before power transmission lines are needed but nobody wants them going through their neighborhoods.

Senator Dianne Feinstein does not want our deserts ruined with solar and wind farms, after all using the land could harm tortoise populations and ruin the aesthetics of the area.

The biggest problem with solar farms is the amount of land and water they require. To replace the energy produced from one 20 acre natural gas power plant a solar farm would require 10,000 acres of land. The land must be bulldozed and according to conservationists could kill off many animal populations.

Each solar farm also requires 16 billion gallons of water a year, something that drought stricken areas such as deserts in Nevada and California may not be able to provide.

Though there are many millions of dollars in the stimulus bill going to building wind and solar farms there are some concerns that the politicians are requiring them to be built without thinking of the consequences to nature and the environment, due to the public and politicians fighting any transmission lines anywhere near their neighborhoods, and the fact that the 16 billion gallons of water required for each solar farm may not be available, some are now wondering whether the solar farms if built will ever be used.

It seems that the best approach would be for the government to make sure they have the transmission line, water needs and other issues to be solved or accounted for before spending millions on something that may not be able to be used. We all have seen the issues with corn based ethanol. The government corn based ethanol could help us decrease our use of foreign oil and would be cleaner also. However, they did not take the time to consider the consequences such as the increased fertilizer usage polluting bodies of water killing off fish, and corn feed prices for animals increasing exorbitantly along with food prices for us.

Another option of course is to do what is already being done by many families, and that is to put solar panels and/or wind turbines at homes where it is feasible. There of course is no need for transmission lines, land use, and water problems to deal with, and nothing is more green than having your own clean energy plant right at your home.